Women's Basketball Cruises Past Colgate, 59-51

Saturday, November 22

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

2-1

Colgate

0-3

COLGATE

DREXEL

Photo by: Ryan Samson

Women's Basketball Cruises Past Colgate, 59-51

11/22/2014 4:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel women's basketball team took out some frustration on Saturday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, as the Dragons defeated Colgate, 59-51. Drexel led the entire way, moving its record to 2-1 for the fourth-consecutive season.

Sarah Curran led all scorers with 19 points, going 7-for-12 from the field and adding a perfect 4-for-4 afternoon at the line. Meghan Creighton added 14 points and three assists, while Rachel Pearson chipped in nine. Alexis Smith, who accounted for all of the Dragons' bench scoring, notched seven big points in the second half to help fend off Colgate's only major threat of the afternoon.

The win felt good for Drexel, which was coming off a 59-43 defeat at Princeton on Wednesday night. After shooting just 34.0 percent from the field that night, the Dragons fired at a 45.7 percent clip (21-for-46) on Saturday. They also avenged a 65-60 loss at Colgate last season.

Saturday's game was, in many ways a mirror opposite of last year's defeat. The Dragons led from tip to buzzer, with Colgate making only one major push, as Drexel did in Hamilton last season. Unlike the Dragons, who took a brief lead in last year's game before the host Raiders pushed back, this year's Colgate squad could not get over the hump as they never inched closer than four points back of the Dragons after the game's opening moments.

The Dragons wasted little time jumping all over Colgate. Two baseline jumpers by Jackie Schluth kicked off the scoring, followed by a three-pointer from the right wing by Creighton. That prompted a Colgate timeout with the Raiders trailing 7-0. Drexel would make it 9-0 on a Jamila Thompson putback before the Raiders got on the board 4:13 into the period.

Drexel's offense shot 52.0 percent in the first half, hitting 13 of 25 field goal attempts. The team also knocked down four of their five three-point tries, two each by Creighton and Pearson. Creighton, who also was a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe in the first half, led the team with 11 points going into intermission.

After the hot-shooting first half, the Dragons went cold after intermission. Drexel managed just two field goals over the second half's first 9:33, seeing the lead shrink from a halftime margin of 33-19 to 38-34.

That was when Alexis Smith stepped up. The sophomore slashed to the hoop and put in a lay-up to extend the lead back to six, then after a Colgate bucket, drained her first three-pointer of the season to make it a seven-point game. Just under a minute later, after a stop on the defensive end, Smith knocked down another jumper to push Drexel's lead back to nine.

Smith's scoring streak quelled the Raiders' only real threat of the contest. Colgate would once again get within four in the game's final minute, but Curran and Creighton combined to hit seven of eight free throws to seal the victory for the Dragons.

Aside from Smith, the Drexel damage was done by the starting five. Curran and Creighton led the way in the scoring column, with Pearson adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals to her nine points. Jamila Thompson knocked down six points, adding a personal-best five rebounds, a block and two steals. Jackie Schluth added four points and three boards for the Dragons. Kelsi Lidge, who played 14 minutes in reserve, did not score but dished out four assists to lead the team.

The Dragons will remain at home for their next contest, a pre-Thanksgiving get together with local rival Saint Joseph's. Drexel will host the Hawks on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.