Women's Basketball Never Trails in Dillon's 250th Win, 65-48 Over Tribe

Friday, February 10

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

17-6, 8-4

William & Mary

15-8, 5-7

WILLIAM & MARY

Drexel

Women's Basketball Never Trails in Dillon's 250th Win, 65-48 Over Tribe

2/10/2017 8:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – When Drexel women's basketball head coach Denise Dillon notched her 200th win two years ago, she got a congratulatory text from Jessica Pellechio, then sitting out as a redshirt after transferring to Drexel. Dillon responded by telling Pellechio her expectation that the three-point specialist would be a part of win number 250. On Friday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, Dillon was proven right as Pellechio scored a game-high 15 points as part of a 65-48 victory over William & Mary, the 250th victory of Dillon's head coaching career.

Pellechio was 6-for-12 from the floor and knocked down three from long range to lead the Dragons, who never trailed in the game. Sarah Curran added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists and Meghan Creighton chipped in 10 with three steals for Drexel, which improved to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in Colonial Athletic Association play.

Sara Woods added eight points and six rebounds in a career-high 27 minutes off the bench, also recording a block. Bailey Greenberg scored eight with four rebounds and two assists. Ana Ferariu chipped in seven points, sparking the Dragons late in the first quarter with five points including a highlight three-point runner as time expired. Aubree Brown scored three with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

The Dragons never trailed and wasted little time building a double-digit lead, largely on the back of Jessica Pellechio, whose fourth straight double-digit scoring effort marked a new personal best for the New Jersey native since arriving at Drexel. She scored seven early points in leading the Dragons to a 13-6 lead midway through the first quarter. After a William & Mary bucket made it 13-8, Ana Ferariu began a 7-0 Drexel run when she beat her defender off the dribble and scooped up a lay-up with 3:26 to play in the first quarter. Sarah Curran followed with a three-pointer and Sara Woods knocked down a jumper to make it a 20-8 Drexel lead and prompt a William & Mary timeout.

The Dragons had started 9-of-11 from the floor, and though they cooled just a bit as the first quarter wound down, their offense was nonetheless outstanding. Ferariu finished the quarter by scoring its final five points, including a running three-pointer at the buzzer from the top of the key. Drexel was 11-for-15 from the floor (73.3 percent) in the quarter, and held a 25-10 lead after 10 minutes, matching its most prolific scoring quarter of the season.

While the offense clicked, the defense held up its end of the bargain. William & Mary was held to just one field goal over a span of 8:32 between the first and second quarters. Though Drexel slowed on the offensive end in the second quarter, William & Mary could not take advantage, going scoreless over the first 4:43 of the period. Pellechio nailed her second three-pointer of the evening with 3:47 to play to match Drexel's largest lead at 36-13 before the Tribe finally got going for the final eight points of the half. Still, Drexel took a commanding 36-21 cushion into intermission.

Though the eight-point William & Mary spurt seemed relatively harmless at the time, it was just the beginning of a larger 17-2 run for the Tribe, as Drexel was held to just two points over the first 5:04 of the third quarter. William & Mary was able to cut the lead to single digits, 38-30, for the first time since the middle of the first quarter. Again it was Pellechio providing a lift when Drexel needed it, nailing her third trey of the evening at the 4:56 mark. After another Tribe hoop, Woods knocked down a shot and Meghan Creighton sank her first three-pointer of the night to help the Dragons secure a double-digit lead that this time, they would not relinquish.

Creighton's 10 points, all scored after halftime, gave her 987 in her career. She is 13 points shy of becoming the 24th member of Drexel's 1,000 point club. She also pulled even with former teammate Fiona Flanagan (2010-14) with her 132nd career game played, matching the top mark in program history.

Drexel, which is now 10-1 through 11 home games this season, will remain at the DAC on Sunday when the Dragons host UNCW. That game is set for a special 1:00 p.m. tip time..