Women's Basketball Tripped Up By First-Place James Madison, 59-55

Friday, February 12

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

12-11, 8-4

James Madison

17-5, 10-1

James Madison

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Tripped Up By First-Place James Madison, 59-55

2/12/2016 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – A game that pitted two of the Colonial Athletic Association's best going toe-to-toe ended in controversy as the second-place Drexel women's basketball team led most of the night but fell to the first-place James Madison Dukes, 59-55. The Dragons withstood a James Madison charge early in the second half that tightened what had the makings of a Drexel blowout, maintaining a lead despite mounting foul trouble for some of their playmakers. Ultimately, they saw their advantage drift away in a flurry of foul calls including a late technical as the first-place James Madison Dukes came from behind to squeak out a 59-55 win over the Dragons.

Sarah Curran put together her second-career double-double in the losing effort for the Dragons (12-11, 8-4), leading all scorers with 22 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Curran and Jackie Schluth, who scored a season-high 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, powered a Drexel offense which built an 18-point first-half lead. That marked the largest deficit faced by the two-time defending CAA champion Dukes in any league game since Drexel led by 19 in the Dragons' CAA semifinal victory over James Madison in 2013.

Preseason CAA Player of the Year Jazmon Gwathmey was held to just two points in that first half, but made her presence felt down the stretch. She ensured that James Madison took advantage of its opportunities late, going 5-for-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter, including her only three-pointer of the night. She finished with 19 points, 13 of which came in the final 10 minutes.

The Dragons did what they needed to do defensively, particularly in the first half. Despite the Dukes' size advantage, Drexel swarmed James Madison's interior players and forced some hurried looks from outside. Over a period of 8:50 spanning the first and second quarters, Drexel held the Dukes to just one field goal, a Logan Reynolds three-pointer with 2:56 to play in the first. Meanwhile, Drexel turned a 6-4 edge into a 24-7 cushion, capping that extended 18-3 run with a Curran three-pointer that prompted a James Madison timeout. Jackie Schluth had six points during that run and 10 for the game by the end of it as she was deadly from 15 feet, a shot for which the Dukes' defense had no answer.

Though the James Madison timeout settled the Dukes offensively, Drexel kept firing on its end. The Dragons led by as many as 18 points when Sara Woods hit a runner with 5:09 to play in the half, making it a 28-10 Drexel margin.

James Madison began to cut into the deficit just before halftime. With 16 seconds to play, Schluth hit another jumper that put Drexel ahead 36-20. Racing down the court, Angela Mickens scored and was fouled with just under seven ticks remaining. She missed the free throw, but the Dukes ran down the offensive board and got the ball to Kayla Cooper Williams under the bucket for two more points, sending the game to intermission with Drexel ahead by 12, 36-24.

The double digit lead did not last long when the teams emerged from the locker rooms. James Madison opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run capped by a Hailee Barron three-pointer, slicing Drexel's lead to 36-32 with 7:16 remaining in the period. Sarah Curran stemmed the tide with a short jumper after the Dragons called timeout, but James Madison kept up the pressure.

Aiding the Dukes' comeback was foul trouble that mounted in the third quarter as both Schluth and Meghan Creighton, the Drexel point guard who would finish with four assists against no turnovers, sat for much of the period with three fouls each. Despite missing that firepower on the court, the Dragons managed to maintain a lead, which was 44-41 as the fourth quarter opened.

Although the fourth quarter began with the pace that Drexel wanted to establish, the Dragons could not take advantage of another James Madison drought to extend its lead. Drexel would hold the Dukes without a point for the quarter's first 3:21, but scored just three itself during that frame to lead 47-41. Gwathmey got the Dukes on the board with a jumper with 6:39 to play, and had the score tied less than a minute later. James Madison took a brief two-point lead before Schluth answered with a lay-up just five seconds after the Dukes had taken the lead.

The two teams seesawed back and forth until 1:24 remained when Sarah Curran drove to the hoop and nailed a tough bucket underneath to even the score at 53 apiece. She drew significant contact on the play but no foul was called. As play moved upcourt, the official nearest the benches wheeled and called a technical foul on Drexel head coach Denise Dillon, saying that the coach – who was squatting by the Drexel bench when the foul was called – had chased him up the court to contest the lack of a foul on Curran's bucket. With 1:15 remaining on the clock, Gwathmey hit two free throws, then sank the dagger 20 seconds later on a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it a five-point game, the Dukes' largest lead of the night.

Jessica Pellechio willed in an acrobatic lay-up with 43 seconds remaining to cut the margin back to three, but the Dragons were called for another foul on the ensuing James Madison possession. Da'Lishia Griffin hit one of her two free throws to make it a two-possession game, and two late Drexel attempts came up short as the Dragons fell for a second-consecutive game.

The loss was the Dragons' first at home at the Daskalakis Athletic Center since an overtime defeat at the hands of Northeastern on Jan. 8.

Despite the gut-wrenching loss, the Dragons will have to recover quickly to get back on a winning track. Drexel will host UNCW on Sunday afternoon. That game will tip off at 1:00 p.m., an hour earlier than the Dragons' customary Sunday start time. Drexel will be looking for the season sweep of the Seahawks after pulling away for a 71-57 victory in Wilmington last Friday.