Women's Basketball Closes Out Perfect December with 65-47 Win Over UMass

Wednesday, December 28

Miami, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Drexel University

9-2

Massachusetts

6-8

Drexel

UMass

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Closes Out Perfect December with 65-47 Win Over UMass

12/28/2016 1:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MIAMI – The Drexel women's basketball team claimed the FIU Holiday Classic title as the Dragons defeated Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon, 65-47. The win improved the Dragons to 9-2 on the year, their best 11-game start in program history, and capped off a perfect month of December that saw them win six games.

Sarah Curran scored 20 points to lead the Dragons and earn Tournament MVP. Curran, who scored 29 in Drexel's win over George Mason on Tuesday, left herself in position to be named the Tournament MVP depending on the result of the host FIU Panthers' game with George Mason, which followed Drexel's win. Jessica Pellechio added 14 points for the Dragons to earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team, while Sara Woods finished one shy of her career high with seven points. She added five rebounds. Meghan Creighton chipped in six points, four boards and two assists and also was named to the All-Tournament Team after 23 points and seven assists over the two games.

Aubree Brown and Kelsi Lidge led the team with four helpers. Brown added four points and five rebounds, and Lidge had six points, three rebounds and five of Drexel's 14 steals. The Dragons forced 19 Massachusetts turnovers and turned those into 22 points while committing just 11 themselves, allowing seven points to the Minutewomen off turnovers. Bailey Greenberg and Ana Ferariu also scored four.

The first half did not go as smoothly as the Dragons would have liked. Playing a second game in less than 24 hours, the Dragons took some time to get their legs underneath them as they started 1-for-12 from long range before hitting five of their last 10 in the opening half. That included a 30-footer from Kelsi Lidge at the buzzer that gave Drexel a 32-27 halftime edge. Sarah Curran provided the bulk of Drexel's offense with 13 points in the opening half, adding four rebounds and two assists.

Drexel also improved as it committed to rebounding, something that was also slow to show itself. The Dragons were outdone 15-5 on the glass in the first quarter but pulled down 13 rebounds to UMass' six in the second. Drexel had seven offensive boards, all in the second quarter, turning those into nine second-chance points. With shots not falling at their usual rate, the improved rebounding was critical to the Dragons grabbing that halftime lead.

Lidge's half-ending three-pointer started a 10-2 Drexel run that gave the Dragons some breathing room at the beginning of the third quarter. The period opened with Meghan Creighton knocking down a three-pointer. After the Minutewomen scored two minutes later, Curran scored four straight points to make it a 39-29 game with 6:40 to play.

Massachusetts briefly cut the lead down to five after a Hailey Leidel three-pointer with 4:13 remaining in the third, but Jessica Pellechio took over from there. The senior sharpshooter scored nine points for Drexel over the remainder of the third quarter. Sara Woods added a jumper that helped the Dragons take a 14-point edge into the fourth quarter. The lead grew as high as 22 points before the game ended.

Drexel's win ensured it a perfect month of December, as the Dragons went 6-0 including four victories away from the confines of the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the Dragons' first undefeated month during the regular season since going 5-0 in November to start the 2010-11 season. Meghan Creighton closed the month with just two assists, but once again did not record a turnover and now has gone five full games – and 178 minutes of court time – without a giveaway.

The Dragons will return to Philadelphia, where they will open Colonial Athletic Association play next Monday against Towson. That game will tip at 2:00 p.m. at the DAC as part of the year's second doubleheader with the men. Drexel will also host Elon the following Friday before making its first road trip of the conference slate.