Comeback Falls Short for Women's Basketball at James Madison, 54-47

Friday, January 27

Harrisonburg, Va.

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

14-5, 5-3CAA

James Madison

13-6, 6-2CAA

Drexel

JMU

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Comeback Falls Short for Women's Basketball at James Madison, 54-47

1/27/2017 9:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A late comeback gave the Drexel women's basketball team the ball with under a minute to play and a chance to take the lead, but the Dragons could not come up with the bucket they needed and they ultimately fell at James Madison on Friday night, 54-47. The loss drops Drexel (14-5, 5-3) out of a second-place tie with the Dukes (13-6, 6-2). Drexel shot just under 18 percent from the floor in the first half and despite quickly erasing most of a double-digit halftime deficit, could not get over the hump.

Sarah Curran scored 12 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Dragons in both categories. Curran now has exactly 1,400 points, just the 11th Dragon ever to reach that milestone. Bailey Greenberg scored 10 and had a pair of steals. Meghan Creighton and Tereza Kracikova each chipped in six points, with Creighton adding four assists. Aubree Brown netted five points to go along with five rebounds and three steals, and Kelsi Lidge scored four with three helpers, two blocks and two steals.

The game saw a combined 40 turnovers as neither team executed well on the offensive end. James Madison turned it over 21 times, while the Dragons gave it away 19 times.

The first half was an extreme struggle for the Dragons on the offensive end. Drexel turned the ball over 11 times – nearly matching its season average before intermission. When the Dragons were able to take care of the ball, they generally got good looks at the basket, but found themselves unable to finish. Drexel was just 3-for-14 from the field in the first quarter and 2-for-14 in the second, a .179 shooting percentage in the opening 20 minutes. The Dragons scored just seven points in each of the first two quarters, their first two single-digit quarters of the season.

While things could not have looked bleaker on the offensive end, Drexel did not let that impact its defense. The Dragons actually won the turnover battle in the first half, forcing 13 James Madison turnovers. Aubree Brown, who led the team with five points, also paced it with three steals, matching her season high. Nevertheless, the Dukes grinded out a 10-point halftime lead, taking a 24-14 edge into the locker room.

Madison led by nine, 31-22, with 6:17 to play in the third quarter when the Dragons offense finally woke up in earnest. Bailey Greenberg got it started with a three-pointer, and Meghan Creighton followed with one of her own. With 3:32 to play, Greenberg went inside, scored and was fouled, knocking down the free throw to pull the Dragons within two at 31-29. Drexel held the Dukes without a point for 2:56 during that run. Five points from James Madison's Logan Reynolds helped the Dukes maintain their lead, 36-31, heading into the fourth quarter.

Again in the fourth quarter, Drexel allowed the Dukes to get their lead to nine before scoring six straight to make it a one-possession game. After a lay-in by Tereza Kracikova, Sarah Curran and Greenberg worked inside for buckets on consecutive possessions to cut the Dukes' lead to three, 43-40. Kracikova scored again with 3:36 to play, answering a James Madison bucket to make it a 45-42 contest.

With 2:29 to go, Curran nailed a jumper that pulled the Dragons within a point at 45-44. That capped a 10-2 Drexel run, but the Dukes' Precious Hall, who finished with a game-high 17 points, responded with a three-pointer to stretch the lead back out to four.

More than a minute ticked off the clock before Creighton found Curran on the left wing open for a three-pointer that once again had the Dragons down a point with 1:12 to play. On the ensuing JMU possession, Hall drove into the Drexel defense and was called for a charge, giving the Dragons the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

Drexel would ultimately get a pair of looks on the possession, but a three-pointer by Brown hit off the side of the rim, and after a Kracikova offensive board, Lidge's floater in the lane came up short. James Madison would hit all six of its free throws down the stretch, with Drexel unable to connect on its end as the Dukes hung on for the win.

The Dragons will return home for their next game, on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. against Northeastern. That game will be preceded by the team's annual alumni game that morning at 10:45 a.m.