Late Run Pushes Women's Basketball By Northeastern in Semis, 58-45

Friday, March 11

Upper Marlboro, Md.

4:00 p.m.

Drexel University

19-12

Northeastern

15-16

Northeastern

Drexel

Photo by: CAA/Rafael Suanes

Late Run Pushes Women's Basketball By Northeastern in Semis, 58-45

3/11/2016 6:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - The Drexel women's basketball team will return to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game as the Dragons defeated Northeastern on Friday evening at the Show Place Arena, 58-45. The second-seeded Dragons outlasted the sixth-seeded Huskies in a tight game, using a late 12-0 run to break a 40-40 tie in the fourth quarter and pull away with the victory.

Jessica Pellechio led the Dragons (19-12) with 14 points and six rebounds, hitting four three-pointers to match a program receord for a CAA game. Sarah Curran added 12 points and four assists, with Jackie Schluth and Rachel Pearson each scoring eight. Kelsi Lidge added six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, with Meghan Creighton also scoring six to go along with three assists and three boards.

The Dragons will face top-seeded James Madison in the title game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at the Show Place Arena. Drexel will be making its fourth CAA championship game appearance and second against the Dukes, the team the Dragons beat in 2009 to capture their first league crown.

Drexel saw a double-digit first-half lead slip away in the third quarter. The Huskies scored the first seven points of the period to turn a 31-25 halftime lead for the Dragons into a 32-31 Northeastern lead. WIth 6:57 to play in the third, Pellechio got the Dragons their first points of the second half with a three that nudged the Dragons back in front, 34-32. Though the Huskies would keep the game tight, they never led again.

Northeastern did, however, knot things up at 40 with 7:35 to play in the fourth quarter when Te'Erica Eason hit one of two from the free throw line. On the ensuing possession, Alexis Smith found Pellechio from the top of the key for a three-pointer that put the Dragons back on top. Then, the defense ramped up the pressure. Northeastern would turn the ball over seven times in a span of 4:17 as Drexel raced out to a 12-0 run that all but sealed its berth in the championship game. Schluth, who picked up her fourth foul just after Pellechio's three that put Drexel in front, nonetheless played a pivotal role in the Dragons' push. She played tough clean defense on the inside, then got the ball down low and fed a nifty interior pass to Curran for a short jumper that stretched the lead out to five. After Northeastern inbounded, Schluth harrassed Northeastern's freshman point guard Jess Genco and came up with a steal, which led to another Pellechio three-pointer that stretched the lead to eight with 4:58 to play.

The Huskies called a timeout after the trey, Pellechio's fourth of the evening, but the Drexel defense kept up the pressure. A steal by Kelsi Lidge turned into a Lidge lay-up off a feed from Creighton, and after the Huskies threw the ball away under the hoop, Creighton found Curran for a bucket that gave Drexel its largest lead of the day to that point, 52-40. The Dragons would wrap things up with hoops from Pearson and an up-and-under scoop from Curran, along with a pair of Smith free throws.

It did not look like the game would be tight early on. The Dragons got off to one of their best starts of the year, hitting six of their first 10 from the floor. Curran and Schluth each contributed a pair of jumpers, and Pellechio and Pearson knocked down back-to-back three-pointers that put the Dragons ahead 14-4 and prompted a quick Northeastern timeout. Creighton added a pair of three-pointers before the end of the first quarter to put Drexel on top 20-9, its highest-scoring first quarter since Jan. 29 and largest lead after one period since Jan. 17.

Led by the All-Rookie point guard Genco and First Teamer Samantha DeFreese, the Huskies chipped away. It started with an 8-0 run early in the second quarter, cutting the Dragons' lead to three. Lidge ended a scoring drought of more than five minutes with a lay-up, and Pearson hit a much-needed three-pointer in the final minute of the second quarter to help Drexel take a 31-25 lead into the locker room.

Drexel's win, coupled with James Madison's victory in the first semifinal of the day against fifth-seeded Delaware, sets up a rematch of the 2009 CAA title game. The Dragons were the top seed in that one, but had to win the championship on James Madison's home court, 64-58. thanks to a perfect 14-for-14 day at the free throw line by then-junior Gabriela Marginean.

Saturday's matchup also ensures postseason play for the Dragons, who will be making their seventh postseason appearance in the last eight years. A win gives Drexel the CAA's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which would be the Dragons' second NCAA appearance, after 2009. If James Madison prevails, the second-seeded Dragons would earn the league's automatic bid to the WNIT.

The title game tips off at 4:00 p.m. at the Show Place Arena, which will be hosting its final CAA Tournament game after playing host for every event since 2011. Fans who cannot make the trip down to Maryland can catch the action on Comcast SportsNet.