Nacickaite's Career High Leads Women's Basketball to 67-60 Win Over Akron

Saturday, November 19

Akron, Ohio

7:30

Drexel University

Akron

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Nacickaite's Career High Leads Women's Basketball to 67-60 Win Over Akron

11/19/2011 9:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

AKRON, Ohio – Kamile Nacickaite scored 25 of her career-high 33 points in the second half as the Drexel women's basketball team overcame an early eight-point deficit to grab a victory in its first true road game of the season, 67-60 over Akron in their final game of the Preseason WNIT. The Dragons scored 48 points in the second half, their most prolific stanza of the young season.

The Zips came out firing to open the game, with Taylor Ruper hitting three-straight three-pointers as Akron built leads of 6-0 and 9-5. They led by as many as eight points late in the half when Sina King's three made it 24-16 with 4:11 to play.

Despite shooting just 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half, the Dragons did a good job on the defensive end, particularly on the boards, where they outrebounded Akron 22-18 in the half. The Dragon defense disrupted Akron enough to cause them to miss several lay-ups, and with Nacickaite and Taylor Wootton powering the offense, the Dragons pulled to within five at halftime, 24-19.

Coming out of the intermission, the tandem of Nacickaite and Wootton asserted themselves even further, scoring the first 18 points of the half for the Dragons. Drexel took its first lead of the game with 13:40 to play when Nacickaite knocked down two free throws, making it 33-32. The teams had both struggled offensively to that point, but things clicked in there, as the squads traded buckets for the next several minutes. In all, the lead changed 15 times over the next eight minutes, with neither team able to build up more than a three-point cushion.

With 5:30 to play and the shot clock winding down, Hollie Mershon gained possession on the right wing and calmly stepped into a three-pointer that gave the Dragons a 50-48 lead. They would not relinquish it the rest of the way. Nacickaite followed with a three-ball of her own, and Wootton added a bucket to make it 55-48 before Akron could respond.

The lead grew to as much as eight in the final minute as the Dragons were perfect from the free throw line down the stretch. Nacickaite finished 8-for-8 from the line, while Marisa Crane was 4-for-4. In all, Drexel was 17-for-18 from the charity stripe, while Akron hit just one of their three free throws.

Nacickaite's lay-up with 56 seconds to play made the score 63-55 and gave her 31 points on the night, eclipsing her previous career high of 30 set twice last season. She would add two more free throws to bring the total of 33. Wootton finished just two shy of a career high herself, pouring in 16 points. Mershon added 10.

Two wins in Akron got Drexel's road trip off to a strong start, as the Dragons will play their next four games away from the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Next up is a visit to Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Dragons and Panthers will tip things off at 2:00 p.m.