Pitt's 28-3 Run Dooms Women's Basketball, 72-53

Sunday, December 14

Pittsburgh, Pa.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

(4-3)

Pittsburgh

(6-3)

Drexel

PITT

Pitt's 28-3 Run Dooms Women's Basketball, 72-53

12/14/2014 3:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PITTSBURGH – For three quarters of the Drexel women's basketball game at Pitt on Sunday, the Dragons hung with the Panthers out of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Unfortunately, the Dragons would be unable to dig themselves out of a 23-point halftime deficit after the Panthers went on a 28-3 run over the last nine minutes of the first half.

Rachel Pearson and Alexis Smith led the Dragons with 11 points apiece. Sarah Curran added eight and Meghan Creighton six. Jackie Schluth also had five points.

Drexel did see some brief flashes of promise from several members of the freshman class, including Megan Marecic, who had three points and two rebounds playing in front of a large contingent of family and friends just a few miles from her home town of Bethel Park. Kelsi Lidge added five points and a team-best six rebounds, both personal highs. Sara Woods, making her second appearance, had a steal and a breakaway lay-up for her first collegiate points.

The Dragons, who had given up the game's first seven points before getting on the board 4:40 into the contest on a Sarah Curran jumper, locked down defensively for several minutes after that. Pitt was held off the scoreboard for 6:38 while the Dragons got back into the game, knotting things at nine with 10:44 remaining in the half on the first of two Meghen Creighton three-pointers in the half. Drexel took a brief 14-12 lead when Jackie Schluth powered in a twisting lay-up. She drew a foul on the play and converted the three-point play.

Drexel's brief lead seemed to spark the Panthers, who closed the half in a fury. The Dragons managed just one field goal – a three-pointer from Creighton – over the half's final 9:00, going 1-for-13 from the field. Meanwhile, Pitt was on fire. The Panthers started 3-for-10 from the field and 1-for-7 from long range, but closed the period by hitting 13-of-16 from the field including 4-for-5 from long range. Three Panthers – Yacine Diop, Monica Wignot and Brianna Kiesel – split the bulk of the scoring duties, each putting up eight in the half. Creighton's six points led Drexel in the half.

Diop and Wignot would finish with 14 points apiece to lead all scorers. Kiesel added 12.

Drexel briefly made an effort to get back into things midway through the second half. After getting just two points off offensive rebounds the entire game to that point, Drexel got six on back-to-back possessions when Rachel Pearson and Kelsi Lidge knocked down three-pointers. Pearson got another trey on the Dragons' next trip down the floor to get the deficit under 20 at 53-35. After a timeout, it was Alexis Smith's turn to knock down the three-pointer, followed by a Sarah Curran jumper. In all, it was a 14-2 run that slashed Pitt's lead to 53-40 before the Panthers answered with a drive and score to get things back up to 15, the start of a 6-0 Pitt spurt. The Dragons managed to get the deficit back down to 15 with 2:02 remaining, but could climb no closer.

The Dragons will be back on the road for their next game, Wednesday night at Quinnipiac. Drexel will be playing the Bobcats for the first time in program history in a game that tips off at 7:00 p.m.