Drexel University
James Madison
Dukes Shoot Down Dragons 73-56 in Harrisonburg
2/8/2010 9:26:19 PM | Women's Basketball
Harrisonburg, Va. - Drexel's second-half rally ran out of momentum after trimming a 13-point James Madison lead to just two with eight minutes left. The Dukes (18-4, 8-3), led by Dawn Evans' 31 points, outscored Drexel 23-8 to close out a 73-56 win over the Dragons (14-8, 8-3) and salvage a split of the season series. Tyler Hale scored a career-high 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor and Gabriela Marginean compiled a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, but it was not enough to keep the Dragons from losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
Evans shot 7-for-10 from three-point range, leading a strong shooting performance by the Dukes, who made 53.6 percent of their shots in the second half and were 10-for-18 from deep. The Dragons, who started the game with a snap of cold shooting, made just 10-of-33 in the second half and shot 32.8 percent in the contest.
Marisa Crane, who finished with a team-high seven assists, keyed a 10-4 Drexel run with a steal on the win and a perfectly threaded pass that hit a sprinting Hollie Mershon in stride for a layup at the 11:48 mark. The Dragons got James Madison's lead down to two points, at 50-48, on a 16-foot jumper by Tyler Hale with 8:10 on the clock.
But from that point Dawn Evans and Sarah Williams took over for the Dukes and ignited a 13-5 run that put the contest out of reach for the Dragons. Evans knocked down a long three-pointer and a mid-range jump shot on consecutive possessions and Williams followed suit minutes later. When her three-pointer rattled in at the 2:57 mark, the Dukes held a commanding 66-53 advantage that they would not relinquish.
Drexel trailed 33-26 at halftime after getting off to a cold shooting start by missing nine of its first 11 shots in the game. The Dragons trailed by as much as 13 points in the period before using a spurt in the final three minutes to trim James Madison's lead to single digits. Marisa Crane hit a jumper at the halftime buzzer to keep the Dragons within striking distance at the break.
The Dragons return to Philadelphia on Thursday, Feb. 11 to play the Northeastern Huskies in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the DAC.
