Women's Basketball Ends Regular Season with 74-65 Loss at William and Mary

Wednesday, March 1

Williamsburg, Va.

7:00 p.m.

Drexel University

20-9 (11-7CAA)

William & Mary

19-10 (9-9CAA)

Drexel

William & Mary

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Women's Basketball Ends Regular Season with 74-65 Loss at William and Mary

3/1/2017 9:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Drexel women's basketball team will head into postseason play on a three-game losing skid after falling at William & Mary on Wednesday night, 74-65. The Dragons, who finish the regular season 20-9 and 11-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association, fell at William & Mary for the first time since Mar. 3, 2010.

The Dragons had three players in double figures, usually a key for them during the season, but allowed the Tribe to hit at a 58.3 percent clip as a team, the second-highest percentage for a Drexel opponent this season. Jessica Pellechio scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from long range to lead the Dragons. Sarah Curran added 13 and Bailey Greenberg chipped in 10, but four players reached double figures for William & Mary led by 18 for Alexandra Masaquel.

Aubree Brown scored eight with five assists. Sara Woods also chipped in eight points, while Meghan Creighton scored six with six assists, a career-high three blocks and three rebounds. Creighton, who hit a pair of three-pointers, moved into the top-10 all-time for three-pointers made in CAA history, and tied former teammate Rachel Pearson with 251 threes in her career, third all-time in Drexel history.

Things got off to a good start for Drexel, which had not been the case in its first two losses in this season-ending three-game streak. The offense was particularly well-balanced to get things going. After a 5-0 start to the game, consecutive three-pointers from Meghan Creighton and Jessica Pellechio after the Tribe had pulled to within one made it a 13-6 Drexel lead midway through the first quarter. Already, all five Drexel starters had gotten in the scorebook, with Sarah Curran adding an earlier three-pointer and Aubree Brown and Bailey Greenberg each adding layups.

Drexel took a 17-12 lead into the second quarter, but the Tribe came out firing. They hit five of their first six from the floor in the second, capped by a Latrice Hunter three-pointer that gave William & Mary a 25-19 lead and prompted a Drexel timeout. That did not stop things, however, as the Tribe extended their quarter-opening run to 16-2 before Sarah Curran knocked down a three-pointer with 2:58 to play before halftime that ended the drought.

William & Mary extended its lead to as much as 10 with 1:35 to play before halftime, but the Dragons ended the quarter on a much-needed high note. Ana Ferariu drove to the hoop and scored, drawing a foul and finishing the old-fashioned three-point play. Then, after the Tribe hit one of two from the line, Pellechio drained her second triple of the evening to get Drexel back within five. It stood there, 33-28, as the teams went into the locker rooms for halftime.

After halftime, Drexel once again came out hitting. A Pellechio three-pointer and a jumper by Sara Woods pulled the Dragons within one, but William & Mary scored five straight to grab a 40-34 lead. Then, Creighton and Pellechio banged in back-to-back three-pointers yet again, tying things up at 40-40 with 5:00 to play in the third quarter.

That would be the last time Drexel pulled even, however, as the Tribe went on an 8-2 spurt to take a 48-42 lead after the Dragons tied things up. At the end of three, Drexel was down by four, 50-46. The Dragons came out hitting in the fourth quarter, making four of their first seven shots in the period, but William & Mary had knocked down six of eight during that span. The Tribe finished 9-for-12 from the floor in the fourth quarter to close things out.

Drexel will now have a week to regroup and prepare for the CAA Tournament, in which it will be the No. 3 seed. The tournament begins for the Dragons on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Harrisonburg, Va., where the Dragons will take on the No. 6 Northeastern Huskies in the final game of the evening.