Late Drought Dooms Women's Basketball vs. Delaware, 55-50

Tuesday, February 18

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

12-13, 7-5

Delaware

17-6, 9-3

Delaware

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Late Drought Dooms Women's Basketball vs. Delaware, 55-50

2/18/2014 9:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel women's basketball team came up just short in its attempt to earn a season sweep of Delaware on Tuesday evening, as the Dragons hit just one field goal in the last 3:30 of play and fell, 55-50. Drexel led by as many as 10 early on, but shot just 30.4 percent from the floor on the night as the Dragons missed an opportunity to regain control of second place in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Tory Thierolf scored a career-high 16 points for the Dragons (12-13, 7-5), including 12 points in the second half. The senior was 4-of-5 from long range and nailed two big three-pointers to keep Drexel close in the closing minutes. Meghan Creighton added 12 points, all on three-pointers, as the sophomore became just the ninth player in Drexel history to reach 100 career three-pointers. She now sits at 103 for her career.

Courtni Green led the Blue Hens (17-6, 9-3) with 18 points. Drexel did an admirable job shutting down Delaware's leading scorer, Kelsey Buchanan, who finished with eight points and seven rebounds despite being saddled with foul trouble for much of the night. Nevertheless, Green and Erika Brown, who had seven points and eight assists, stepped up in her stead.

Drexel jumped out to a big lead early, holding Delaware to just one field goal - a Green three-pointer - in the game's first 8:05. The Dragons did not come out firing on all cylanders, but still took a 12-3 lead when Abby Redick converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 12:13 remaining in the first half. Less than two minutes later, the Dragons hit their largest lead when Carrie Alexander's short jumper put them ahead 17-7.

The Blue Hens responded with nine straight points over the next 2:52, slashing Drexel's lead down to a single point. Although Delaware remained close, the Dragons kept the lead to themselves until Alecia Bell knocked down two free throws with 2:43 remaining in the first half. Creighton answered with a three-pointer, but Delaware netted the half's final three points to take a 25-24 lead into the locker room.

Drexel shot just 26.7 percent from the floor in the first half (8-for-30), but came out hitting three of four shots to start the second. Two of those were treys by Thierolf, leaving the Dragons up 32-29. After Delaware took a brief 34-32 lead, back-to-back three-pointers from Redick and Fiona Flanagan pushed Drexel on top by four just over six minutes into the period. Flanagan finished the day with five points and a team-high six assists against no turnovers.

The Dragons once again found themselves up by four when Rachel Pearson hit her lone three-pointer of the evening at the 11:43 mark, giving Drexel a 41-37 edge. That would provfe to be the final Dragon hoop for 6:30 of game time as Delaware surged ahead by four, at the time its largest lead of the night. A three-pointer by Creighton ended the drought, and after Delaware responded with a three-point play to get the lead back to two possessions, Thierolf nailed her third long ball of the night to get Drexel back within a point at 48-47 with 3:30 to play.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, the offense sputtered the rest of the way. Delaware made it a three-point lead on a controversial lay-up with 2:56 remaining, as it appeared that Joy Caracciolo's shot was not off before the shot clock expired. Nevertheless, Delaware would make it a six-point edge before Thierolf's final three-pointer from the left corner got Drexel back within three with 59 seconds remaining.

The Dragons had two looks that would have tied the game after Delaware missed two free throws on its end. Both came up short, however, and the Blue Hens hit two of four from the line to seal the victory in the closing seconds.

Drexel's loss puts it two games behind Delaware for the CAA's second seed with four games to play before the CAA Tournament in Upper Marlboro, Md. March 13-16. It also drops the Dragons a game below .500, meaning they need to win three of their final four to ensure postseason eligibility heading into the tournament. Drexel resumes play on Sunday when it makes its penultimate road trip of the season, visiting Northeastern at 2:00 p.m. The Dragons edged the Huskies at the DAC earlier this year, 55-52.