Women's Basketball Falls Short to Mid-Major No. 1 Quinnipiac, 56-52

Friday, November 9

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7 p.m.

Drexel University

Quinnipiac

Drexel

Photo by: Gavin Baker

Women's Basketball Falls Short to Mid-Major No. 1 Quinnipiac, 56-52

11/9/2018 10:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – A young Drexel women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the top-ranked mid-major program in the nation on Friday night in the season opener, but came up short as the Dragons fell to Quinnipiac, 56-52. Junior Bailey Greenberg put together her fourth career double-double, but turnovers and a poorly-timed scoring drought proved to be the team's undoing in front of a spirited home crowd of 1,370 at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Greenberg led all scorers with 17 points, going 7-for-14 from the floor. She also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Hannah Nihill added 11 points and came up with three steals. Eline Maesschalck added eight off the bench, while NikI Metzel scored six with a pair of blocks and Aubree Brown finished with five points and five assists.

Keishana Washington, making a start in her collegiate debut, posted two points with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kate Connolly scored three in her debut.

Quinnipiac came into the game as the No. 1 team in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. The Bobcats also were receiving votes in the USA Today Top 25 poll. Drexel, despite fielding a starting lineup that did not feature a senior, came into the year ranked No. 15 in the mid-major ranking.

As a team, the Dragons committed 22 turnovers, allowing the Bobcats to score 18 points off those giveaways. Quinnipiac committed 14 turnovers on its end, as Drexel gave the ball away more times than its opponent after doing so just twice all of last season.

The Dragons led for much of the first half. Despite committing 15 of those turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, Drexel was hot from the floor. The Dragons knocked down their first five field goal attempts of the evening and finished the first half shooting 12-of-21, but Quinnipiac used the extra possessions to atone for its poor shooting start, equaling the Dragons' field goal total in a 12-for-37 first half.

Drexel led by as many as seven midway through the second quarter. Leading 20-19 with 5:56 to play before intermission, Quinnipiac's Aryn McClure was called for a technical foul. Nihill sank one from the line, starting a 6-0 run that included a Greenberg jumper and Connolly's three-pointer with 4:07 to play, giving the Dragons a 26-19 advantage. After a timeout, Quinnipiac quickly erased that with a 7-0 run of its own before an Aubree Brown lay-up provided Drexel with a 28-26 halftime margin.

Coming out of the break, the Dragons cleaned up the turnover problem but lost their touch from the floor. Drexel went just 3-for-12 from the field in the third quarter while the Bobcats came out clicking, knocking down eight of 12 as they took a 43-37 lead heading into the fourth.

The Bobcats' lead grew as large as 10 early in the fourth quarter. They still led 49-41 with just under five minutes to play when a Nihill three-pointer from the top of the key made it a five-point game. Two Nihill free throws with 4:12 to go pulled the Dragons back within three, and after Quinnipiac went 1-for-2 from the line to staunch the Dragons' run, Ana Ferariu found Greenberg wide open under the basket to get Drexel within two at 50-48.

That would be as close as Drexel could get, however. Quinnipiac responded on its next possession with a driving lay-up to push the lead back out to four. Twice more the Dragons would make it a three-point game, but the Bobcats had responses as Drexel's comeback bid came up short.

Drexel will look to get in the win column for the first time in 2018-19 when the Dragons return to action on Sunday afternoon against Saint Joseph's. That game will tip off at the DAC at 2 p.m.