Dragons Deliver Knockout Blow in CAA Heavyweight Battle vs. Elon, 58-56

Friday, January 26

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7 p.m.

Drexel University

15-5 (7-1CAA)

Elon

12-7 (4-4CAA)

ELON

DREXEL

Dragons Deliver Knockout Blow in CAA Heavyweight Battle vs. Elon, 58-56

1/26/2018 8:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Down by 10 to defending Colonial Athletic Association champion Elon with less than seven minutes to play, the Drexel women's basketball team pulled itself up off the mat and put together a fantastic finish to pull off the comeback and remain unbeaten at the Daskalakis Athletic Center this season, defeating the Phoenix 58-56. It was the third time this season the Dragons have erased a deficit of nine or more in the final quarter to win.

The win gave the Dragons (15-5, 7-1) their first at the DAC over a defending CAA champion since knocking off Old Dominion at home on Feb. 12, 2009, a season that ended with Drexel celebrating its first conference title. Drexel also extended its current winning streak to five games, a season long.

Kelsi Lidge led the team with 17 points, including five in the final push that saw Drexel close on a 16-4 run. She added eight rebounds as Drexel held its own with one of the top rebounding teams in the CAA. Sara Woods led the team with nine boards, adding 11 points and a block in 32 minutes of action. Bailey Greenberg scored 11 with five rebounds, including an offensive board that set up the go-ahead three-pointer from Hannah Nihill with 3:19 to play. Nihill, who drained both of her three-point attempts in the game, finished with eight points and three assists. Aubree Brown added seven with five helpers and three steals. She assisted on both Lidge's and Nihill's three pointers in the final minutes, then dropped in a lay-up of her own for the Dragons' final field goal. Megan Marecic and Tereza Kracikova chipped in two apiece.

The game was a frenetic one throughout, with two of the league's top teams going at each other from tip to buzzer. Elon grabbed the early advantage with a 10-0 run to build a 10-3 lead midway through the first quarter, prompting Drexel head coach Denise Dillon to use a timeout. After the stoppage, Niki Metzel was inserted into the Dragons' lineup and gave the team some much-needed energy. She posted up inside to draw the defense, kicking it out to Lidge at the top of the key for a three-pointer early in a 9-0 Dragons push. On the other end, her block on a Saadia Munford jumper attempt led to a breakout for Brown, who was fouled and hit both free throws to pull Drexel back even.

That pattern established in the first quarter would repeat itself to certain degrees again and again. Elon would build a modest lead only to see Drexel buckle down defensively and find its stroke on the offensive end enough to pull back even or just ahead. The largest lead of the night for the Dragons came in the third quarter when, down by five after Elon came out of the locker rooms on a 7-2 spurt, Greenberg sank a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 Drexel run to go ahead 36-32 with 5:41 to play in the period. That lead was gone just 53 seconds later, as it was Elon's turn to net 10 straight points.

Down by six in the final minute of the third quarter, Lidge hit a pair of mid-range jumpers sandwiched around a Phoenix turnover to settle the Dragons heading into the home stretch. Nevertheless, it was Elon that came out hot in the fourth. Shay Burnett scored five straight to open the quarter, then found Meme Garner for three to make it a 50-40 Elon lead with 8:12 to go. After a Woods jumper stemmed the tide for the Dragons, Munford worked inside for two to get the lead back to double figures with just over seven minutes to play.

The Dragons did not panic on offense, running their set until Brown found Kracikova down low for a short jumper with 6:26 remaining. That began the final push for Drexel, one that saw the Dragons outrebound Elon 8-6 including six critical offensive boards that all turned into Drexel points.

Woods followed Kracikova's jumper with one of her own, drawing a foul and finishing the three-point play to make it a 52-47 game with 5:41 to go. After Elon responded with a bucket, Lidge drove to the hoop and was fouled, converting from the line to once again make it a five-point game.

It was just a two-point game with 4:06 remaining when a stop on the defensive end turned into a Lidge three-pointer from the corner. The Phoenix turned the ball over on their ensuing possession, and after Greenberg and Woods each chased down offensive boards, Brown fed Nihill from the left wing for three to put Drexel back on top, 55-54, with 3:19 to play.

The Phoenix had opportunities to reclaim the advantage in the final minutes, but a shot clock violation with 2:00 to go led to a Brown lay-up for Drexel. She missed a free throw that would have made it a three-point play, and Elon cut its deficit to one on the other end with 57 ticks left on the clock. The Dragons couldn't finish on their next possession, but stifling Drexel defense led to a Nihill steal with 12 seconds left. Lidge split a pair of free throws and a short jumper that would have tied the score by Malaya Johnson, who had hit 10 of 12 field goal attempts to that point, bounced harmlessly off the back iron.

Drexel will have just a few hours to enjoy the victory, which marked the largest fourth-quarter comeback ever for the Dragons in the third year of quarter play for NCAA women's hoops. The Dragons will be back to work on Sunday when they host Northeastern with an eye towards sweeping the season series from the Huskies. That game tips off at 2 p.m., following the Dragons' annual AlumnI Game at 11 a.m.