Women's Basketball Wins Third in a Row, 64-50 Over Old Dominion

Sunday, February 10

Daskalakis Athletic Center

4:30 p.m.

Drexel University

16-6, 9-2

Old Dominion

16-7, 7-4

Old Dominion University

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Wins Third in a Row, 64-50 Over Old Dominion

2/10/2013 7:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Ten days ago when the Drexel women's basketball team was defeated at Old Dominion, the Dragons were nonetheless able to get off to a strong start. Holding Old Dominion without a field goal more than seven minutes to open the game, Drexel led 10-3 before Old Dominion fought back and eventually held off a late Drexel charge for a 53-50 win. On Sunday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, Drexel once again got off to a hot start against the Lady Monarchs. This time, there would be no let up as the Dragons led start to finish and won their third straight game, 64-50 over Old Dominion.

Hollie Mershon led all scorers with 19 points, adding six assists and seven rebounds. Nicki Jones had 15 points, three blocks and five rebounds, while Taylor Wootton chipped in 12 points and five boards. Drexel (16-6, 9-2) led 10-0 before Old Dominion (16-7, 7-4) got its first points, 5:36 into the action.

The Dragons spread the ball around very well, with all eight players who saw action contributing at least one assist. Drexel had helpers on 17 of its 25 made field goals, with Mershon's six leading the way. Seven of the Dragons' eight players had points with the starting five - Jones, Mershon and Wootton along with Meghan Creighton and Fiona Flanagan - scoring 59 of Drexel's 64 points.

After falling behind Drexel 10-0, the Lady Monarchs scored six quick points to momentarily get back in it. Stephanie Gardner, who finished with a team-best 18 points, had four in the brief run, both running floaters in the lane. She would also go 3-for-4 from long range on the afternoon.

A timeout at 10-6 steadied the Dragons' nerves, and they rebuilt their lead to 19-9 just over midway through the first half. Flanagan, who had six points and six rebounds, nailed her first two three-point attempts to help Drexel get off to its hot start.

Drexel did an excellent job breaking down the Old Dominion press in the early going. Coming in as the team forcing the most turnovers in the Colonial Athletic Association, ODU pressured the Dragons into just three first-half turnovers and seven on the day. Often, Drexel was able to work the ball inside to Jones or Wootton for uncontested buckets, as the Dragons' post players were able to work themselves free behind the press.

With 17:00 remaining in the game, Old Dominion's Jackie Cook hit a short jumper in the paint that cut the Dragons' lead to 36-22. Five straight Gardner points followed, leaving Drexel ahead by nine, 36-27. Just over a minute later, Drexel got the ball back inside to Wootton, who finished and pushed the Dragons back up by double digits. It was the last time the Lady Monarchs were able to get the score that close. Drexel led by as many as 18 with 3:06 to play before the Lady Monarchs cut the final margin of victory down to 14.

Mershon's 19 points leaves her with 1,275 in her Drexel career. She passed former teammate Jasmina Rosseel for 11th place all-time, and now sits just 86 points behind Leslie Reiner for a spot in the top 10. Also reaching a milestone was Jones, whose third block of the day gave her 52 in her Drexel career. That puts her tied for 10th all-time with Delise Johnson despite playing just two of her four years in the blue and gold. Jones has 108 blocks overall including 56 during her two years at the University of Massachusetts.

The win puts the Dragons back in second place in the CAA, tied with James Madison, a team the Dragons beat earlier in the year at Harrisonburg.

Drexel will be back on the court on Thursday at Hofstra. The Dragons overcame a 15-point deficit to knock off the Pride at the DAC last month, and will look for a season sweep of Hofstra for the first time since 2008-09. That game will tip off at 12:00 p.m.