Balanced Attack Leads Women’s Basketball Past Northeastern on Saturday, 79-64

Saturday, January 30

Boston, Mass.

12 p.m.

Drexel University

8-4, 5-2CAA

Northeastern

3-7, 2-5CAA

Drexel

Northeastern

Balanced Attack Leads Women’s Basketball Past Northeastern on Saturday, 79-64

1/30/2021 2:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON – The Drexel University women's basketball team (8-4, 5-2 CAA) finished with four Dragons in double figures as DU set season bests in a road win over the Northeastern University Huskies (3-7, 2-5 CAA) on Saturday from the Cabot Center in the wire-to-wire win, 79-64.

HIGHLIGHTS
* The win comes as DU's 13th-straight victory in the series with Northeastern.
* Drexel's totals of 79 points, 56.6% shooting, 30 made field goals and 24 assists in Saturday's effort marked season highs for the squad.
* The Dragons opened up the game with a 16-8 advantage after the first quarter. Northeastern nearly matched Drexel's scoring over the next two periods, 41-39, before the Dragons finished off the contest with a strong fourth quarter, 22-17, to win by 15.
* Senior Hannah Nihill finished with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 7-of-8 from the line. She added four assists, three steals and two rebounds.
* Nihill's four assists moved her into sole possession of 10th place on Drexel's career leaderboard with 317 helpers. In addition, her three steals helped her eclipse 200 career steals as she remains in ninth place all-time at Drexel with 201.
* Junior Keishana Washington totaled a season-best 17 points and a career-high eight assists in the victory. The junior was 6-of-14 from the floor including 2-of-4 from three and 3-of-4 from the line. She also recorded three steals in the effort.
* Junior Maura Hendrixson finished 5-of-9 from three-point range for a season-best 15 points along with seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and one block.
* In 24 minutes of action, senior Mariah Leonard was 6-of-8 shooting for 12 points and five rebounds as she was limited due to foul trouble.
* Senior Kayla Bacon scored six points off the bench on 3-of-4 from the floor with a team-high six rebounds. She also added two assists and a steal.
*Northeastern junior guard Kendall Currence scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting for the Huskies along with five assists.

GAMEPLAY
Q1 /
Drexel made two quick shots to go up 5-0 as Nihill recorded two steals to reach 200 on her career. A layup from Washington forced a Northeastern timeout with 5:35 to play. Following the break, the Huskies got their first points right out of the timeout. Drexel closed the quarter hitting five of its last seven shots while the Huskies had seven turnovers in the opening 10 minutes. Leonard and Nihill had fours points each as Drexel was doubling up Northeastern, 16-8.

Q2 /
Both teams rarely missed in the second quarter. The Dragons hit 10-of-13 attempts in the frame as Nihill and Leonard led the team with 10 points at halftime. Late in the quarter, Nihill tallied her first assist of the day to move into sole possession of 10th place on Drexel's all-time leaderboard. Both teams finished the half hot from the floor with Drexel going 5-of-6 and Northeastern with a stretch of 6-of-6 to close things out. The Huskies posted four turnovers in the final three minutes of action. At one time a 12-point advantage, DU led by eight after two periods of action, 37-29.

Q3 /
Hendrixson joined Nihill and Leonard in double figures in the third. The junior connected on two more treys in the quarter, making her 4-of-6 from deep at that point. She also assisted on three shots in the period. Nihill and Washington added five points each while both teams maintained their high-percentage shooting with the Dragons going 8-of-13 and the Huskies hitting 7-of-10 in the period.

Q4 /
Between the end of the third and start of the fourth, the Dragons turned in a 10-0 run. Hendrixson added her fifth and final trey, finishing just one shy of tying her career high. Drexel pushed its lead up to 17 at 69-52 with 5:57 following two free throws from Nihill. In the final minute, DU had another run with eight-straight free throws made to eventually win by the 15-point margin, 79-64.

BY THE NUMBERS
* Drexel led for 39:40 of 40 minutes in the victory.
* DU forced 18 Northeastern turnovers and turned those into 21 points.
* Drexel scored 15 points on the fastbreak in the win.
* The Dragons shot 76.9% (10-of-13) in the second quarter and 61.5% (8-of-13) in the third.
* Drexel shot 56.6% (30-of-53) from the floor, 46.7% (7-of-15) from three-point range and 85.7% (12-of-14) from the foul line.
* Northeastern shot 50.9% (27-of-53) from the field, 33.3% (5-of-15) from beyond the arc and 62.5% (5-of-8) from the free-throw line.

NEXT UP
Drexel and Northeastern play again tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 31 in Boston, Mass. at noon on FloHoops and NESN+.

?????????????? ??????? Drexel totals season bests of 79 points, 56.6% shooting, 30 made field goals and 24 assists in Saturday's win at Northeastern. The Dragons and Huskies meet again on Sunday at noon on @FloHoops pic.twitter.com/cft4jWnZoA
— Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 30, 2021

Two nice passes. Washington with the finish from Nihill. Northeastern has hockey, can Hendrixson get a secondary assist on this one? ?? pic.twitter.com/2VBsB4szHe
— Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 30, 2021

Maura Hendrixson is 5-of-7 from deep while the Dragons are 5-of-6 from three in the second half ?????????? pic.twitter.com/rJZdsLl1Ts
— Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 30, 2021

Hannah Nihill's first assist of the day moves her into ??th place on Drexel's all-time leaderboard. pic.twitter.com/8SxXpCXEuS
— Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 30, 2021