Women's Basketball Storms Back for 69-53 Win on Senior Day

Sunday, February 28

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

16-12, 12-5

William & Mary

15-13, 6-11

William & Mary

Drexel

Photo by: Ryan Samson

Women's Basketball Storms Back for 69-53 Win on Senior Day

2/28/2016 4:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Clamping down defensively when it needed to, the Drexel women's basketball team overcame an early 13-point deficit to defeat William & Mary on Senior Day, 69-53. The win, the 500^th in the Division I history of the program, secured no worse than the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament for the Dragons.

Jessica Pellechio set a season high for a second-consecutive game, netting 21 points and adding five assists. Sarah Curran scored 17 to go along with seven rebounds Jackie Schluth added 12 points, seven boards and a career-high five blocks on her Senior Day. Rachel Pearson, also celebrating her Senior Day, netted eight points and pulled down seven rebounds to go along with three assists. The Dragons' third senior, Carrie Alexander, made her fifth start of the season and scored two points. Meghan Creighton chipped in five points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Dragons (16-12, 12-5) scored the game's first five points, but then went scoreless for 5:42 while William & Mary rattled off 17 consecutive points to take a 17-5 lead. The Tribe (15-13, 6-11) led 20-7 before Drexel's comeback began in earnest, starting with a Curran jumper with 1:11 remaining in the first quarter. Pellechio also knocked down a mid-range shot just before the end of the period to cut the Tribe's lead to single digits.

Pellechio, who scored 20 points in the Dragons' loss at Hofstra on Friday, continued her hot shooting with a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second quarter. Schluth followed with a jumper from just inside the three-point line, a range that proved friendly to her on Sunday as she was 5-for-6 on those attempts.

Suddenly, the Tribe's lead was down to four. Though they righted the ship and held the Dragons at arms' length for much of the second quarter, Drexel's cold spell was over, and the Dragons kept fighting back. With 1:55 to play before halftime, Meghan Creighton slashed to the hoop, finding a wide open lane down the left side to score and pull the Dragons within two. Pellechio followed with a three-pointer, the second of four for her on the afternoon, and Drexel was suddenly back in front.

William & Mary would take a one-point lead into halftime, but the second half belonged to the Dragons. After spotting the Tribe the first three points of the third quarter, Drexel rushed to an 8-0 run, fueled by a pair of Rachel Pearson three-pointers, to take a 37-33 lead. The Dragons briefly trailed 42-41 with 2:09 to play in the third quarter, but other than that, William & Mary's time in front was complete.

Sarah Curran buried a three-pointer from the right wing with 19 seconds to play in the third quarter, putting Drexel back on top by two, 44-42. That trey signaled the beginning of the Dragons' takeover, with Drexel embarking on a 16-0 dash that put the Dragons firmly in control. William & Mary did not score for the first 4:19 of the fourth quarter while Drexel hit its first five shots of the period to take a 57-42 lead. Pellechio contributed five points to the run, with Curran and Creighton adding three-pointers and Schluth knocking down another shot.

The Dragons had not executed smoothly early on and finished with nine turnovers, but shot 56 percent (14-for-25) in the second half and 46.6 percent (27-for-58) for the game. The Dragons were 10-for-25 from long range, the seventh time this year that they have knocked down at least 10 long range shots. Drexel did a solid job on the glass, outrebounding the Tribe 34-32.

The Dragons will conclude the regular season on Wednesday when they visit Towson at 7:00 p.m. A win against the Tigers or a Hofstra loss at Northeastern would give the Dragons the No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament. Currently, Drexel and Hofstra are tied for second place.