Women's Basketball Trumps Iona in WNIT First Round, 59-50

Thursday, March 21

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

23-10

Iona

20-13

Iona

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Trumps Iona in WNIT First Round, 59-50

3/21/2013 9:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel women's basketball team did not let a slow start bring their season to an end on Thursday night as they took a lead late in the first half and never let it go, defeating Iona in the WNIT first round, 59-50. Hollie Mershon, who scored the first half's last seven points to send the Dragons into the break ahead 23-18, finished with 15 points to lead the Dragons' balanced scoring attack.

Drexel (23-10) earned its second-ever postseason victory, and will play Harvard in the second round at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The Crimson went on the road and knocked off Hartford on Thursday night, 61-57.

Mershon was one of three Dragons in double figures, as Taylor Wootton chipped in 13 and Fiona Flanagan finished with 11. Renee Johnson-Allen also had nine points for the Dragons, who started the game 6-for-28 from the field before a Flanagan three-pointer and Mershon's seven-point run. After that, Drexel was 17-for-36, a 47.2 percent clip.

Drexel fell behind by as many as seven points in the first half as they came out cold from the floor. Nevertheless, the Dragon defense kept Drexel in the game. After Iona streaked to a 9-2 lead, the Dragons held the Gaels to just two points over the next 7:08 as Drexel crept back into the game. The Dragons took their first lead with 2:27 remaining in the half when Flanagan stepped into a three-pointer from the top of the key to put Drexel up 16-15.

Damika Martinez, who led Iona (20-13) with 22 points, immediately put the Gaels back ahead with a three of her own, but then Mershon took over. The First Team All-CAA performer drained her first three-pointer of the night on what turned out to be her only attempt of the night, putting Drexel up 19-18. The Dragons would not trail again. In the final 42 seconds of the half, Mershon hit a short jumper, then slashed to the hoop for a lay-up with three seconds to play before intermission, giving Drexel a 23-18 cushion heading into the break.

After halftime, Drexel quickly took control behind two three-pointers from Fiona Flanagan. WIth the Dragons up 26-20 after Taylor Wootton converted a three-point play, Flanagan drained a three from the left wing with 17:56 to play. Less than 30 seconds later, after a defensive stop, Flanagan again found herself open and buried a three from the top of the key, stretching the Dragon advantage to 32-20. Flanagan, currently, the school's all-time three-point percentage leader, was 3-for-6 from long range on the evening, finishing with 11 points for her first double-digit scoring output since a 10 point game against Hofstra on January 17.

With the Dragons establishing a double-digit lead, they led by a comfortable margin the rest of the way. Iona was able to pull within eight when Martinez sunk her fifth three-pointer of the night with 7:53 to play, but they could come no closer. Meghan Creighton had two later three-pointers that helped the Dragons build a lead as big as 15 points as they cruised to the victory.

Drexel will now play Harvard in the second round at home on Saturday night. Drexel, which could tie a program record for wins in a season with a defeat of the Crimson, has never won multiple games in the same postseason. The Dragons and Crimson have never faced each other in the 30-year Division I history of the Drexel program.