Women's Basketball Slowed By Montana, 58-50

Sunday, November 29

Bethlehem, Pa.

12:00 p.m.

Drexel University

2-3

Montana

4-2

Drexel

Montana

Photo by: Gavin Baker

11/29/2015 2:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Drexel women's basketball team could not get its offense going until too late as the Dragons fell for the second straight day, 58-50 to Montana at the Christmas City Classic at Lehigh University. Drexel shot just 31.1 percent from the floor for the day despite going 9-for-20 from the floor in the fourth quarter to cut a 15-point deficit going into that period nearly in half.

Alexis Smith netted eight points and added six assists and four steals. She was named to the All-Tournament Team after nearly compiling her first double-double in Saturday's loss to Villanova with 11 points and nine rebounds. Meghan Creighton had nine points and seven assists, moving into the Dragons' top-10 all-time in career assists with 285 in 81 career games. Sarah Curran led the Dragons with 13 points, adding five rebounds and three steals.

The Dragons played solid defense against an explosive Montana team, holding the Grizzlies to 35.2 percent shooting from the floor. Kayleigh Valley put together a strong effort for the Grizzlies, however, posting 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting. She was 11-for-13 from the free throw line. She had eight rebounds including two of Montana's 12 offensive boards that helped the Grizzlies weather the Drexel defensive pressure.

Drexel was cold from the start as the Dragons never led in the game. Montana scored the game's first five points and Drexel shot just over 24 percent from the floor in the first half as the Grizzlies built a 27-19 halftime edge. Things did not get better in the third quarter as Drexel was just 3-for-12 from the floor in the period. Montana took advantage of opportunities from the free throw line, going 6-for-9 in the period to help extend its lead to 42-27.

The Dragons trailed by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, and in fact were down by that many with just 2:12 to play when they went into a full court press that flustered the Grizzlies. Drexel forced a pair of Montana turnovers and some hurried shots as they closed the game on a 10-1 run. Kelsi Lidge scored four points in the run, with Creighton adding one of her trio of three pointers and Sara Woods contributing a jumper.

Carrie Alexander contributed four points in six minutes, adding three rebounds to provide a bit of a spark off the bench. Lidge finished with four points and six rebounds, while Jessica Pellechio added three points and a pair of rebounds. Jackie Schluth and Megan Marecic chipped in two points each.

The Dragons will return home for their next outing on Thursday night when they host Vanderbilt. It will be just the second time that a Southeastern Conference team has visited the Daskalakis Athletic Center in regular season play. Drexel is a perfect 2-0 at home thus far this season. That game tips off at 7:00 p.m.