Women’s Basketball Drops Close CAA Contest to Elon on Friday

Friday, January 6

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

10-3, 1-1

Elon

10-4, 2-0

Elon

Drexel

Women’s Basketball Drops Close CAA Contest to Elon on Friday

1/6/2017 8:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The seven-game winning streak of the Drexel women's basketball team has come to an end as the Dragons fell to Elon on Friday night, 48-45. Drexel shot just 29 percent from the floor and was plagued by turnovers, falling for the first time since Nov. 27 and the first time all season at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Sarah Curran scored 15 points to lead the Dragons, but was the only Drexel player in double figures. She accounted for seven of the team's season-low 15 field goals and added six rebounds. As a team, the Dragons turned the ball over 17 times, four more than the Phoenix as Drexel gave the ball away more times than its opponent for just the second time this season. Drexel did have perhaps its best rebounding performance of the season, pulling down 39 rebounds compared to 25 for Elon, but it was a late putback by Elon's Shay Burnett that provided the go-ahead points for Elon with 31 seconds to play.

The game seemed to follow a pattern, as both teams struggled from the floor. In each quarter, one team built a modest early lead only to see the other suffocate them on defense the rest of the way and claw back in it. In the first half, it was Drexel clamping down on defense and overcoming an Elon cushion that was a large as seven in the first quarter. The Dragons led at the end of the first and second quarters.

The offense briefly clicked for Drexel in the early minutes of the third quarter as Drexel built its largest lead, 29-24. However, the Dragons were held scoreless over the last 5:58 of the third and then again without a field goal over the final 5:26 of the contest. Jessica Pellechio, who finished with eight points, knocked down a pair of free throws with 2:39 to play that gave the Dragons a 45-43 lead and they still clung to a 45-44 lead with 31 seconds to play when Burnett put the Phoenix ahead with her putback of an airball. Her free throws also provided the final margin after an empty Drexel possession as she finished with a double double, 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Pellechio added six rebounds and a steal to her eight points as Drexel did not let its offensive struggles hamper its defensive effort. The Dragons grabbed 18 rebounds and outdid Elon 14-8 in second chance points. Meghan Creighton added eight points, three assists and two steals, while Kelsi Lidge scored just two but pulled down nine rebounds. Lidge, who also drew a charge on the defensive end, added a block, three steals and three assists to her gritty line. Sara Woods scored six off the bench including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. The Dragons did find success there, hitting all 11 of their attempts at the stripe. Aubree Brown and Bailey Greenberg each chipped in two points, as did Ana Ferariu who scored on a coast-to-coast lay-up as the first half buzzer sounded. She added four rebounds.

Drexel will have little time to digest the loss, as the Dragons hit the road for a season-long three-game road swing beginning Sunday at Northeastern at 2:00 p.m. The road trip will also include the Dragons' rematch with Elon, as the teams reconvene in North Carolina next Sunday afternoon.