Greenberg's Career Day Leads Women's Basketball Past UNCW, 67-55

Sunday, January 27

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2 p.m.

Drexel University

UNCW

Drexel

Photo by: Sideline Photos

Greenberg's Career Day Leads Women's Basketball Past UNCW, 67-55

1/27/2019 4:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Bailey Greenberg was nearly perfect from the floor on Sunday afternoon, scoring a career high 31 points as the Dragons defeated UNCW at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, 67-55. Greenberg made her first nine shots and was 13-for-15 from the floor in becoming the first Dragon in nearly two years to reach the 30-point plateau.

The win was the fifth in a row for the Dragons (13-5, 5-2), who now move into sole possession of third place in the Colonial Athletic Association after breaking a tie with the Seahawks (11-7, 4-3). The Dragons also scored more than 60 points for a fourth consecutive game after reaching that number just four times in the first 14 games of the season.

Greenberg's 31 were the most posted by a Dragon since Sarah Curran also scored 31 in a win at William & Mary on Jan. 10, 2016. She became the first Dragon to score at least 30 since Meghan Creighton netted exactly that number on a program-record 10 three-pointers, also against UNCW on Feb. 12, 2017. Greenberg added five rebounds and three steals in a full 40 minutes of action in Sunday's win, and now sits 26 points away from becoming the 25th member of Drexel's 1,000 point club.

Maura Hendrixson went into double figures for the fourth time in five games, scoring 12 on 4-of-8 shooting from long range. She added four steals, helping Drexel hold the high-powered Seahawks to just four points on 2-of-10 shooting in a decisive second quarter. Hannah Nihill scored nine to go along with eight assists, which matched a career high set on Friday night. She finished the weekend with 16 assists and just three turnovers in two games, adding a pair of steals against UNCW.

Aubree Brown outdid Nihill in the assist category on Sunday, dishing out nine to go along with four points and eight rebounds. Brown's nine assists mark the most by any Dragon this season. As a team, Drexel recorded assists on 22 of 24 field goals. Niki Metzel scored six points with five rebounds, Keishana Washington added three points and Mariah Leonard netted two with a pair of rebounds while drawing three charges on the defensive end.

The Dragons got off to a quick start, thanks in large part to Greenberg. At the first media timeout of the afternoon, just 5:13 into the action, she already had eight points to give Drexel a 13-5 lead. She would add five more before the opening quarter was over, giving her half of her previous career high of 26 in just the first 10 minutes of play.

UNCW briefly cut the Dragons' lead down to four at 16-12, but a Greenberg three from the top of the key stemmed the tide. Hendrixson followed with a three of her own from the right wing, pushing the lead out to 22-12 by the end of the first quarter.

Greenberg was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor in the opening quarter, and would go on to make her first four shots of the second before a runner at the buzzer hit off the back iron. More importantly, though, the Dragons' defense clamped down on UNCW. The Seahawks managed just two points in the final 9:49 of the half as Drexel closed on a 16-2 run. That stretch included eight points from Greenberg, as well as threes by Hendrixson and Nihill and a bucket by Metzel. At the break, Greenberg already had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting.

The Seahawks did not go quietly in the second half. Trailing by 22 at the break, UNCW scored the first six points of the third quarter before a driving lay-up from Metzel settled things down. After another Seahawks score, Greenberg banked in a hook shot and Hendrixson dropped a three to push the lead back out to 45-24 with 6:22 to go in the third.

More than five minutes would elapse before Greenberg got the Dragons' next field goal, a fast-break lay-up that made it 48-28 with 1:07 to play. UNCW finished the quarter with five quick points, and would score the first six of the fourth to make it an 11-0 run that whittled Drexel's lead down to nine.

The lead got as small as six, at 52-46 with 5:04 to play, before the Dragons stretched things back out. Again it was Metzel who settled the offense, knocking down a mid-range jumper to make it an eight-point game. Brown found Greenberg on the Dragons' next trip down the court for a bucket down low which made it a 56-46 game. Though a free throw by the Seahawks would briefly make it a single-digit contest again, Hendrixson drove in the final nail with her fourth triple of the afternoon at the 3:24 mark, extending Drexel's cushion to 59-47.

The Dragons will now get back on the road, where they have won their first seven road contests of the season. Drexel will take on Elon in North Carolina on Friday night at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last season's CAA Championship Game. The Dragons will then visit William & Mary on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. to wrap up the brief road trip.