Women's Basketball Falters at Bucknell, 78-66

Sunday, November 27

Lewisburg, Pa.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

3-2

Bucknell

4-2

Drexel

Bucknell

Women's Basketball Falters at Bucknell, 78-66

11/27/2016 3:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Drexel women's basketball team is still in search of its first road victory of the 2016-17 season as the Dragons fell at Bucknell on Sunday afternoon, 78-66. Drexel overcame an early double-digit deficit but faded down the stretch as foul trouble and uncharacteristic defensive lapses did the Dragons in.

Sarah Curran scored 19 to match a season high and lead the Dragons. Seventeen of those points came in the second half after she had sat for long stretches in the first due to two early fouls. Meghan Creighton scored 11 points and had five assists, but she too was hampered by foul trouble and had four midway through the third quarter. Four players scored in double figures for Bucknell led by 22 from Claire DeBoer. Bucknell shot 60 percent (30-for-50) from the field and hit 10 of 24 attempts from long range.

Bailey Greenberg, Jessica Pellechio and Aubree Brown each added seven points for Drexel. Brown had three assists and two steals. Tereza Kracikova scored six, a season high, as well as a season-best six rebounds. Kelsi Lidge had four points and three steals, while Ana Ferariu scored three and Sara Woods added two points and two steals.

The teams were deadlocked at four early on before a 10-0 Bucknell run gave the Bison control midway through the first half. Bucknell, which came in as a team relying on low-post scoring and hitting at just a .389 clip, knocked down seven of 11 attempts in the first quarter and cooled only slightly in the second, going 7-for-15 in that period. Meanwhile, the Bison were 7-for-13 from long range in the first half after averaging just 4.8 three pointers a game coming into Sunday's action.

The Dragons absorbed the early Bucknell run and methodically climbed back. They were helped by a six-point sequence in which Meghan Creighton hit her second three-pointer of the afternoon as an off-ball foul was being called on the Bison. Drexel retained possession and set up Jessica Pellechio for a three-pointer to cut a 24-14 lead down to four, 24-20.

Creighton's third trey of the game rattled in from the top of the key with 2:57 to play in the first half, knotting the score at 31. That gave her 11 points on the day and 800 in her Drexel career.

Drexel had four turnovers in the game's first five minutes, but just three more over the remainder of the first half while they forced 10 first-half turnovers by the Bison to aid the comeback. The tying three-pointer ended an extended 17-7 stretch for the Dragons, but unfortunately for Drexel it keyed an 8-1 spurt by the Bison to end the half.

Though the Dragons' offense was solid out of halftime, with Sarah Curran hitting three from long range in the first 2:30 of the third quarter, Drexel uncharacteristically could not get a stop on the defensive end. Bucknell continued its torrid shooting pace, hitting eight of 12 attempts in the third quarter. The Bison took advantage of Drexel floor general Meghan Creighton being forced to sit with foul trouble. Creighton picked up her fourth on a touch foul with 5:31 to play in the third quarter, and did not return until Drexel faced a 61-49 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bison led by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter before a late charge by the Dragons made it a 10-point game at 71-61. That would be as close as it would get, however, as Bucknell answered the Dragons' run with its 10th three-pointer of the afternoon. The Bison were 16-for-24 from the field in the second half as Drexel could not get the stops it needed despite a .446 shooting percentage as a team itself.

Drexel will return to action on Saturday as the Dragons visit Cornell for yet another opportunity for their first road win of the season. That game will tip off in Ithaca at 1:00 p.m.