Women’s Basketball Holds Off Charleston in Friday Night Victory

Friday, January 20

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

13-4, 4-2

College of Charleston

5-12, 2-4

COLL. OF CHARLESTON

Drexel

Women’s Basketball Holds Off Charleston in Friday Night Victory

1/20/2017 8:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Using a balanced offensive attack and a strong night from the bench, the Drexel women's basketball team led wire to wire in defeating the College of Charleston at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Friday night, 70-57. The win improved the Dragons to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

A season-high eight players scored at least seven points for Drexel, although none topped the 10 points put up by Sarah Curran. Sara Woods matched her career high with eight points off the bench and Tereza Kracikova did the same with her seven points. Woods had five steals, also a personal best, and five rebounds. As a team, Drexel came up with 12 steals and forced 28 College of Charleston turnovers, the most by a Drexel opponent this season.

Meghan Creighton went 3-for-5 from long range to finish with nine points. She also had three assists, including the 500th of her collegiate career. She became just the second Dragon in program history to reach that milestone and trails only Barbara Yost (584) in the Drexel record books. Jessica Pellechio also hit a trio of three-pointers to net nine points. Kelsi Lidge finished with seven points, four rebounds and five assists. Bailey Greenberg scored seven, all in the first quarter, and added five rebounds and a block.

Ana Ferariu chipped in four points off the bench, and Megan Marecic scored two with three rebounds.

The Dragons led the entire game, but were pushed by the Cougars throughout much of the contest. Early on, it was Bailey Greenberg taking over the offense and scoring seven of Drexel's first 10 points to give the Dragons a 10-4 lead. It was 15-6 with 1:54 remaining in the first quarter when Breanna Bolden, who would finish with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Cougars, knocked down a jumper that started a 5-0 Charleston run to end the opening period.

The second quarter began with a 13-4 Drexel run, fueled primarily by the Dragons' bench. With 7:44 to play before halftime and the offense stagnating, head coach Denise Dillon pulled a line change, switching all five players on the floor. Off the ensuing inbounds pass from Aubree Brown, Sara Woods paid early dividends on that decision with an easy bucket. That duo, along with Tereza Kracikova, would account for Drexel's next 11 points as the Dragons turned a six-point lead into a 13-point cushion.

Charleston would fight back in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Again, Bolden provided the spark, hitting the first of two-straight three-pointers for the Cougars to turn that double-digit lead into a five-point Drexel edge by intermission. The Dragons were held to just one basket – a three-pointer from Jessica Pellechio – over the final 3:57 of the half.

Four times during the first five-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, the Cougars cut Drexel's lead down even further to three points. But every time, the Dragons had an answer. First it was Meghan Creighton draining a three with 6:36 to play in the period, giving Drexel a 38-32 edge. After a Charleston trey on the next possession, Kelsi Lidge buried a three-pointer on a feed from Creighton to once again stretch the lead to six.

With 4:23 remaining, Bolden knocked down another triple to once again make it a three-point game, but that would be as close as the Cougars would get the rest of the night. Brown responded with a three of her own and after a Sarah Curran jumper, Kracikova scored three straight to push the lead back to double digits. Just before the end of the third quarter, Creighton found Pellechio open for three more, making it a 53-41 lead at the time and giving Creighton the 500th assist of her career.

The Cougars scored the final bucket of the third quarter and opened the fourth with another jumper that made it an eight-point game, but Creighton responded with her third triple of the evening, giving Drexel a double-digit lead it would not relinquish. The Dragons led by as many as 17 midway through the final quarter before the game settled into the final 13-point margin.

The Dragons will continue their home weekend on Sunday afternoon. Drexel hosts Hofstra at the DAC at 2:00 p.m.