Nihill Scores Game-Winner as Women’s Basketball Sweeps Northeastern, 58-56

Sunday, January 31

Boston, Mass.

12 p.m.

Drexel University

9-4, 6-2CAA

Northeastern

3-8, 2-6CAA

Drexel

Northeastern

Nihill Scores Game-Winner as Women’s Basketball Sweeps Northeastern, 58-56

1/31/2021 2:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOSTON – The Drexel University women's basketball team (9-4, 6-2 CAA) picked up a weekend sweep on the road over the Northeastern University Huskies (3-8, 2-6 CAA) with Sunday's 58-56 win in Boston at the Cabot Center. Senior Hannah Nihill scored a game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds left to lift the Dragons.

HIGHLIGHTS
* The win comes as DU's 14th-straight victory in the series with Northeastern.
* Trailing by 13 points midway through the second quarter, Drexel used a 14-3 run to get back in it before halftime, trailing by four at intermission. Tied 40-40 heading into the fourth before finding themselves down by five with six minutes remaining, a 7-0 stretch pushed Drexel in front. Nihill hit a key three-pointer down the stretch before her game-winning layup.
* Drexel shot just 30.9% from the floor, the team's worst mark in any win this season but DU made up for it with a season-high nine made three-pointers and a season-best 15 made free throws.
* Drexel forced 20 Northeastern turnovers and capitalized with a season-high 30 points off opponent miscues. Drexel foes are averaging 16.4 turnovers in 14 contests against the Dragons with five occasions of 20+ turnovers.
* Nihill finished with a game-high 19 points with three triples, four free throws, three steals, two assists, two rebounds and a block. The block was a partial tip on Northeastern's final three-point attempt with under a second showing on the clock in the fourth. Her three steals on the day gives her 205 on her career, seventh all-time at Drexel.
* Junior Maura Hendrixson followed up Saturday's five three-pointers with four more on Sunday as she finished with 12 points. The junior also dished out six assists to just one turnover. She now has 61 assists to 11 turnovers (5.55 ratio) on the campaign.
* Junior Keishana Washington scored nine points and grabbed three steals in the effort.
* Senior Kayla Bacon scored seven points off the bench including 5-of-6 at the free-throw line with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
* Redshirt sophomore Tori Hyduke (5), senior Mariah Leonard (4) and freshman Jasmine Valentine (2) also contributed points in the win.

GAMEPLAY
Q1 /
The ball was not falling early on Sunday afternoon compared to Saturday's high-scoring affair. Drexel was just 3-of-15 in the first quarter, all triples from Nihill, Washington and Hyduke. The squad only trailed by two after 10 minutes, 11-9, as Northeastern's Stella Clark scored seven in the opening period.

Q2 /
Between the end of the first and start of the second, Northeastern put together an 11-0 run to take a 17-9 advantage as Drexel called a timeout with 7:56 to go until halftime. The run continued for the Huskies following the stoppage with a trey and layup to make it 16-unanswered points for Northeastern as Drexel trailed 22-9. The Dragons made a big push in the final five and a half minutes, going on a 14-3 run to get within two, 25-23. Hendrixson made two treys to help spark it. The Huskies made one final basket in the final second as DU minimized a 14-point deficit down to four at halftime, 27-23.

Q3 /
An 8-4 start to the third saw the Dragons even the score at 31-31 following a free throw from Bacon with 4:47 to play. Bacon gave Drexel its first lead since the first quarter with a layup on the next possession. With under a minute, Northeastern went back up by four before Nihill hit four-straight free throws to tie it up heading into the fourth, 40-40.

Q4 /
Hendrixson hit two more triples in the fourth quarter, one of them part of a 7-0 run as Drexel took a 52-50 advantage, forcing Northeastern to call a timeout with under four minutes remaining. Tied 56-56 in the final moments a Northeastern miss that was knocked out of bounds turned into a review. The call was reversed and given to Drexel with 8.5 on the clock. Advancing the ball after a timeout, Nihill was fouled on the baseline on the floor. With 2.4 on the clock, Hendrixson inbounded the ball, finding a sprinting Nihill coming down the lane who converted a game-winning layup with 1.6 on the clock. Northeastern's three-pointer on the other end in the closing seconds was partially blocked by none other than Nihill as the Dragons held on for the 58-56 win.

BY THE NUMBERS
* Drexel shot 30.9% (17-of-55) from the floor, 34.6% (9-of-26) from three-point range and 71.4% (15-of-21) from the foul line.
* Northeastern shot 53.5% (23-of-43) from the field, 38.9% (7-of-18) from beyond the arc and 75.0% (3-of-4) from the free-throw line.
* Drexel allowed Northeastern to shoot above 50% from the floor in both games, the only two occurrences for Dragon opponents on the season.
* Though Drexel was outrebounded 35-24 overall, DU had 11 offensive boards which led to 17 second-chance points (compared to NE's six offensive rebounds and five second-chance points).

NEXT UP
Drexel is scheduled to host Hofstra next weekend in Philadelphia on Feb. 6-7. Saturday's Homecoming contest on NBC Sports Philadelphia tips at 1 p.m. and is presented by Barnes & Noble at Drexel University. Sunday's affair is slated for 1 p.m. Both games are also available to stream on FloHoops.

?????????????? ??????? Hannah Nihill scores the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left to give Drexel the weekend sweep over Northeastern. pic.twitter.com/nq0twSK552 — Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 31, 2021

DREXEL TAKES THE LEAD WITH 1.6 SECONDS LEFT? Drexel 58 / Northeastern 56 pic.twitter.com/cYxjep6whQ — Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 31, 2021

Fastbreak layup for the lead? 7-0 run over the last 90 seconds pic.twitter.com/L7Nd5kZVGb — Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 31, 2021

Maura Hendrixson ???????? pic.twitter.com/OCbR95RHWI — Drexel Women's Basketball (@DrexelWBB) January 31, 2021