Hot Start Lifts Women's Basketball Over Elon in CAA Quarterfinals, 65-59

Thursday, March 11

Schar Center / Elon, N.C.

9:30 p.m.

Drexel University

12-8,8-6CAA

Elon

7-8,3-5CAA

Drexel

Elon

Photo by: Tim Cowie/CAA

Hot Start Lifts Women's Basketball Over Elon in CAA Quarterfinals, 65-59

3/11/2021 11:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ELON, N.C.- The third-seeded Drexel women's basketball team got a measure of revenge in its CAA Championships quarterfinal game on Thursday, defeating sixth-seeded Elon on the Phoenix's home court, 65-59. Drexel ensured that home teams will remain without a title since the CAA moved its tournament back to campus sites in 2017, something that Elon did to the Dragons in the 2018 championship game. Drexel is now into the CAA semifinals for the fifth straight tournament and eighth time in nine tries.

HIGHLIGHTS
Hannah Nihill finished with a game-high 24 points, adding five assists and four steals. She knocked down five of the Dragons' 10 three-pointers on the night. Kate Connolly scored 13 points, all in the first half, including 11 in the first quarter to get Drexel off to a blistering hot start from long range. Keishana Washington added 13 as well and knocked down four of six free throws in the final minutes to wrap up the win. The Dragons led by as many as 12 early on and never relinquished the lead after the first three minutes of action, though Elon made it a one-possession game on eight separate occasions.

GAME PLAY
Q1:
Kate Connolly got the Dragons off to a hot start, knocking down each of her first four shots to score 11 first-quarter points. Connolly needed just 2:25 to score her first eight, already outdoing her season average of 7.0 points a game. She and Hannah Nihill combined to lead Drexel to a 5-for-5 start from long range, powering an 11-0 Drexel run. Elon closed the quarter on a 9-2 spurt, though, to make it a 21-16 game.

Q2:
Drexel continued to use the outside shot to maintain its lead in the second quarter. The Dragons went 3-for-6 from deep in the period, with Nihill, Keishana Washington, and Hetta Saatman each knocking down one to lift Drexel to a 39-33 halftime lead. Connolly's 13 points overall led the team at the break while Nihill added 12 and four assists, and Washington chipped in seven.

Q3:
Nihill knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter, but the rest of the Dragons went 0-for-7 from the field. Nevertheless, the Dragons kept their six-point lead thanks to an 8-for-10 showing at the free throw line. Nihill, Saatman, Jasmine Valentine and Erin Sweeney each knocked down a pair. Defensively, the Dragons kept the pressure on the Phoenix, holding them without a field goal over the final 4:07 of the quarter to take a 53-47 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Q4:
Kayla Bacon became the first Dragon other than Nihill to make a field goal in the second half when she converted a lay-up off a Nihill feed with 7:13 to play to make it 55-49. While the second-half shooting woes continued, Drexel ratcheted up the defensive pressure and kept Elon at arm's length. The Phoenix missed their first seven three-point attempts of the quarter and went 1-for-10 overall from long range in the fourth. Drexel held Elon off the scoreboard entirely for more than three minutes late in the quarter and Washington went 4-for-6 from the line to wrap up the 65-59 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Kate Connolly's 13 points are the most for a Dragon making her CAA Tournament debut since Gabriela Marginean had 28 on Mar. 8, 2007 vs. Georgia State.
- Drexel's five first-quarter three-pointers were the most it has ever hit in a CAA Tournament quarter.
- The Dragons were 5-for-6 (83.3 percent) from long range in the first quarter and 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) overall in the first half.
- Drexel went 10-for-19 from beyond the arc (52.6 percent), its best showing ever from long range in a CAA Tournament game. Its previous best was 7-for-14 (50.0 percent) against William & Mary in the 2019 quarterfinals.
- Overall, Drexel shot 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from the floor in the first half, but went just 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) after the break for an overall showing of 21-for-50 (42.0 percent).
- Hannah Nihill, the CAA Defensive Player of the Year, had four steals. Already the program's all-time leader in CAA Tournament steals, she now has 21 in her career. Aubree Brown is second all-time with 14.
- Mariah Leonard also had four steals to go along with six rebounds, matching Connolly for the team high.
- Drexel turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 15 times, but forced 19 turnovers by the Phoenix.
- The Dragons blocked five shots as a team, one shy of the program record for a CAA Tournament game. Hetta Saatman had three blocks in her tournament debut, while Connolly added a pair.

NEXT UP
The Dragons will take on second-seeded James Madison on Friday evening at 6 p.m. with a spot in the CAA championship game on the line. Drexel will be attempting to reach the final game for the third straight time, while James Madison will be playing for its first finals berth since 2017. The Dragons will also be in search of its first CAA Tournament win as the lower-seeded team since a 50-34 semifinal triumph over the second-seeded Dukes as the No. 3 seed in the 2013 event.