Women's Basketball Falls to Villanova, 67-55 at Christmas City Classic

Saturday, November 28

Bethlehem, Pa.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

2-2

Villanova

3-1

Drexel

Villanova

Photo by: Gavin Baker

Women's Basketball Falls to Villanova, 67-55 at Christmas City Classic

11/28/2015 4:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Drexel women's basketball team cut a 10-point second-half deficit to two midway through the fourth quarter, but could not overcome Villanova in the first round of the Christmas City Classic at Lehigh University as the Wildcats hit free throws down the stretch to defeat the Dragons, 67-55. Four Dragons finished in double figures, but foul trouble doomed Drexel throughout the afternoon.

Rachel Pearson led the Dragons with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. She was a perfect 3-for-3 from long range, but played just 21 minutes due to foul trouble that ultimately saw her fouled out in the game's final minute. Sarah Curran added 13 points and five rebounds, while Jackie Schluth had 10 and six. Alexis Smith knocked down three treys of her own to finish with 11 points and nine rebounds, matching a career high in the latter category and finishing just shy of her first-career double double. Meghan Creighton added six assists.

Villanova, which led by four at the start of the fourth quarter, was just 2-for-7 from the floor in the final 10 minutes of the game. The Wildcats were sent to the line 23 times in the period, however, hitting 19 of those to maintain the lead.

Drexel did make them earn it, however. Schluth knocked down a pair of free throws with 8:26 to play that pulled Drexel within two. After a Villanova bucket, Sarah Curran responded on the other end off a feed from Kelsi Lidge to once again get the Dragons within one possession.

Lidge had her second-consecutive strong game in reserve. She finished with just two points, but had three assists, a steal and a block. She played solid defense and came up with her block to prevent a breakaway Villanova bucket at the buzzer of the third quarter.

After Curran's lay-up slashed the Drexel deficit to two, Villanova was able to get to the free throw line on consecutive possessions, knocking down all four to pull the lead back to six. It was seven with 3:26 to play when Alexis Smith brought the ball upcourt and smoothly stepped into a trey to bring the team back within four.

Again, Villanova responded with three straight points and again, the Dragons had an answer. This time it was Curran knocking down the three-pointer to make it a four-point game with 2:22 remaining.

In the final minutes, though, Villanova's consistency from the charity stripe proved too much. The Dragons were put in positions where they needed to foul, and the Wildcats hit 11 of their final 12 from the line to ice the game away.

Foul trouble doomed the Dragons in the end, but also played a role in the Wildcats getting the lead in the first place. After hitting three of their first four shots to take an early 7-0 lead, the Dragons saw their offense stagnate for much of the remainder of the first half when one of its biggest offensive weapons had to go to the bench with a pair of early fouls.

After Villanova battled back to pull within a point at 7-6, back-to-back jumpers from Rachel Pearson and Sarah Curran extended the Dragons' edge back up to five at 11-6. Soon after that, though, Pearson was saddled with her second foul with 4:00 to play in the first quarter. With her on the bench, the Dragons suffered on both ends of the court. Villanova began to get open looks and crawled into the lead with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter. They went on an extended 14-2 run that lasted into the second quarter before a short jumper from Sarah Curran broke Drexel's drought. The Wildcats led by as many as nine before intermission as Drexel shot just 26.7 percent (8-for-30) from the floor.

Drexel hung tough, going into intermission down seven. Pearson immediately announced her presence upon her return after the break with a three-pointer to open the third quarter scoring, but Villanova responded with an 8-2 run to build its first double-digit lead of the afternoon. The Dragons got back within a possession when Pearson's third trey of the day fell at the 1:53 mark of the third quarter, making it 41-38. Katherine Coyer responded with a three of her own for the Wildcats, and Carrie Alexander set up the four-point fourth-quarter deficit with a driving lay-up for two of her four points.

The Dragons will get back to work on Sunday when they wrap up play at the Christmas City Classic against either Montana or the host Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Dragons would play at noon against Montana if Lehigh defeats the Grizzlies on Saturday evening, or at 2:30 against Lehigh if Montana wins.