Fast Start Fuels Women's Basketball Past Saint Joseph's, 51-34

Sunday, November 11

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2 p.m.

Drexel University

Saint Joseph's

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Saint Joseph's	0	11	15	8	34
Drexel	16	6	11	18	51

Fast Start Fuels Women's Basketball Past Saint Joseph's, 51-34

11/11/2018 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel women's basketball team did not yield an inch in the first quarter on Sunday against Saint Joseph's, holding the visiting Hawks scoreless over the first 10 minutes as the Dragons built a 16-0 lead and rolled to a 51-34 victory for their first win of the year. The Dragons improved to 1-1 with the win, while the Hawks fell to 0-2.

The Dragons forced six St. Joe's turnovers in the first quarter, netting 12 of their 16 points in the period off those turnovers. Bailey Greenberg, who finished with a game-high 17 points for a second consecutive contest, got six of her points in that opening quarter while the Hawks went 0-for-9 from the field and 0-for-6 from long range. It was the first time that Drexel has ever held a team scoreless through an entire quarter.

Greenberg added eight rebounds to her 17 points, two shy of a second consecutive double-double. Aubree Brown finished with 12 points and four steals. Keishana Washington, starting her second collegiate game, chipped in six points and dished out five assists without a turnover. Niki Metzel scored five with five rebounds, and Ana Ferariu added four points and seven boards with two first-quarter steals and a block. Eline Maesschalck knocked down a corner three-pointer, and Tereza Kracikova and Hannah Nihill rounded out the Dragons' scoring efforts with two points each. Kracikova added two blocks, while Nihill had a pair of steals and seven rebounds, one shy of her career high.

Brown scored the first four points for Drexel in the decisive first quarter, followed by a Nihill lay-up off a Washington pass and a putback bucket by Metzel that made it 8-0 and prompted a Saint Joseph's timeout. Following the stoppage, Drexel showed no let-up, as Greenberg drained the first of her two first-quarter three-pointers. After a Ferariu lay-up, the second of those threes made it 16-0 and forced the Hawks to burn a second timeout with 2:10 to play in the opening quarter.

This time, the break seemed to slow Drexel, which went the next 5:49 of game action without a point. The Hawks could not capitalize, though, going 0-for-4 from the field down the stretch in the first quarter.

Saint Joseph's righted the ship a bit in the second quarter, netting the first six points of that frame and holding the Dragons to 1-for-13 shooting from the field. By halftime, though, the Hawks had trimmed just five points off Drexel's 16-point cushion going into the quarter as they turned the ball over another six times and sent the Dragons to the free throw line four times.

The second half opened with the teams trading baskets, and Drexel's lead was back to 16 after Maesschalck's trey with 3:53 to play in the third. From there, Saint Joseph's made its best charge of the afternoon, ripping off the final nine points of the quarter to pull within seven, 33-26, after Alyssa Monaghan knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:06 to play. The Dragons quickly ended any hope of a Hawks comeback, though, scoring five straight to open the fourth quarter as they methodically ground down the Hawks' offense, allowing just 1-for-14 shooting in the frame while Drexel went 6-for-11. An old-fashioned three-point play by Brown to push the lead from 10 to 13 with 3:30 to go sealed the deal and gave Drexel its third straight win in the series against Saint Joseph's.

The Dragons' three-game homestand to open the season will conclude on Thursday evening when Drexel takes on Bucknell at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center at 7 p.m. The teams have split a pair of meetings over the last two years, with the home team winning both.