Late Rally Stalls For Dragons in 69-65 Loss at VCU

Sunday, January 30

Richmond, Va.

2:00

Drexel University

VCU

Late Rally Stalls For Dragons in 69-65 Loss at VCU

1/30/2011 4:22:42 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Richmond, Va. – A furious rally in the final four minutes nearly saw the Dragons recover from a 10-point deficit at Virginia Commonwealth, but the Rams held on for a 69-65 win at home. Tyler Hale turned in a strong all-around performance with 10 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Courtney Hurt led the Rams to the win with 23 points and 20 rebounds. With the loss, Drexel falls to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in CAA play. VCU solidifies its spot in the conference with a 7-2 record and a 12-7 mark overall.

Hollie Mershon came off the bench to score 11 points and energize the Dragons in the second half. Jasmina Rosseel led Drexel with 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting and Kamile Nacickaite added 12 points and eight rebounds despite shooting 2-for-13 from the floor.

The Dragons hurt themselves by committing 17 turnovers, from which VCU generated 22 points. The Rams shot a blistering 56.6 percent for the game with 38 points coming from close-range in the paint. Andrea Barbour recorded her second straight 20-point performance with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting. And Sonia Johnson chipped in 17 points and four assists for the Rams.

Virginia Commonwealth shot a sizzling 58.6 percent in the first half and led 37-31 at halftime. Drexel's trap generated nine VCU turnovers, which allowed the Dragons to stay in the game despite committing 10 miscues of their own and shooting 44 percent from the floor. Hurt and Barbour combined to score 24 of the Rams' 37 at the break on 11-for-14 shooting.

Drexel came out of the locker room trapping on defense. The injection of intensity allowed the Dragons to mount a 11-4 run and briefly take a lead three minutes into the half when a Rosseel three-pointer splashed the net to make it a 42-41 game.

Another Rosseel three-pointer two minutes later gave the Dragons a 46-45 advantage, but each time the Rams were able to respond.

Finally VCU broke the Dragons' momentum with an 11-1 run after Drexel committed turnovers on four straight possessions and the Rams capitalized on all of them to take a 65-55 lead with four and a half minutes to play.

Drexel composed itself for one more run, which started with four from the free-throw line to trim it to a 65-59 game. When Nacickaite found her shot from distance the game drew to 67-62 with 2:16 to play.

The Dragons put Hurt on the line and she obligingly missed the front end of a one-and-one. Nacickaite rushed the ball down court, drove the lane and drew a foul. She made the first free-throw with 50 seconds on the clock to make it a 67-63 game. When she missed the second Hale collected the offensive board, but missed the put-back.

With Drexel fouling to stop the clock, Barbour knocked down one of two and the Dragons again had a look at a Nacickaite layup on the sprint out. Her finger roll did not find its mark, but Wootton got the put-back layup to make it a 68-65 game with 26.8 left.

Coming out of a timeout the Dragons' trap nearly generated another VCU turnover, but Barbour collected the loose ball and drew the foul. She again missed one of two and this time Mershon rushed the ball down court, heaving up a three-pointer that did not find its mark. VCU collected the rebound and Hurt drew a foul.

With the Rams now in the double bonus, Hurt missed both free throws with 11.6 seconds remaining. As the Dragons pushed the ball down court one more time, trailing by just four points, the Rams met them with a trap at halfcourt. The VCU defenders jarred the ball lose and Barbour dove on the floor to grab it and call a timeout that essentially ended the game.

The Dragons return to the DAC, where they are 8-1 on the season, to face Towson on Thursday, Feb. 2 in a 7:00 p.m. game that will be aired live on The Comcast Network.