Women's Basketball Handles William & Mary, 78-59

Sunday, February 12

Williamsburg, Va.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

William & Mary

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Handles William & Mary, 78-59

2/12/2012 3:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Drexel women's basketball team has been a potent offensive threat for much of head coach Denise Dillon's tenure in University City. So it is fitting that the Dragons put together their best offensive output of the season as they helped Dillon tie legendary head coach Lil Haas for the school record with 144 career Division I victories on Sunday, the latest a 78-59 victory at William & Mary.

The Dragons (12-11, 8-5) were led by Kamile Nacickaite's 24 points. Tyler Hale added 18, which tied her career high.

Hale, in particular, played one of her best games of the season on Sunday. In addition to the 18 points and six rebounds, Hale dished out five assists, matching her season high. She was 6-for-6 from the free throw line, leading the charge for the Dragons, who went 14-for-14 from the charity stripe as a team.

In addition to putting up a season-high 78 points, the Dragons shot 50.9 percent from the floor. It was the first time since Dec. 19 against La Salle that Drexel hit at least half their shots. They added 8-for-20 from three-point range.

Taysha Pye, who would end up leading the Tribe with 25 points, got the scoring started 27 seconds into the game with a short jumper. From there, the Dragons exploded on an 18-3 run, capping it with a lay-up by Hale. The Tribe would not get back closer than seven points down the rest of the way.

In putting up a season high with 78 points, the Dragons did not abandon what has been their forte this season, playing stifling defense and holding William & Mary more than 11 points below its season average. With the Tribe closing the lead to 10 late in the first half, Drexel went on a 10-3 run to go into halftime with a commanding 39-22 advantage. Fiona Flanagan, who made her first career start in the game, capped the half with a three-pointer from the left wing with 13 seconds remaining. Flanagan finished with five points and three rebounds.

William & Mary chipped away early in the second half, refusing to go away. They scored the first four points of the period, and cut the lead to 11 at 51-40 with 11:07 to play. Drexel responded, however, as Hollie Mershon knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a lay-up by Hale, a three from Tory Thierolf and a jumper by Mershon to build the advantage back up to 61-40, the Dragons' largest lead of the game.

The Tribe got back within 13 with just over five minutes to play, but could not mount a serious threat as Drexel pulled away at the end.

Dillon, who has led the Dragons since being named an interim coach for the 2003-04 season, now stands at 144-122 all-time, an identical career record to Haas. Haas was the Dragons' head coach when they made the move to Division I in 1982-83, remaining at the helm through the 1992-93 campaign.

Dillon will have her first opportunity to move past Haas on Thursday, when the Dragons visit Old Dominion at 7:00 p.m. All the action will be carried live on DrexelDragons.com with Ari Bluestein at the mic.