Women's Basketball Edged in Double OT, 72-68 by William and Mary

Friday, February 6

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

14-8, 8-3

William & Mary

11-11, 5-6

OT 1

OT 2

William & Mary

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Edged in Double OT, 72-68 by William and Mary

2/6/2015 10:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel women's basketball team was edged in double overtime by William & Mary on Friday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, 72-68. The Dragons led by six in the first overtime period, but were ultimately done in by 26 turnovers that led to 24 William & Mary points.

Jackie Schluth led the Dragons with 14 points, one of four players in double figures for Drexel. Rachel Pearson scored 11, all in the first half, while Alexis Smith netted nine of her 11 points after halftime. Carrie Alexander also added 10 points. Sarah Curran finished with nine and a team-high seven rebounds and four steals. Kelsi Lidge added seven points and six rebounds.

The Dragons (14-8, 8-3) lost for just the second time this season at the DAC. The first was also in overtime, 53-52 to Hofstra on January 9. Drexel has not won an overtime game since an 80-74 victory over this same William & Mary program on February 17, 2011. That win wrapped up the first of four straight season sweeps for Drexel over the Tribe. The Dragons were denied a fifth-such season with Friday's defeat.

The Dragons sprang out of the gate, hitting more than 50 percent of their shots for much of the first half. Drexel was able to work the ball efficiently, finding open looks inside and with its midrange game. Jackie Schluth knocked down her first four shots, all from 10-12 feet. She finished with eight points in the half. Rachel Pearson, who normally scores the majority of her points from long range, had just one three-pointer in the first period but still came up with 11 points before intermission, already matching a season-high with four two-point field goals.

While Drexel's ball movement helped the Dragons get easy looks and record assists on 12 of their 14 first-half field goals, it also led to some preventable mistakes. The Dragons turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, allowing William & Mary to score 10 points off those turnovers. The Tribe began to click offensively late in the half, and went into halftime down just two, 29-27.

After halftime, nothing happened. Or so it seemed for nearly 12 minutes, as both teams went cold from the field and repeatedly turned the ball over. Jamila Thompson scored on the Dragons' first possession of the half, and followed with free throws at the 18:20 mark to put the Dragons up 33-29. After that, Drexel would not score for the next 9:49.

Though William & Mary was able to take advantage of Drexel's drought and grab the lead, the Tribe could not give themselves a comfortable cushion. They led by just one after Alexander's jumper snapped Drexel out of its funk with 8:31 to play.

The Tribe remained on top as Drexel's offense kept sputtering, building a brief five-point lead, what would prove to be its largest of the evening. With 3:44 to play, Drexel edged back on top on another Thompson bucket, this one a fast-break score off an Alexis Smith steal. The teams then traded scores before William & Mary's Latrice Hunter hit one of two free throws with 27 seconds remaining, tying the game and ultimately sending it into overtime.

Having survived its rocky second half, Drexel came out firing to begin overtime. The Dragons scored on their first four possessions in the extra session, culminated by a Lidge bucket-and-the-foul to make it 56-50 with 1:55 remaining. William & Mary quickly answered, hitting two free throws and getting a three-pointer from Marlena Tremba to cut the deficit to one with 1:09 to play. Drexel nudged the lead back to two when Curran hit one of two free throws, but William & Mary converted two more with 49 seconds to play to tie things again. Neither team would score as the period wound down.

William & Mary's propensity for getting to the free throw line shined through in the second overtime, where they were 10-for-10 as they never trailed. On the evening, William & Mary hit 26 of its 31 free throw attempts, while Drexel knocked down six of its seven. The Dragons hung tough in the final period, pulling within three with 17 seconds to play and making it a two-point game on Smith's three-pointer with six seconds remaining, but the Tribe continued to convert at the stripe and hold the Dragons at arm's length to preserve their win.

The Dragons' weekend at home continues on Sunday as they welcome in the first-place James Madison Dukes for a battle of the top two teams in the league. Drexel limited the Dukes' high-powered offense in the first half of the teams' game in Harrisonburg last month, but could not keep up as James Madison pulled away, 66-51. Sunday's game tips off at 2:00 p.m. and will feature $1 hot dogs and Girl Scout Cookies available for sale.