Women’s Basketball Takes Down Monmouth on the Road, 61-50

Saturday, December 5

West Long Branch, N.J.

2 p.m.

Drexel University

2-0,0-0CAA

Monmouth

0-3,0-0MAAC

Drexel

Monmouth

Women’s Basketball Takes Down Monmouth on the Road, 61-50

12/5/2020 4:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Drexel University women's basketball team (2-0) took down the Monmouth University Hawks (0-3) from OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, N.J. on Saturday afternoon by a final of 61-50.

HIGHLIGHTS
* Three Dragons finished in double figures as Drexel picked up its second-straight road win to begin the season.
* Junior Kate Connolly totaled career highs of 16 points, nine rebounds and four steals in the victory.
* Senior Hannah Nihill finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
* Junior Keishana Washington scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds and an assist.
* Sophomore Brianne Borcky finished with career highs of nine points and four rebounds.
* Junior Maura Hendrixson dished out a career-high eight assists in the win while grabbing four rebounds, a block and a steal.

GAMEPLAY
Q1 /
Drexel's defense came out strong, forcing Monmouth to start 1-of-7 from the floor with four turnovers including a 10-second backcourt violation in the opening four-plus minutes. But the Dragons' shots were not falling early either as the Hawks held a 5-4 edge at the media timeout with 4:42 to play. Drexel closed the quarter on a 6-0 run while holding the Hawks scoreless over the final five minutes of action. Washington scored the final four points for the Dragons and led both teams with six after the quarter as Drexel led, 10-5.

Q2 /
Nihill hit the first three-pointer for either squad in the tilt with 7:49 to play in the second, 15-10. That sparked a little 7-0 Nihill run as the Drexel Hill native scored the next four points. Borcky capped the 10-point stretch with the Dragons' second trey with 4:39 to go, 22-10. Connolly scored the next six points for DU as the team's lead grew to 15 at 28-13 with 2:17 left in the half. Monmouth put together five points to trim it to 10 before Nihill ended the half, taking the ball coast-to-coast to beat the buzzer as Drexel led 30-18 at the break.

Q3 /
Following a pair of layups from Monmouth, Connolly drained a three-point to bring her to 11 points in the contest with 7:21 to play, 33-22. From there, the Hawks went on an 11-0 run over a 2:10 stretch, evening the score at 33-33 as Drexel was forced to call a timeout with 4:46 remaining. Borcky broke up the run with a layup along the baseline. The Dragons scored 10 of the final 12 points in the quarter to take an eight-point edge into the fourth, 43-35. Connolly converted a three-point play with under 30 seconds to give her a new career high with 14 points.

Q4 /
Washington started the fourth with a pair of fastbreak layups in the opening 33 seconds, 47-35, as she was the third Dragon in double figures. Monmouth scored 10 of the next 14 points to cut it to six, 51-45. But the Dragons put together a 6-0 run behind four points from Borcky to take it back to a double-digit lead, 57-45, with 3:46 to play as DU went on to win comfortably, 61-50.

BY THE NUMBERS
* Drexel won the rebounding battle, 35-31.
* DU had 16 assists on its 24 baskets with Hendrixson accounting for half of them.
* The Dragons forced 17 Monmouth turnovers and scored 14 points off those miscues.
* The Hawks got production off their bench with the MU reserves outscoring Drexel's, 30-11.
* Drexel shot 42.9% (24-of-56) from the floor, 21.4% (3-of-14) from three-point range 76.9% (10-of-13) from the foul line.
* Monmouth shot 35.2% (19-of-54) from the field, 27.8% (5-of-18) from beyond the arc and 70.0% (7-of-10) from the free-throw line.

NEXT UP
Drexel's next scheduled game is Sunday, Dec. 13 on the road against the Villanova University Wildcats in Villanova, Pa. at 1 p.m.

?????????????? ??????? 3?? Dragons finish in double figures as Drexel picks up its second-straight road win to begin the season. pic.twitter.com/sunOXsMyaV
— Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) December 5, 2020