Women's Basketball Held Off By South Carolina, 62-58

Wednesday, December 28

Daskalakis Athletic Center

5:00 p.m.

Drexel University

South Carolina

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Held Off By South Carolina, 62-58

12/28/2011 7:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

PHILADELPHIA - Three Drexel women's basketball players scored in double figures against one of the best defensive teams in the nation on Wednesday night, but that was not enough as South Carolina held off a late Dragon charge to defeat the hosts, 62-58. Tyler Hale, Hollie Mershon and Kamile Nacickaite scored 14 points each for Drexel, which dropped to 5-5 with the loss.

For a second consecutive game, the Dragons overcame a large second-half deficit to make the game exciting down the stretch. This time, South Carolina (11-2) led by as many as 17 points midway through the second half before the Dragons began to chip away. Two straight Nacickaite three-pointers cut the lead to two, 55-53 with 4:14 to play. A third attempt that would have given Drexel a one-point lead rimmed out, however, and the Dragons were unable to finish off the comeback.

Drexel led for most of the first half, building a lead as big as eight points when Mershon's jumper with 11:18 to go in the period made it 15-7. Junior transfer Nicole Jones was a big part of the first-half surge, scoring seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, doing a good job with her mid-range game and nailing some turnaround jumpers.

The Gamecocks fought back, and took a 27-26 lead into the locker room at intermission. After the break, South Carolina stormed out of the gates, going on a 20-8 run to open the half. La'Keisha Sutton's three-point play with 9:59 remaining pushed the advantage to 53-36, the largest lead of the night for either team.

From there, the Dragons fought back. They scored the next five points, including two cutting lay-ups by Hale and a free throw by Nacickaite. After South Carolina answered with two free throws, Marisa Crane got into the scoring action, knocking down a short jumper to start what would be a 12-0 run for the Dragons.

Mershon followed with two free throws, and after another Hale lay-up, Nacickaite buried her first three-pointer of the game to make it a 55-50 game with 4:49 to play. South Carolina called timeout, but it was no deterrant for Nacickiate, who nailed another trey after a Crane steal.

The Dragons missed their opportunity to take a lead when Nacickaite's third three-point attempt rimmed out, and South Carolina answered with the game's next five points. Crane hit a three with 44 seconds left to cut the lead back to four, and two Mershon free throws with seven seconds to play made it a two-point game, but the Dragons once again came up just short.

Drexel managed 58 points against a South Carolina defense that had been allowing just 43.7 per game in its first 12 games this year. The Gamecocks had enjoyed an average scoring margin of +19.6, but the Dragons made them sweat it out on Wednesday.

The Dragons return to action on Saturday afternoon, when they host Princeton in the second half of a doubleheader with the Drexel men. The men host St. Francis (Pa.) at noon, and the women's game is set to start at approximately 2:30 p.m.