Women's Basketball Mounts Furious Comeback for 66-65 Win at Niagara

Thursday, December 7

Niagara Falls, N.Y.

2 p.m.

Drexel University

6-3

Niagara

1-8

Drexel

Niagara

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Mounts Furious Comeback for 66-65 Win at Niagara

12/7/2017 5:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – On a day that did not look like anything was going to go their way, the young Drexel women's basketball team kept fighting and was rewarded with an improbable 66-65 comeback victory on Thursday afternoon at Niagara. The win was capped by a three-pointer from Megan Marecic in the final seconds to give Drexel its first and only lead of the fourth quarter with six seconds to play.

The Dragons trailed by nine with just over two minutes to play and by five with 22 seconds left, but put memories of a lackluster shooting day in the rearview mirror as they hit four of their game total of nine threes in the final 2:03 of play. Drexel also forced five Niagara turnovers in that span, finishing off a solid day on the defensive end that kept the Dragons competitive despite their shooting woes.

Kelsi Lidge finished with a game-high 23 points, a personal best and the first 20-point effort in the careers of anyone on the Dragons' roster. She added six rebounds, six steals and five assists in 40 full minutes, the second consecutive game in which she's gone the distance. Bailey Greenberg also set a career high with 17 points, notching her second career double double with 10 rebounds. Greenberg also had a double double in last year's win over Niagara at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Marecic, who provided the highlight with her three from the left wing to give the Dragons the win, finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three steals. It was her fourth consecutive game in double figures.

Drexel shot just 32.4 percent from the floor on Thursday, going 22-for-68. The Dragons were also just 9-for-30 from long range (30.0 percent), but went 6-for-9 from the floor with four treys in the final 2:03.

Niagara held a nine-point lead, 58-49, after a lay-up with 2:13 to play. In trouble on the ensuing possession, the Dragons called a timeout and drew up a play for Marecic, who missed the three but followed her own miss for a critical offensive rebound. After another miss it was Lidge's turn to crash the glass. She dished it back to Marecic, who found Hannah Nihill for a three, her only points of the afternoon. Seconds later, Lidge nabbed a steal after the Purple Eagles' inbounds pass and drove to the hoop, scoring and drawing a foul that would lead to an old-fashioned three-point play.

Suddenly, Niagara's nine-point lead was down to three with 1:33 to play. Despite a timeout called by the Purple Eagles, they turned the ball over again with a five-second violation on the next inbounds play. This time, Aubree Brown fed Lidge for the bucket to pull the Dragons within a point. Just 35 seconds after trailing by nine, the Dragons had pulled to within one.

The Dragons' comeback effort took a major blow with 1:19 to play when Victoria Rampado, who led the Purple Eagles with 17 points, stepped into a three-pointer from the right side to extend Niagara's lead to 61-57. It was on life support when the Dragons missed two three-point attempts on the other end and Niagara made a free throw with 53 seconds to play to get the lead back to five. But on Drexel's next possession, Marecic stroked a three-pointer to draw a pulse with 35 ticks remaining.

Amazingly, Niagara would get its lead back to five before the Dragons made their final push. Jamie Sherburne hit one of two from the line after the Dragons fouled the inbounds pass and Kaylee Stroemple knocked down a pair with 22 seconds remaining after Drexel was tagged with an offensive foul.

Drexel made it a two-point game again with 16 seconds to go when Lidge sank one of her three treys on the day off a feed from Brown, who finished with a game-high six assists. Niagara called a timeout in an attempt to advance the ball, but the Purple Eagles had already thrown the ball into play, negating the ability to move the ball upcourt. That turned out to be a huge blessing for the Dragons, who were able to swarm the next inbounds attempt on the baseline and force a turnover by Sherburne.

Getting the ball back on the sideline in front of their bench, the Dragons got the ball to Lidge, who drove to the hoop and drew Niagara's defense. She kicked it out to Marecic wide open on the left wing, and the senior made the most of the opportunity with the go-ahead three. Niagara had time to get the ball back up the court, but Greenberg claimed a decisive steal with one second to play.

The win was the first for Drexel this season when trailing at halftime, and the first when trailing with a minute to play since last season's dramatic victory over No. 11 Syracuse on Nov. 21, 2016.

In addition to the scoring leaders, Drexel got six points from Eline Maesschalck, who knocked down a pair of three-pointers, and three from Niki Metzel, who added three tone-setting rebounds in the fourth quarter when the Dragons were struggling on the glass as a team. Sara Woods also had five rebounds. Ana Ferariu chipped in a point and two rebounds, and Brown finished with two points in addition to her six assists.

That very same Orange team will await the Dragons next. Drexel will remain in upstate New York in advance of its game at No. 24 Syracuse on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. The Dragons will be playing Syracuse for the third consecutive season, with both teams winning at home to split the first two. Saturday's game tips at 6 p.m.