Women's Basketball Halts Delaware Win Streak, 54-44

Sunday, February 5

Newark, Del.

2:00 p.m.

Drexel University

16-6, 7-4CAA

Delaware

13-9, 7-4CAA

Drexel

Delaware

Women's Basketball Halts Delaware Win Streak, 54-44

2/5/2017 4:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – For the Drexel women's basketball team playing its longest-running rival, a win over the Delaware Blue Hens is always pretty, even when it isn't. The Dragons scored just 15 second-half points and turned the ball over nine times after halftime, but never saw their lead slip under double figures as the defense stepped up and led them to a 54-44 victory at the Bob Carpenter Center.

The Drexel win ended a six-game winning streak for the Blue Hens and pulled the Dragons (16-6, 7-4) into a tie with Delaware for third place in the Colonial Athletic Association. Sarah Curran scored 20 points, including eight in the second half, to lead all scorers. She moved past Cat Scanlon (1,450 from 2002-06) and Narissa Suber (1,453 from 2004-08) and now sits in ninth place all-time in Drexel history with 1,464 career points. Jessica Pellechio added 11, all in a first half which did see the Dragons clicking in all facets as they jumped out to a 39-22 halftime edge.

Meghan Creighton scored eight and Bailey Greenberg added seven. The duo teamed for a quick 5-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that ended a long drought for Drexel and pushed its lead back to 18, matching its largest of the afternoon. Sara Woods chipped in four points and matched a career high with 10 rebounds. Aubree Brown and Ana Ferariu scored two apiece, with each dishing out three assists and Brown coming up with three steals.

The game was back-and-forth early, with three lead changes and two ties in the first seven minutes. Delaware scored the game's first four points, but Meghan Creighton got the Dragons on the scoreboard with a three-pointer at the 6:53 mark of the first quarter, and Jessica Pellechio followed with a lay-up to put Drexel on top.

After the lead seesawed between the two teams, Drexel broke an 8-8 tie with a Sarah Curran three-pointer with 2:49 to play in the first quarter, taking the lead for good. Curran hit another trey to help the team build an 8-2 run before taking a 16-12 lead into the second quarter.

The Dragons came out of the gates quickly in the second quarter, rattling off eight unanswered points to build a double-digit lead they would not give up the rest of the way. It began with an Ana Ferariu drive, which was followed with a Creighton trey and an old-fashioned three-point play for Curran to put Drexel on top 24-12. Nicole Enabosi, who finished with a team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds for Delaware, ended the Blue Hens' drought. Pellechio – playing with two fouls – answered by nailed a three-pointer to make it 27-14 with 6:19 to play before halftime, prompting a Delaware timeout.

Pellechio would add another trey and the lead grew to 18 with 1:20 to play before halftime when Bailey Greenberg drove in for her second straight lay-up. After the Blue Hens scored four straight, Curran capped the half with a three-pointer, the eighth of the half for the Dragons.

The offense, which had been running like a well-oiled machine in the opening half, stalled after intermission. The third quarter, in fact, was Drexel's lowest-scoring period of the season as the Dragons scored just six points. Curran provided them all, with four coming at the free throw line as the team was just 1-for-13 from the floor.

While the Dragons struggled offensively, they made up for it with lock down defense. Delaware managed just nine points in the third, cutting Drexel's lead from 17 at the half to 14 after three quarters. The Blue Hens were 3-for-13 from the floor and 0-for-5 from long range, part of a 2-for-12 showing overall beyond the arc.

Though the defense remained strong, Drexel started just 1-for-17 from the floor in the second half and the Blue Hens were threatening to get back in the game when Enabosi hit one of two from the line to make it 45-32 with 8:10 remaining in the fourth. Finally, the Dragons' point guard released some of the pressure. Creighton took a feed from Greenberg and drove down the paint, putting in a runner that teased off the glass and the rim before dropping. After a stop, that pair reversed roles with Creighton dishing to Greenberg for a three-pointer from the right wing.

Suddenly, the Dragons' lead matched its 18-point apex at 50-32. Delaware would begin to wake up offensively after that and scored the next five before a Sara Woods lay-up with 3:35 to play left the Dragons ahead by 15.

The last gasp for the Blue Hens came with just over 90 seconds to play. Down by 10, they forced an errant shot and appeared to grab the rebound, giving themselves a chance to finally cut the lead back to single digits. Before they had a chance, though, Curran put the capper on her second straight 20-point effort by ripping the board out of the Delaware defender's hands, controlling it cleanly and putting it back up for an easy bucket. Enabosi would score on the other end, but the Blue Hens never saw the ball again as Drexel hung on for the victory.

The win was the third straight in the series for the Dragons, marking their first three-game winning streak over the Blue Hens since a six-gamer from Jan. 1, 2008 through Jan. 10, 2010.

At the opening tip, the Dragons made history as Creighton made her 131st appearance – all starts – and logged her 4,315th minute. The former moved her into second place, within one appearance of former teammate Fiona Flangaan's program record. The latter broke a tie with Suber for the most minutes played in program history. Creighton, who also sits just 23 points from 1,000 in her career, now has 4,347 minutes after the conclusion of Sunday's game.

Drexel will return home for its next two games, as the Dragons host William & Mary and UNCW next weekend at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Drexel and William & Mary will face off for the first time this season on Friday night at 7:00 p.m., and the Dragons and Seahawks conclude their season series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.