Women's Basketball Goes Cold in 49-46 Loss at College of Charleston

Sunday, February 7

Charleston, S.C.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

12-10; 8-3

College of Charleston

9-12; 4-6

Drexel

Col. of Charleston

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Goes Cold in 49-46 Loss at College of Charleston

2/7/2016 3:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Drexel women's basketball team never got its offense going as its six-game winning streak came to an end thanks to a 49-46 defeat at the College of Charleston on Sunday afternoon. Drexel scored just 19 points after halftime and the host Cougars knocked down three free throws with just over a second remaining to grab the victory.

The Dragons shot just 28.6 percent from the floor (18-for-63), but played solid defense that kept them in position to escape with the victory. They forced 13 turnovers by the Cougars while committing just four, but ultimately their inability to see the ball go through the basket cost them. Drexel was held to just one free throw over the last 4:34 of the game.

Meghan Creighton scored 10 points to lead the Dragons, adding five rebounds. Rachel Pearson, whose buzzer-beating attempt to tie was tipped and deflected offline, finished with eight points and six boards. Jackie Schluth also scored eight, while Sarah Curran and Alexis Smith added six apiece. Curran finished with six rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

A lot went right for the Dragons in the first half, but one of the few things that did not was putting the ball in the basket. Drexel opened just 3-for-20 from the floor in the first quarter and missed its first two to open the second, but found itself down just 11-6 after clamping down on the defensive end. The Dragons forced five turnovers by the Cougars in the first half and committed just one themselves. Drexel went 7:34 without a point in a stretch spanning the first and second quarters, but held Charleston without a field goal for 7:39 over the same stretch. The Dragons also held their own on the glass, where both teams pulled down 20 first half-boards and the Dragons held a 9-6 offensive rebound edge.

With 7:44 remaining in the first half and Drexel trailing 11-6, Rachel Pearson knocked down the team's first three-pointer of the afternoon, breaking that long scoreless drought for the Dragons. After a stop on the defensive end, Sarah Curran hit a turnaround jumper to bring the team even. The Cougars responded with a Jackie Luna-Castro three-pointer, but Alexis Smith responded in kind on the other end, hitting from several feet beyond the arc on the right side.

Kelsey Booth knocked down a jumper at the 5:45 mark that briefly gave Charleston a 16-14 lead, but the Dragons' offense had awoken. Curran scored to pull Drexel back even, and Meghan Creighton stepped into a three-pointer from the left wing that put Drexel on top for the first time, 19-16, with 3:10 remaining in the half. A Sara Woods putback and a second Creighton trey would cap a 10-0 Drexel run which put the Dragons ahead by eight. Charleston would once again experience a prolonged drought from the floor, going without a point for 5:35 while Drexel grabbed a 27-18 halftime edge.

The offense did not maintain the rhythm it found late in the first half after intermission. For a third time, the Dragons held the Cougars without a field goal for at least five minutes as Charleston did not convert from the floor over a 5:00 stretch in the third quarter, but they did get to the line and convert four times while Drexel struggled offensively. The Dragons led briefly by 11 early in the third quarter, but saw that lead dwindle to two, 38-36, when Jackie Luna-Castro ended the Cougars' scoring drought at the buzzer heading to the fourth quarter.

Jackie Schluth opened the fourth with a jumper that made it a four-point lead, but that would be as comfortable as it would get for the Dragons the rest of the way. Charleston scored six straight to regain a lead at 42-40, and Schluth's two free throws at the 5:48 mark evened the score. After another Cougars bucket, Creighton nailed her third trey of the afternoon with 4:34 to play, ending a Drexel field goal outage of 5:08. That put the Dragons ahead 45-44, which would ultimately prove to be their final lead of the evening.

The score was tied at 46 as Charleston took the ball upcourt with the shot clock off late in regulation. Drexel had just one foul in the quarter at that point and took two to disrupt Charleston's offense. With six seconds to play, the Cougars inbounded the ball and whipped it around the arc. Luna-Castro found herself hoisting a shot with 1.1 seconds to play, and the Dragons were called for a foul on the shot as it fell short. She hit all three from the line, part of a 12-for-12 performance at the charity stripe by the Cougars. Drexel called its final timeout to advance the ball and Pearson had a good look from straight on, but it was deflected and the Dragons saw their winning streak come to an end.

Things won't get easier for the Dragons on Friday, though they will return home to open a season-high three-game homestand. That will open with first-place James Madison on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. as Drexel will try to pull back within a half game of the Dukes.