Women's Basketball Improves to 8-2 for First Time with 82-71 Win Over Mason

Tuesday, December 27

Miami, Fla.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

8-2

George Mason

7-6

MASON

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Improves to 8-2 for First Time with 82-71 Win Over Mason

12/27/2016 4:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MIAMI – The Drexel women's basketball team sits at 8-2 through its first 10 games for the first time in program history after the Dragons defeated George Mason in the opening round of the FIU Holiday Classic on Tuesday, 82-71. The Dragons stood up to a physical challenge from their old Colonial Athletic Association foes and led the entire second half to get their fifth consecutive victory.

Sarah Curran led all scorers with 29 points, two shy of her career high. She was highly efficient all afternoon, hitting 10 of 15 field goal attempts, four of five from long range and all five of her free throw attempts. Meghan Creighton scored 17 points, including 14 to help the Dragons take control in the first half. She added five assists and has now gone four-straight games without committing a turnover. Bailey Greenberg added 12 points and seven rebounds as Drexel had perhaps its most impressive showing of the year on the boards, outrebounding the Patriots 31-30 despite a size disadvantage.

Jessica Pellechio added eight points for Drexel, which scored over 80 as a team for a second-straight outing. Sara Woods chipped in six points and three rebounds, Aubree Brown added five points and Kelsi Lidge netted four with three boards and three assists. Casey Davis scored 20 to lead George Mason (7-6).

The first half belonged to three Dragons in particular as Meghan Creighton, Sarah Curran and Bailey Greenberg fueled the offensive success. Early on it was all Curran and Greenberg working the ball inside as Drexel kept pace in a frenetic first quarter. George Mason, which wanted to get into its offense early and crash the offensive glass, was finding success with that strategy but allowing the Dragons' duo to get inside for easy looks on their end. With 4:54 to play in the opening quarter, the Dragons trailed 13-8 after Tayler Dodson converted a lay-up, but landed awkwardly and had to be removed due to injury.

The Patriots still led by three, 19-16, with less than two minutes to play in the first quarter when Meghan Creighton became the first Dragon besides Curran and Creighton to score. She knocked down a three-pointer to knot things up, then did it again to put the Dragons on top, 22-19. After a George Mason score, Creighton's two free throws sent Drexel into the second quarter ahead by three, 24-21.

The game was tied at 26 when Sarah Curran gave Drexel a lead it would not relinquish. Her three-pointer from the top of the key made it 29-26. Following a Kara Wright jumper, the Dragons rattled off 10 straight points, including a pair of Creighton three-pointers, to take control. Though the offense would slow a bit over the final minutes of the half, Drexel maintained a 44-34 edge heading into the break.

Creighton finished the first half with 14 points, hitting her first four from long range and finishing 4-for-6 overall from the floor. Curran added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting while Greenberg scored nine, hitting 4-of-7 including her only three-point attempt. Aubree Brown had four points and Sara Woods and Jessica Pellechio added two apiece.

Drexel built a 16-point edge, its largest of the afternoon, when Pellechio and Curran drained three-pointers to open the second half. The Dragons also relied on their defense, which did not allow a George Mason field goal for 5:47 spanning the second and third quarters as it climbed to that 16-point edge.

The Dragons' lead was 12 when Kelsi Lidge put in a lay-up with 4:18 to play in the third quarter, but the Dragons' offense would stall after that. They went nearly six minutes without a field goal as George Mason methodically cut the Drexel lead to three, 59-56. At long last, Curran knocked down a three-pointer to end the drought with 8:07 remaining that gave the Dragons some breathing room and relieved the tension for Drexel's offense. Curran scored nine straight for Drexel as the Dragons slowly rebuilt the lead.

Mason would not get it back to a one-possession game the rest of the way and the Dragons hit 13 of 17 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Drexel will get right back to work on Wednesday as the Dragons take on Massachusetts in the second day of the Holiday Classic. They can claim at least a share of the event title with a victory, as host FIU will also be playing for a 2-0 tournament when they take on George Mason. The Dragons, who can close out their first undefeated regular season month since Nov., 2010, will tip off against UMass at noon.