Pellechio Nets 1,000th in Bounce-Back Win for Women's Basketball

Sunday, January 8

Boston, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

11-3, 2-1CAA

Northeastern

6-9, 2-1CAA

Drexel

Northeastern

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Pellechio Nets 1,000th in Bounce-Back Win for Women's Basketball

1/8/2017 3:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON – If Friday's was a game the Drexel women's basketball team would just as soon forget, then Sunday's visit to Northeastern provided the Dragons with a game to remember for a number of reasons, most notably the 63-33 victory over the Huskies. The win allowed the Dragons (11-3, 2-1) to keep pace with the 1986-87 squad that got off to the best start in program history, and snapped a four-game winning streak for the Huskies (6-9, 2-1). Drexel came just three points from matching a program record for fewest points allowed, as the 33 points scored by Northeastern marked the lowest total for Dragons opponent since allowing 33 to Towson on Mar. 2, 2016.

Jessica Pellechio scored a game-high 20 points including the 1,000th of her career, making her the 24th player to reach the milestone in a Drexel uniform. Pellechio, who was appearing in her 100th career game, knocked down her first three from long range and finished 6-for-7 overall from deep on the afternoon to give her exactly 100 three-pointers in her Drexel career. Sara Woods, who celebrated her 21st birthday, had a career-high eight rebounds by halftime and ended up doubling her previous best with 10 total boards.

Sarah Curran, making the 100th start of her career in the blue and gold, put together a strong all-around effort with 11 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals. Meghan Creighton added 16 points, putting her over 900 in her career. She was 4-for-7 from long range as Drexel finished 11-for-24 from long range as a team.

Kelsi Lidge and Ana Ferariu each scored four, with Lidge adding three assists and a pair of steals. Aubree Brown and Woods scored three apiece, while Bailey Greenberg added two points and three rebounds.

After the shooting struggles that plagued the Dragons on Friday, they wasted little time moving past that on Sunday. Drexel hit its first four shots from the floor, including a pair of early Jessica Pellechio three-pointers in building a quick 10-5 lead.

Leading by two heading into the second quarter, the Dragons began to pull away thanks to their defense. Drexel forced six Northeastern turnovers in the period and held the Huskies without a point for the first 7:56 of the second quarter and to just two points overall. As was the case on Friday, the Dragons were able to assert themselves on the glass in the second quarter, outrebounding the Huskies 13-6. Sara Woods had eight boards by the end of the first half, already a career high. Meanwhile, Pellechio and Meghan Creighton were powering the offense, with Pellechio finishing the first half with 11 points and Creighton adding 10 to help Drexel to a 32-16 halftime edge.

Pellechio's milestone point came with 44 seconds remaining in the first half when she spotted up from the right corner and drained a three-pointer off a pass from Sarah Curran, her third trey of the day on three attempts. It was her 237th career three-pointer overall, leaving her with 1,001 collegiate points following the bucket. She would finish the game with 1,010.

After holding Northeastern to two points in the second quarter, the Dragons made sure they would not give up control of the game in the third. Bailey Greenberg opened the frame by working inside for a lay-up, then Kelsi Lidge followed a Northeastern hoop with one of her own. Creighton buried another triple with 7:17 to stretch Drexel's lead over 20 for the first time at 39-18. Curran was the next to hit from three, making it 42-20 and prompting a Huskies timeout.

The lead would grow as large as 28 points in the third quarter when Pellechio sank a three-pointer off a feed from Aubree Brown with 1:50 to play. In the fourth, the Dragons methodically built a 33-point edge before settling for the final 30-point margin, their second-largest win of the season.

Drexel has now won eight of its last nine games and is 11-3 on the season, tied with the 1986-87 team for the best 14-game start in program history. That year, the Dragons would ultimately improve to 14-3 and finished 20-7 overall.

The Dragons' win got their season-long three-game road trip off to a good start. They will continue the road swing next Friday night when they head south to make a visit to UNCW. That game tips off at 7:00 p.m. The road trip will conclude next Sunday when Drexel and Elon do battle once again in a 3:00 p.m. game that will be broadcast by the American Sports Network.