Record-Setting Night Sees Women's Basketball Dispatch Northeastern, 85-73

Thursday, January 24

Boston, Mass.

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

Northeastern

Photo by: CAA/Rafael Suanes

Record-Setting Night Sees Women's Basketball Dispatch Northeastern, 85-73

1/24/2013 9:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON – A milestone victory for head coach Denise Dillon was punctuated by several record-setting performances by the Drexel women's basketball team as they cruised to an 85-73 victory at Northeastern on Thursday night. Drexel improved its Colonial Athletic Association record to 6-0, the first time in program history that the Dragons won their first six CAA contests.

For Dillon, the win was her 100th career CAA regular season triumph. The tenth-year head coach became just the fifth league coach to reach that milestone. Dillon is currently third among active coaches in the CAA.

She was aided by two standout performances by Drexel's senior leaders. Hollie Mershon netted a career-high 33 points, the first time in her career that she has reached 30 and the first Dragon to do so since Kamile Nacickaite also had 33 on November 19, 2011 at Akron. She added seven rebounds and a career-best eight assists. Taylor Wootton dropped 26 points, also a career high. It was the third-straight game that Wootton scored at least 22 points.

It was the first time that two Dragons had at least 20 points since February 17, 2011 with Nacickaite had 25 and Jasmina Rosseel added 22 against William & Mary. It also marked the first time two Dragons had at least 25 since January 28, 2010. That game, also at Northeastern, saw Gabriela Marginean score 41, still the last time a Drexel player has reached 40, and Nacickaite add 27.

Drexel raced out of the gate, building a 16-2 lead. A sign of things to come, the run was keyed by six Wootton points and five from Mershon. It also was fueled by strong interior defense by Nicki Jones, including one of her two first-half blocks, several deflected passes, and a well-defensed play that led to a shot clock violation. Jones would finish with 11 points and two blocks.

In all, the Dragons would score on a whopping 11 of their first 12 possessions, averaging 2.08 points per possession during that stretch to build a 25-13 lead. They would lead by as many as 19 late in the half before a 9-0 Northeastern run cut into the margin. Drexel went into the break up 50-38, their most points in a half since December 29, 2008 when they scored 50 in the first half of an 87-55 win over Maine.

Drexel started 6-for-6 from beyond the arc, including a perfect 5-for-5 in the first half, before Mershon finally missed from the right corner midway through the second half. They would finish 7-for-8 from downtown.

The Dragons held a double-digit lead over Northeastern the entire second half, holding off a Huskies team that led the conference in scoring coming into the game and finished with five points more than its season average. Deanna Kerkhof, a preseason First Team All-CAA choice, led the team with 16 on Thursday, including 13 in the second half. She reached the 1,000 career point plateau late in the first half with a three-pointer, her first bucket of the game.

Drexel finished the game 30-for-49 from the floor, a .612 shooting percentage. They were also 18-for-23 from the charity stripe, tying their season high with those 18 made free throws.

The Dragons will now face a stiff test in their quest to move to 7-0 in the CAA. Drexel hosts archrival Delaware on Sunday, the CAA's defending champions. The Blue Hens, the only other team without a blemish on their CAA record thus far this season, come into Sunday's game 5-0 in CAA play after dispatching of UNCW on Thursday night. For tickets to the showdown, call 1-866-4-DREXEL or visit www.DrexelTickets.com.