Women's Basketball Handled By No. 11 West Virginia, 75-42

Friday, November 24

Melbourne, Fla.

3:30 p.m.

Drexel University

2-3

No. 11/13 West Virginia

5-0

West Virginia

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Handled By No. 11 West Virginia, 75-42

11/24/2017 5:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MELBOURNE, Fla. – For a second consecutive season, the Drexel women's basketball team found itself with a late-November date against the No. 11 team in the nation. Unlike last year's upset victory over Syracuse, however, this year's meeting saw the Dragons handled by No. 11 West Virginia on the second day of the Paradise Jam, 75-42.

Kelsi Lidge continued her strong play at the Paradise Jam with a career-high 16 points and three steals in 34 minutes of work. Lidge was 5-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc. She is now 10-for-12 from the field overall in two days at the tournament. Lidge's 4-for-4 day from beyond the arc tied a Paradise Jam tournament record originally established when K.C. Cowgill of Southwest Missouri State went 4-for-4 against James Madison in the 2003 edition of the tournament.

Sara Woods added nine points, while Aubree Brown was held to single digits for the first time this season with five. She also grabbed five rebounds and had three steals. Hannah Nihill scored four with a pair of assists, while Bailey Greenberg and Tereza Kracikova each netted three. Ana Ferariu chipped in two to round out the Dragons' scoring. Drexel shot just 30.2 percent from the floor (13-for-43) and turned the ball over 24 times while West Virginia shot 56.0 percent (28-for-50).

The two teams played a tight first quarter, with Drexel trailing by three before the Mountaineers scored four straight in the final minute to take a 20-13 lead. The teams combined for 10 turnovers, five apiece, as both squads played high-pressure defense. The difference came as West Virginia managed to knock down 8 of 16 attempts from the floor and scored five off offensive rebounds while the Dragons were just 5-for-13.

West Virginia kept up the pressure defense in the second quarter, and began to pull away. The Dragons were pushed into nine turnovers in the quarter, and while they created six Mountaineer giveaways on the defensive end, it was of little help as the Dragons were just 3-for-7 from the floor for a season-low eight points.

The Mountaineers kept up the pace out of the intermission, hitting six of their first 10 from the floor in building a 52-28 lead with 4:22 to play in the third. The Dragons, meanwhile, knocked down their first shot attempt of the quarter – a three-pointer by Hannah Nihill – and missed the next eight, as West Virginia led 61-30 at the end of the third.

The Dragons wound up forcing West Virginia into 21 turnovers, the third time this season that Drexel has forced an opponent into more than 20 turnovers. Nevertheless, the Dragons gave up easy buckets to the Mountaineers when they couldn't take the ball away, and managed just eight points off those 21 West Virginia giveaways while the Mountaineers scored 27 off Drexel's 24 turnovers. Saturday's loss was the largest margin of defeat for the Dragons since a 90-57 defeat at the hands of Old Dominion on Feb. 24, 2002.

Drexel will wrap up its stay in Florida and will attempt to salvage a victory in the Paradise Jam on Saturday afternoon when the Dragons take on Butler. That game tips off at 3:30 p.m.