Women's Basketball Moves On in WNIT with 50-47 Win at Bowling Green

Thursday, March 28

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

25-10

Bowling Green

24-11

Drexel

Bowling Green

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Moves On in WNIT with 50-47 Win at Bowling Green

3/28/2013 8:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - When the game was on the line in the final minutes, senior Hollie Mershon would not let her team lose. She scored 19 points including the last nine for the Drexel women's basketball team as they held off the host Bowling Green Falcons in the third round of the WNIT, 50-47. The Dragons led for most of the game, but could not shake a Bowling Green squad that mirrored their own tenacious defense.

Drexel improved to 25-10 with the victory, setting a program record with its 25th win of the year. The Dragons also became the first Drexel basketball team ever to win three games in the same postseason tournament, and will visit Auburn in the WNIT quarterfinals on Saturday night.

The Dragons jumped out to a 12-4 lead early at the Stroh Center, quieting the crowd of 1,571. Those fans perked up in a big way shortly thereafter, however, as the home team answered with a 14-0 run to take an 18-12 lead. The Falcons hit two of their four three-pointers on the evening, as Chrissy Steffen and Miriam Justinger knocked down treys and contributed five points apiece to the run. Steffen would lead the Falcons on the evening with 14 points in her final collegiate performance.

Mershon weaved her way inside to scoop in the Dragons' first points in 7:38 to break the Falcons' run. After Bowling Green responded with a bucket, the Dragons knotted things up with back-to-back three-pointers from freshmen Meghan Creighton and Rachel Pearson.

Pearson finished with nine points off the bench for Drexel, the third time in six games that she had at least nine.

Drexel came out firing in the second half, scoring the first five points and nine of the first 11. Renee Johnson-Allen had three of her four offensive rebounds early in the half, helping the run. She finished with six points and eight rebounds.

After the Dragons took a 37-31 lead, the offense stagnated once again. This time, though, Drexel's defense stayed tough, although Bowling Green was able to chip away and eventually take a 41-38 lead with 4:50 to play.

As Bowling Green hit one of two free throws to take that three-point lead, Mershon pulled down a rebound and eventually found her former Archbishop Carroll teammate Pearson in the right corner. The freshman hoisted her third trey of the night, evening the score again at 41.

Bowling Green took the lead back at 43-41 before Mershon took over. Starting with an old-fashioned three-point play with 3:10 to go, Mershon scored the final nine points of the night for Drexel. The Falcons took their final lead with 2:45 to play when Alexis Rogers cut to the hoop and put up a lay-up. Mershon had an answer 18 seconds later, and the Dragons stifled Bowling Green the rest of the way. Mershon hit four clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game to keep Drexel on top, and the Falcons' final three-point attempt fell short as the buzzer sounded.

Drexel won when trailing at halftime for the first time since January 17 when it overcame a 15-point deficit at the half to beat Hofstra, 59-53. The Dragons will now play at Auburn on Saturday night, a game that is scheduled to tip at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.