Women's Basketball Nets 63-52 Win over Cornell in Opener

Sunday, November 16

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

1-0

Cornell

0-2

Cornell

DREXEL

Photo by: Ryan Samson

Women's Basketball Nets 63-52 Win over Cornell in Opener

11/16/2014 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Three Dragons scored in double figures as the Drexel women's basketball team opened its 2014-15 campaign on Sunday afternoon with a 62-53 win over Cornell at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The Dragons led nearly the entire game as they held off the Big Red and won their first game of the season for the third straight year and fourth time in the last five tries.

Senior Jamila Thompson netted a career-high 11 points to help power the Dragons (1-0). She added four rebounds, a block and a steal. Sophomore Sarah Curran led the team with 12 points, all in the first half. Junior Meghan Creighton also finished in double figures with 11 points, adding five assists against just one turnover. Freshman Megan Marecic, playing her first collegiate game, added nine points, seven of which came in the last 8:33 as the Dragons were able to withstand the Cornell pressure. Nia Marshall led all scorers with 13 for the Big Red.

The Dragons grabbed the lead early, taking a 14-13 lead with 11:18 remaining in the first half when Curran drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. They would not trail the rest of the way, building their lead to as many as 14 early in the second half. That Curran trey sparked an 8-0 run for Drexel, with all the points scored by Curran and Creighton, to build a 19-13 advantage midway through the first half. That duo would account for 23 of the Dragons' 36 points at the break as they went into halftime up 36-23.

After shooting at a brisk 46.2 percent clip in the first half, the Dragons cooled after intermission. Drexel had just seven points over the second half's first 11:27 of play, allowing the Big Red to trim its lead to 43-39. That is when Marecic stepped up, nailing her first career field goal, a three-pointer, to stretch the lead back up to seven. Marecic's three-pointer was the beginning of a stretch where nine straight Drexel points were scored by freshmen. Five came from Marecic, while fellow freshman Kelsi Lidge knocked down two shots to chip in the other four. Lidge finished with four points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in her debut.

Rachel Pearson, who had seven points and five boards on the afternoon, ended the freshman rally with a jumper from just inside the arc that gave the Dragons a six-point cushion with 2:23 remaining. After a Nia Marshall score on the other end, Thompson drove to the hoop and rolled in an easy bucket to stretch the lead back to six. A Marecic jumper with 55 seconds remaining made it an eight point game and effectively iced the contest away.

In all, eight different Dragons scored on Sunday afternoon. Senior Jackie Schluth, making her first collegiate start, contributed six points and four rebounds. Alexis Smith also had two points. Carrie Alexander, the only Dragon to appear in the game without scoring a point, nonetheless contributed with two steals and four assists, both career highs.

The Dragons improved their overall mark against Cornell to 6-0 all-time with the win. That marks the most wins against any single opponent without suffering a loss in program history.

Drexel will stay in the Ivy League for its next contest. The Dragons will visit Princeton on Wednesday evening. That game is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m.