Nacickaite's Career Night Helps Dragons Hold Off Northeastern 70-63

Sunday, February 13

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2:00

Drexel University

Northeastern

Nacickaite's Career Night Helps Dragons Hold Off Northeastern 70-63

2/13/2011 4:09:39 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Philadelphia - Junior guard Kamile Nacickaite poured in a career-high 30 points to lead Drexel (14-10, 6-7) in a 70-63 victory over Northeastern (8-16, 3-10). Nacickaite shot 12-for-19 from the floor and knocked down a crucial three-pointer with 1:22 to play. The shot broke a 63 all tie and the Dragons would hold on for the victory. Taylor Wootton and Hollie Mershon added 14 points apiece as the Dragons improved to 10-1 on their home court this season. Kashaia Cannon led four Huskies in double-figure scoring with 15 points.

Drexel led by as much as 16 points in the game, but the Huskies came all the way back to take a one-point lead on a layup by Christine Huber with 3:20 to play. The lead was short-lived, however, as Nacickaite reeled off seven straight points over the next minute and a half.

A driving layup resulted in a three-point play for the Lithuanian guard, putting the Dragons up by two. A minute later, with the score even at 63-63, she would drain her third three-pointer of the game to give Drexel a lead it would not relinquish.

Mershon and Renee Johnson-Allen combined to knock down 4-of-6 from the free-throw line in the last 46 seconds to preserve the team's 10th home victory of the season.

Taylor Wootton's 14 points came on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor. The sophomore forward knocked down several key shots to help keep the Huskies at bay in the second half. She knocked down a layup and a jumper on consecutive possessions five minutes into the second half to help the Dragons forge a 10-point lead.

When that advantage shrunk to just two points with under six minutes to play, Wootton again came up with a critical jump shot to keep her team ahead. And she also played a role in frustrating Huber, whose work off the pick-and-roll plagued the Dragons late in the game, into fouling out with 2:33 to play.

Drexel shot 53.8 percent in the contest and knocked down 5-for-11 from deep, led by Nacickaite's 3-for-4 performance from distance. The Dragons grabbed 28 rebounds led by Tyler Hale's seven caroms. In addition to being the game's high scorer, Nacickaite also helped get her teammates involved, by dishing out a season-high six assists.

Northeastern shot 50 percent in the game and used seven three-pointers, four in the second half, to help push its way back into the contest.

A 14-0 Drexel run gave the home team a hefty 22-6 lead by the 11-minute mark in the first half. The Dragons did not commit a turnover for the first 10 minutes of the game, but when the Huskies began to employ a full-court trapping defense it created four Drexel miscues and spurred a 10-0 Northeastern run. The spurt cut Drexel's lead all the way down to three points before the end of the half.

Nacickaite scored 18 of her 30 points in the first half while Cannon had 11 points, including three three-pointers and Huber made 4-of-5 shots from the field for the Huskies in the period.

The Dragons are now 5-1 in conference games at home with two more on the horizon this week. Drexel hosts William & Mary on Thursday at 7:00 in a game that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and Virginia Commonwealth visits the DAC for a 1:00 p.m. game on Sunday.