Furious Rally Falls Short in Title Game for Women's Basketball

Saturday, March 10

Daskalakis Athletic Center

1 p.m.

Drexel University

26-7

Elon

25-7

ELON

DREXEL

Photo by: Kevin Rossi

Furious Rally Falls Short in Title Game for Women's Basketball

3/10/2018 4:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel women's basketball team fought to the end as it had all season long, but this time the Dragons did not have enough to overcome a fast start from the Elon Phoenix as Drexel fell in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center, 57-45. Drexel (26-7) trailed by 18 heading into the fourth quarter and trimmed the lead down to six with four minutes to play, but could not finish off the comeback.

Hannah Nihill finished with 14 points to lead all scorers. She scored nine of that career high total in the third quarter, helping Drexel keep the Phoenix from pulling away entirely as the hot-shooting visitors shot 7-of-12 in the third. She also had five steals and five rebounds. Bailey Greenberg scored 13 with three assists and four boards. Aubree Brown finished with eight points and six rebounds, while Kelsi Lidge scored eight with three rebounds and two steals.

Drexel found itself in a hole from the start as Elon knocked down its first six shots of the afternoon to build a 12-6 lead in the first 3:34 of the game. After that, the Dragons' defense buckled down and allowed Elon to go just 5-for-14 the rest of the first half, scoring just 15 the rest of the half. Despite that, the Dragons hit at just a 21 percent clip themselves in the first 20 minutes, including a 2-for-14 showing from long range.

Trailing by 10 at the half, Drexel continued its offensive woes as the Dragons were held without a field goal for the first 4:32 after intermission. Elon led by 17 with 5:28 when Nihill leapt for a steal near midcourt, then sank the first of two three-pointers she hit in the third quarter off a pass from Brown. She added three free throws to counter the Phoenix, which still managed to hold a 49-31 lead heading into the fourth.

Nursing its lead heading into the fourth, the Phoenix appeared content to play stall ball and eat clock. That worked right into the Dragons' hands, as they got a pair of quick baskets from Greenberg and Lidge to get the lead down to 14.

After a bucket on the Elon end, Drexel opened a 10-0 run that had the crowd of 2,441 at the DAC on its feet and roaring. It started with a three-pointer from Brown, followed by three free throws by Nihill after she was fouled taking a three. Lidge and Metzel followed with buckets and suddenly the lead, which had grown as high as 19 in the third quarter, was down to six with 4:01 to play.

The Dragons had the ball with an opportunity to cut even further into the lead, but were not able to convert. Elon's Shay Burnett, who was named the tournament MVP, found Meme Garner for three in the corner to silence the crowd and put the final nail in Drexel's coffin.

Lidge and Greenberg were named to the All-CAA Tournament Team following the loss, Drexel's first in 16 home games this season.

The Dragons will now await their postseason fate on Monday night, when the WNIT field is announced late Monday evening.