Overtime Thriller Sends Women's Basketball Back to the CAA Title Game

Friday, March 12

Schar Center / Elon, N.C.

6 p.m.

Drexel University

13-8,8-6CAA

James Madison

14-10,9-6CAA

OT 1

Drexel

James Madison

Photo by: Tim Cowie/CAA

Overtime Thriller Sends Women's Basketball Back to the CAA Title Game

3/12/2021 8:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ELON, N.C. – Junior Keishana Washington led the No. 3 seed Drexel women's basketball team back from a 10-point halftime deficit on Friday night to defeat the second-seeded James Madison Dukes in overtime in the CAA semifinals, 79-76. Washington set a new program record with 35 points, the most by a Dragon in any CAA Championships contest in the team's 20 years in the league. The win advances the Dragons to their third consecutive CAA title game, where they will face top-seeded Delaware on Saturday at 5 p.m.

HIGHLIGHTS
Washington scored 10 of her 35 points in overtime after the Dragons had seen a nine-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate to force the extra session. She broke the record previously held by Gabriela Marginean, who scored 28 points in her first-ever CAA Tournament game on Mar. 8, 2007. Hannah Nihill added 16 points, three assists, and three steals. Kate Connolly chipped in 11 points with eight rebounds before fouling out midway through the overtime period. Mariah Leonard finished with eight points and two blocks, adding a critical charge drawn with just under a minute to play in regulation.

GAME PLAY
Q1:
Both teams got off to hot starts as the score seesawed back and forth throughout the opening period. Drexel made five of its first six shots from the floor, with Nihill and Washington combining to score the first 12 of the game for the Dragons. After the Dukes briefly pulled out to a four-point lead, Washington scored the final four points of the quarter to make it a 20-20 game.

Q2:
Six straight James Madison points opened the period and prompted a timeout by Drexel head coach Amy Mallon. Though the Dukes briefly stretched their lead to eight, the Dragons stemmed the tide with that timeout until a late 6-0 JMU run made it a 39-27 game. Nihill knocked down a jumper with 22 seconds remaining to pull the Dragons back within 10 at the break, 39-29.

Q3:
Coming out of intermission, Drexel clamped down defensively and turned up the heat on the other end. The Dukes went just 2-for-13 from the floor with six turnovers in the period, while Drexel knocked down 11 of its 19 attempts. The Dragons used an 11-0 run in just over two minutes to erase the deficit and grab a 42-41 lead with 5:53 to play in the quarter, and then closed the period with a 9-0 stretch that gave them a 55-46 cushion heading into the final quarter. Washington had eight points in the explosive quarter for the Dragons with Connolly adding seven.

Q4:
James Madison scored nine of the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to trim the Dragons' lead down to 57-55 with 6:30 to play, but Drexel recovered with two Connolly free throws to stretch the lead back out to four. After Washington hit a runner with 1:28 to play that made it a 65-60 game, Drexel went cold on the offensive end and saw Kiki Jefferson net regulation's final five points, capped with a lay-up with 19 seconds to play, to send the game to overtime tied at 65.

OT:
After seeing its late lead slip away, the Dragons bounced back quickly in the extra session. Washington sank a three and Leonard followed with a lay-up to make it 70-65. It was 75-69 with just under a minute to play when the Dukes mounted their final charge, primarily by getting themselves to the charity stripe. Jefferson sank two from the line to make it 75-71, then followed a single free throw by Nihill with a three-pointer that pulled JMU back within two with 36 seconds to play. Drexel ran the clock down on its next possession and came up empty from the floor, but a critical offensive rebound by Washington led to another Drexel free throw to make it a 77-74 game. After a timeout, the Dragons fouled JMU rather than allow a possible tying three. Though they made both free throws, the Dukes could only watch Washington match that effort on the other end with two ticks remaining and both teams out of timeouts. A full-court pass was knocked down by Leonard and Drexel held on for its 79-76 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS
- Amy Mallon becomes the first coach to reach the CAA title game in her first season at the helm since her counterpart in Friday's matchup, JMU's Sean O'Regan in 2017. Those two stand as the only league coaches to accomplish that feat in over 20 years.
- Washington scored 12 points in the first half and 13 points in the second half of regulation before putting up 10 in the decisive overtime. She was 14-for-23 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the line, including the last three points of the night which provided the final margin.
- Through five games, Washington's 15.4 points per game in CAA Tournament play stands third all-time in program history.
- Her 11 field goals made on Friday also is a program tournament record.
- Nihill now has 24 career steals in the CAA Tournament, extending her program record.
- Jasmine Valentine scored four points with four rebounds in the win, both game highs for Drexel reserves.

NEXT UP
The Dragons will play in their third straight CAA championship game and sixth overall on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. against top-seeded Delaware. Drexel will be in search of its first title since 2009. Should the Dragons win, all three of their wins in this tournament would be over teams that had defeated Drexel in previous CAA title games.