Seniors Power Women's Basketball Past Towson, 60-43

Friday, February 14

Towson, Md.

4:00 p.m.

Drexel University

12-11, 7-3CAA

Towson

11-13, 5-6CAA

Drexel

TOWSON

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Seniors Power Women's Basketball Past Towson, 60-43

2/14/2014 6:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

TOWSON, Md. – As the Drexel women's basketball team ends one tough stretch, they begin another. In the final game of a three-game road swing, the second such stretch of games since conference play began for the Dragons, Drexel muscled its way to a 60-43 victory at Towson's brand new SECU Arena. The game was the first of three in five days for Drexel, a scheduling logjam caused by the East Coast snowstorm which postponed this game by nearly 24 hours.

Abby Redick scored a career high 19 points for the Dragons (12-11, 7-3), who improved to 4-2 on the road in conference play. Fiona Flanagan added 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. Rachel Pearson scored 14, including eight in the first 3:09 of the second half as the Dragons grabbed control. Pearson added a team-best eight rebounds.

Towson (11-13, 5-6) fought back from what had been a 35-25 deficit, getting within a point at 40-39 with 10:24 to play. However, the Tigers could not get over the top as Drexel once again pulled away late to seal the victory. The Dragons held Towson scoreless for a 4:45 stretch in crunch time as Drexel went on a 9-0 run to ice the game away. Tanisha McTiller scored 14 to lead the Tigers.

Although the offense struggled in the early going, Drexel's defense, which has led the Colonial Athletic Association for most of the season, kept the Dragons in it. After the Dragons took a 5-2 lead on a Redick lay-up with 18:06 remaining in the first half, they would not score again until a Jackie Schluth jumper with 10:22 remaining. Nevertheless, the Tigers could not take much advantage. Over that nearly eight minutes, Towson scored just seven points, leaving them up a bucket after Schluth's jumper.

After Tanisha McTiller knocked down one of two free throws with 6:06 to play in the period, Drexel woke up. Fiona Flanagan drained a three-pointer to tie the score a minute later, and Tory Thierolf gave the Dragons a lead with her jumper at the 3:19 mark. The Tigers briefly evened things back up, but Drexel scored the last six points of the half – three from Redick and three from Rachel Pearson – to send the Dragons into the break up by six, 25-19.

The second half saw Pearson score eight of the Dragons' first 10 points, extending their lead to 35-25 with 16:51 to play. Towson responded, scoring the next six points before a Redick lay-in ended that brief run. Dominique Johnson nailed a three-pointer for Towson to slash the lead to three, but Flanagan responded with a three-pointer on the other end. The senior sharpshooter had just two treys on the afternoon, but both came at crucial times, with the first tying the score in the first half and the second swinging momentum back in Drexel's favor in the second.

Towson was not counted out yet, however. The Tigers methodically scored five straight to inch within a point at 40-39 with 10:24 to play. Again it was Flanagan who was called upon to stop the bleeding, working her way inside for a wide-open lay-up, fed by Redick. Redick added two free throws to get the lead back to two possessions with 9:21 to play, and after the teams exchanged stops, Meghan Creighton nailed her only field goal of the afternoon, a three-pointer with 7:22 to play that stretched the lead to 47-39.

Creighton's three-pointer effectively took whatever wind was left out of Towson's sails. The Tigers would score just four points over the game's final 10:24, going without a bucket altogether from the 10:24 mark to the 6:51 mark, and again until there was just 2:06 remaining. Drexel improved to 12-3 when holding an opponent under 60 points, and 6-2 when limiting a team to under 50.

The Dragons will get right back to work with a stiff test on Sunday afternoon. Drexel will host first-place James Madison, still undefeated in CAA play. That game, which will air in Philadelphia on the Comcast Network, will tip off at 5:30. Drexel will also host Delaware on Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m.