Shut Down Defense Early Leads Women's Basketball to First Win, 61-56 Over Detroit

Friday, November 18

Akron, Ohio

5:00 p.m.

Drexel University

Detroit

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Shut Down Defense Early Leads Women's Basketball to First Win, 61-56 Over Detroit

11/18/2011 7:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

AKRON, Ohio – The Drexel women's basketball team got its first victory of the season on Friday evening, defeating Detroit in the consolation round of the Preseason WNIT, 61-56. Taylor Wootton and Tyler Hale knocked down 14 points each to lead the way for Drexel, which led by as many as 16.

The game started slowly for the Dragons, falling behind 9-2 in the first 2:30 of the contest. During that stretch, senior guard Kamile Nacickaite was called for a second early foul, forcing her to the bench for the remainder of the half.

Drexel rallied after that, however. After the Titans pushed the score to 11-4 with 16:56 to play, Drexel opened a 13-0 run that put the Dragons ahead, 17-11. Wootton, who scored the first six points of the game for Drexel, got it started with a jumper from the right wing. Hollie Mershon followed with a fastbreak layup, and Hale did the same to cut the Titans' lead to one with 15:05 to play in the half.

After another stop on the defensive end, the Dragons came down and found Mershon unguarded beyond the arc on the right side. The junior nailed the three-pointer, putting Drexel up for good, 13-11. Renee Johnson-Allen got a putback layup to make it 15-11, forcing Detroit to call timeout. Mershon would add another bucket before the Titans finally got back on the board.

Drexel also scored the final 10 points of the half. After a jumper by Brie Wilcox cut the Dragons' advantage to 21-17 with 7:20 to play, the Dragons did not cede another Titan point in the first half.

The Dragons did a tremendous job defensively in the first half, disrupting the Detroit post play that carried the Titans in their opener at Indiana State. Freshman Shareta Brown scored eight points in the period after opening her career with 25 and 13 rebounds against the Sycamores, but Drexel successfully kept her from getting comfortable down low, and were content to let Detroit take long jumpers. The Titans were just 1-of-8 from downtown in the first half, and 6-of-28 overall.

Brown would finish with 16 points to lead the Titans.

Fiona Flanagan, who was inserted into the lineup when Nacickaite went out, helped key the defensive intensity for Drexel. Along with Hale, Wootton and redshirt freshman Jackie Schluth, Flanagan helped dismantle the offensive gameplan for the interior-minded Titans. Johnson-Allen also did a solid job off the bench at the point, dishing out a team-best five assists and coming up with six boards to go along with three points.

Detroit crawled back into the game as it started to convert some of its long-range shots. It got as close as three points, when Brown's layup with 8:34 to play made the score 44-41. The Dragons pushed the lead back up to 10, but a late pressure defense from Detroit got them back within four with 1:45 to play. Nacickaite hit three of four free throws down the stretch to help keep Drexel in front. She would finish with nine points, all of which came in the second half. Chanahl Putnam contributed 11 second-half points for Detroit and 13 in the game, going 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Dragons will return to the hardwood tomorrow evening in Akron, where they will play the winner of tonight's Howard/Akron matchup. The host Zips will play at 7:30 on Saturday regardless of their outcome on Friday.