Comeback Falls Short as Women’s Basketball Suffers WNIT Loss to Villanova, Concluding Season

Sunday, March 19

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2 p.m.

Drexel University

22-11

Villanova

18-14

Villanova

Drexel

Comeback Falls Short as Women’s Basketball Suffers WNIT Loss to Villanova, Concluding Season

3/19/2017 3:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – In a game full of prolonged scoring runs, the Drexel women's basketball team came up just a little bit short in their final push on Sunday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center as they fell to Villanova in the second round of the WNIT, 56-51. Drexel held the Wildcats without a field goal for the final 9:36 of the game and cut an 18-point lead down to one in the final minute, but could not quite cap the comeback effort.

The Dragons finish the year 22-11 after winning a program-record 13 games at home.

Drexel was led by senior Sarah Curran, who scored 20 points in her final collegiate game, her third-consecutive 20-point effort to end the season. She finished her career with 1,645 career points, fifth-most in program history. Senior Meghan Creighton scored nine to go along with six assists and a season-high seven rebounds. She will depart as the program's all-time leader in games played (142) and minutes logged (4,729), and notched 1,088 points, 557 assists and 498 rebounds in a prolific career that left her as one of five players in Colonial Athletic Association history with at least 1,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds. Senior Jessica Pellechio scored three on Sunday with two assists and three rebounds, wrapping up her career with 1,205 points. Both Creighton and Pellechio ended the year with 89 three-pointers, one shy of the Drexel program record.

The Dragons fell behind quickly against Villanova, allowing the Wildcats to score the first 10 points of the game. After the media timeout in the first quarter, however, the Dragons rattled off 11 unanswered points to end the quarter ahead 11-10. They would continue their run into the second quarter, taking an 18-10 lead and holding Villanova off the scoreboard for exactly 9:00, from the 5:49 mark of the first quarter until the 6:49 mark of the second.

Villanova woke up after the Dragons' 18-0 run and scored eight straight to even things up. The game seesawed back and forth until halftime, when Drexel held a 23-22 lead.

The third quarter proved to be the turning point in the game, as Villanova outdid the Dragons 22-7 in the period. That included a 14-0 spurt as the Wildcats grabbed a 44-27 lead with 1:31 remaining. Sarah Curran knocked down a three-pointer to end the quarter with the Dragons trailing by 14.

The Wildcats scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, with Megan Quinn knocking down what would prove to be the team's final field goal at the 9:36 mark. Then, Drexel came back to life. It started with a three-pointer from Kelsi Lidge, which was followed by five straight points by Curran before Meghan Creighton sank her second three-pointer of the afternoon to cut the lead to single digits, 50-41. Aubree Brown then scored and drew a foul, completing the old-fashioned three-point play to get the Dragons within six. A Lidge lay-up capped a 10-0 Drexel run and made it a 50-46 game with 4:31 to play.

After a pair of free throws for Villanova got their lead back to six, Creighton drained the 264th three-pointer of her career, third-most all-time at Drexel, to make it a one-possession game. The Dragons got a stop, and Kelsi Lidge knocked down a jumper with 14 seconds to play to get Drexel back within one.

That would be as close as it would get, however, as Villanova hit four free throws down the stretch and the Dragons came up empty on their final possession. Villanova will move on to the third round of the WNIT, where they will face CAA foe James Madison in Harrisonburg.