Dillon Becomes Program's Winningest Coach in NYE Win over Hofstra, 47-38

Sunday, December 31

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2 p.m.

Drexel University

10-4 (2-0)

Hofstra

6-7 (0-2)

HOFSTRA

DREXEL

Photo by: Kevin Rossi

Dillon Becomes Program's Winningest Coach in NYE Win over Hofstra, 47-38

12/31/2017 3:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – December has been a month to remember for the Drexel women's basketball team over the past two years. After a perfect 6-0 mark in the last month of 2016, the Dragons closed out 2017 with a 7-1 record after a 47-38 victory over Hofstra at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Sara Woods came up with her first career double double in a defensive-focused game which saw Drexel lead nearly the entire way for a third consecutive game.

The victory improved the Dragons to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in Colonial Athletic Association play. It also was the 265th victory in the head coaching career of Denise Dillon, making her the winningest coach in Drexel women's basketball history. Dillon, already the program's all-time leader in Division I victories, surpassed the mark of 264 overall wins set by Lil Haas from 1963-92, which included 120 victories before the Dragons moved to Division I in 1982.

Woods finished with game highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Dragons, the senior's first double double. She added four assists, also a game high. All three numbers tied career highs for the senior. Hannah Nihill netted 11 points including eight in the first half to help fuel a Dragons' offense that was struggling early on. She grabbed six rebounds, a personal best, along with two assists and a block.

Aubree Brown added eight points and Bailey Greenberg had six with four rebounds. Tereza Kracikova added four points and Eline Maesschalck and Ana Ferariu each chipped in two. The 47 total points were the fewest in a victory for Drexel and its second-lowest total of the season, but the Dragons held Hofstra to 38 points on 31.9 percent shooting to make up for the offensive issues.

The defenses took center stage from the jump, with both teams struggling to find a rhythm from the floor in the first quarter. The Dragons and Pride each shot just 2-for-10 from the floor in the first quarter. Drexel got to the free throw line six times and converted on five, helping build a 9-6 edge after the first.

Midway through the second quarter, Sara Woods knocked down back-to-back buckets that expanded the Dragons' lead to 16-8 and prompted a timeout by Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Stevesky. To that point, 14 of Drexel's 16 points had been scored by Woods and Hannah Nihill, with Woods netting six and Nihill scoring eight to keep the Dragons on top. Ana Ferariu's two free throws had been the only exception, but after the timeout the Dragons forced a Hofstra turnover and found Aubree Brown for a three-pointer from the left corner to make it a 19-8 game.

Bailey Greenberg added four points late in the half to help Drexel take a 23-12 cushion into intermission. The 12 points scored by Hofstra marked the lowest total by a Drexel opponent in the first half thus far this season.

Finding ways to score continued to be a struggle for the Dragons after halftime, but while Drexel forced just four second-half turnovers, the Dragons kept up the defensive pressure and made Hofstra earn every point. The Pride gradually chipped away in the fourth quarter, getting to within five with 1:04 to play in the period, but Tereza Kracikova finished after an offensive rebound by Aubree Brown to send Drexel into the fourth quarter up by seven, 33-26.

The Dragons led by nine midway through the fourth quarter before a three-pointer by Aleana Leon, one of just four treys hit by the Pride on the afternoon, trimmed the lead to six. That would be as close as Hofstra would get down the stretch as Drexel responded with a layup by Brown and two free throws from Eline Maesschalck to rebuild a double-digit lead.

Drexel improved to 6-0 at home this season with the victory. The Dragons will now have to head on the road, though, as they prepare for a swing through Virginia next weekend. Drexel will visit William & Mary on Friday evening at 7 p.m. followed by a visit to James Madison on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.