Women's Basketball Moves Onto Semifinals with 71-54 Triumph Over Towson

Thursday, March 10

Upper Marlboro, Md.

5:00 p.m.

Drexel University

18-12

Towson

7-24

TOWSON

Drexel

Photo by: CAA/Rafael Suanes

Women's Basketball Moves Onto Semifinals with 71-54 Triumph Over Towson

3/10/2016 7:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – The Drexel women's basketball team did not need its best effort to defeat Towson twice during the regular season. On Thursday afternoon in the Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals, the Dragons' best was required, and they delivered. Towson came out hot and led for most of the first half, but the Dragons put together their best shooting performance of the season en route to a 71-54 victory over the Tigers at the Show Place Arena.

The victory propelled the Dragons (18-12) to their sixth-ever appearance in the CAA semifinals, and their fourth in the last five seasons. They will take on the winner of Thursday's late game, pitting No. 3 Hofstra against No. 6 Northeastern, on Friday at 4:00 p.m. for a berth in the championship.

Sarah Curran scored 17 points to lead the Dragons, going 8-for-12 from the floor and adding five rebounds and three assists. Meghan Creighton scored 16, including a program-record tying four three-pointers. She also dished out six assists while going 5-for-7 from the floor. Kelsi Lidge added 13 points off the bench, a career high as she was 4-for-5 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Rachel Pearson added seven points and five rebounds for the Dragons, while Jackie Schluth chipped in six points, five rebounds, five assists and a block.

Jessica Pellechio had six points on a pair of much-needed three-pointers with the Dragons trailing in the second quarter. Alexis Smith also had five first-half points that helped keep the Dragons afloat as the Tigers started strong.

The Dragons were 27-for-48 from the floor, a season-best 56.3 percent. It was also the Dragons' best shooting performance in any CAA Tournament game since the school joined the league. Creighton's four three-pointers matched a Drexel individual record for treys in a CAA Tournament game, a mark shared now by seven Dragons.

Just a week after racing past the Tigers by 41 in Towson in the regular season finale, the Dragons did not get off to the same quick start on Thursday. Towson netted the game's first five points and, though Sarah Curran responded with five straight and Rachel Pearson cut inside for two to put Drexel on top, the Dragons could not find their touch from outside in the first quarter. The Dragons hit just one of eight from long range in the opening period, while Towson was 3-for-6.

Though the Dragons did start to heat up from distance in the second quarter as three different players helped them go 4-for-6 from beyond the arc in the period, their defense was uncharacteristically slow to get back. Towson beat the Dragons down the court for some easy lay-ups, and continued finding open shooters when the Dragons did shut down the interior. With just under four minutes to play before halftime, the Tigers were shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and from long range as Drexel trailed, 29-25.

A timeout gave the Dragons a chance to breathe and adjust, though, and they fought back. Jackie Schluth provided the offense, stepping into three consecutive 15-footers that left the teams tied at 31 with 1:34 to play. After a stop on the defensive end, the Dragons found Curran underneath for a bucket, putting the Dragons on top by two, 33-31, a lead they would take into the locker room.

Bringing that slim lead into the third quarter, the Dragons began to assert themselves. Curran opened the scoring with a baby hook, then Rachel Pearson scored five straight for the Dragons. Towson continued to hit though, particularly from long range where Dominique Johnson finished the day 5-for-7 for the Tigers. Leading by two with 4:49 to play in the quarter, the Dragons turned to Creighton, who dribbled upcourt and found herself left alone at the top of the key. She drained the three-pointer and pushed the lead back to five.

With Kelsi Lidge beginning to assert herself down low, finding open space in the Tigers' defense for six points down the stretch, Drexel took a 53-46 lead into the fourth quarter. Towson responded, as Brittany Tarr had a pair of buckets to start the fourth and slash Drexel's lead to three, 53-50.

At that point, Drexel buckled down and moved to put the game away. It began with a pair of Creighton three-pointers, turning the three-point edge into a nine-point margin in just 43 seconds. After Tarr and Lidge traded baskets, Creighton took advantage of the attention Towson was giving her outside to blow past her defender for an easy lay-up. That made it 63-52 with 4:39 to play, and the Dragons led by double figures the rest of the way.

Drexel closed the game on an 18-3 run to close out the tenth-seeded Tigers, who had defeated William & Mary in the CAA Tournament opening round on Wednesday. The Dragons, who were outrebounded on the day 26-25, asserted themselves against the tiring Tigers in the fourth quarter with 12 boards compared to just five for Towson.

The Dragons will be back in action on Friday at 4:00 p.m. as they take on Hofstra or Northeastern in the second semifinal of the day. Top-seeded James Madison, which survived a scare from No. 8 College of Charleston, will take on No. 5 Delaware in the other side of the bracket. Both games will air Comcast SportsNet.