Women's Basketball Bested By Villanova in Glass City Tournament Final

Sunday, November 10

Toledo, Ohio

12:00 p.m.

Drexel University

1-1

Villanova

2-0

Drexel

Villanova

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Bested By Villanova in Glass City Tournament Final

11/10/2013 2:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

TOLEDO, Ohio – A slow start proved to be too much to overcome for the Drexel women's basketball team, as their second-half comeback effort fell short against city rival Villanova in the championship game of the Glass City Tournament. Villanova led nearly the entire game as the Wildcats held on for a 63-52 win over the Dragons. Fiona Flanagan followed up her career-high 19 points in Saturday's semifinal win over Toledo with 17 points and six rebounds to lead Drexel.

Flanagan shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from three-point range. As a team, the Dragons shot 37.0%, 20-for-54. Alexis Smith got her first collegiate points and broke out for 10, all in the second half. Villanova's Emily Leer led all scorers with 18 points, including a big three-pointer with 8:15 remaining that interrupted a Drexel run that had cut the Villanova lead from 21 in the first half down to six.

After Sarah Curran got the Dragons on the board 11 seconds into the game, the Wildcats took over the first half. Villanova scored the game's next 15 points, holding the Dragons without a field goal for 9:23 of game play. Fiona Flanagan ended that with a three-pointer, one of her two treys in the opening period. She led the Dragons with eight points in the first.

The slow start was attributed to the Dragons missing nine of their first 10 shots. They would finish just 7-for-23 in the first half. In the second, Drexel started finding its rhythm. They worked the ball inside to Abby Redick, who notched five of her six points in the second half. The Dragons also found openings for their guards to cut to the hoop, in particular Smith and Carrie Alexander, who finished with six points before fouling out. Drexel also began to assert itself on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats 24-11 in the second half after being outdone 20-10 in the first. The Dragons got 13 second-chance points in the second half, blanking the Wildcats in that category after halftime.

Smith played 16 minutes in her second game with the Dragons, all in the second half. She hit the first of two three-pointers for the freshman with 14:40 remaining. After Drexel worked the deficit down to six and Leer bumped it back to nine with her lone three-pointer of the day, Smith had an answer by stepping into a trey of her own, getting it back to a six-point game.

That would be as close as the Dragons could get, however, as Villanova kept them at arms length and pulled away for the 11-point victory.

Jackie Schluth had two points for Drexel, her first since the 2011-12 season after missing last year due to injury. Sarah Curran had five points, two rebounds and two assists in her second collegiate start. Meghan Creighton had four points and four assists, while Rachel Pearson was held scoreless but came up with four rebounds. Jamila Thompson chipped in with two points and two rebounds.

Drexel will now return home, where the Dragons will open their home schedule on Friday night. The Providence Friars will come to the Daskalakis Athletic Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip off.