Women's Basketball Nets 69-44 Win at Cornell

Monday, December 30

Ithaca, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

5-7

Cornell

5-6

Drexel

Cornell

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

12/30/2013 8:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – It was only appropriate that the Drexel women's basketball team had to drive through a snowstorm to have its hottest shooting night of the season. Arriving at Cornell after a drive slowed by heavy snow showers, the Dragons raced out to a 69-44 victory on Monday night, snapping a brief two-game losing skid. Rachel Pearson hit her first six three-point attempts and finished with a career-high 23 points to lead all scorers, while Abby Redick also put together a career high with 13 points including eight in the second half.

Drexel (5-7) never trailed in the game, and led by as many as 30 with 7:31 remaining. Drexel also held Cornell (5-5) under 50 points, the fourth-straight game in which the Dragons have limited an opponent in such a fashion.

Starting off fast has not been the Dragons' problem of late, and it was not again on Monday night. Drexel built double-digit leads in the first half of losses to Hampton and Penn, and did the same at Cornell, leading 28-8 with 8:52 remaining in the first half. Drexel hit its first six shots from the field, including five from long range in building a 17-6 lead. After missing a bucket, the Dragons did not blink, going on the first of two 11-0 runs that would punctuate the first half to extend its lead to 20.

Down by 20, Cornell began to heat up. Unlike the last two games where Drexel saw its leads evaporate due to extended scoring droughts, this time Drexel cooled off only slightly as the Big Red scored nine quick points and eventually got the lead to single digits at 30-22 with 3:43 remaining in the period.

That woke the Dragons – particularly Rachel Pearson – up in a big way. Pearson, who had already hit her first two three-point attempts, immediately answered the Cornell run by nailing a trey from the left wing to push the lead back out to 33-22. After a stop and an Abby Redick jumper from the free throw line, Pearson took over. Before the fans at Newman Arena knew what had hit them, the sophomore from Archbishop Carroll had banged in three more three-pointers, and Drexel took a 41-22 lead into the break.

Pearson finished the half with 15 points, hitting all five of her shot attempts, all from three-point range. As a team, the Dragons hit 65.2 percent of its shots in the half (15-for-23), by far its best shooting half of the season. They were also 9-for-12 (75.0 percent) from three-point range. Six different Dragons had at least three points in the half, with Pearson's high school teammate Meghan Creighton adding eight points on 3-of-4 shooting. Carrie Alexander also had a quick six off the bench, sinking all three of her attempts.

Pearson would make it six straight three-pointers hit when she opened the second half with a three from the left corner. Although she missed her next attempt, the Dragons kept up the pressure with buckets by Sarah Curran and a three by Redick to push the lead to 48-25, forcing a Cornell timeout less than three minutes into the second half.

Drexel kept up the pressure with another Pearson three-pointer and help from Curran and Redick, who took over offensively in the second half for Drexel. Alexis Smith also knocked down a jumper as the Dragons extended their lead to a season-high 30 points at 61-31 with 7:31 to play.

Curran finished with eight points, as did Creighton. Smith and Alexander each chipped in six, while Fiona Flanagan added five. Redick, in addition to her career high 13 points, added five rebounds, two steals and matched her career best with five assists. Creighton and Tory Thierolf each also had five helpers, with Thierolf posting a personal best in the category. Pearson's seven three-pointers left her just one shy of the Drexel program record of eight shared by Narissa Suber and Ola Snytsina.

The Dragons will conclude their non-conference schedule on Saturday when they host Princeton at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. That game, Drexel's third-straight against an Ivy League opponent, will tip at 2:00 p.m.