Dragons Hold Off Delaware In Homecoming Rivalry Matchup

Sunday, January 23

Philadelphia, Pa.

2:00 P.M.

Drexel University

14-2,6-0CAA

Delaware

10-5,4-1CAA

Delaware

Drexel

Photo by: Sideline Photos

Dragons Hold Off Delaware In Homecoming Rivalry Matchup

1/23/2022 3:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – A 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter helped lead the Drexel women's basketball team to a 70-62 win against its archrival, the Delaware Blue Hens on Sunday afternoon as part of Homecoming weekend. The victory extends the Dragons winning streak to 11 games.

BY THE NUMBERS

Hannah Nihill led all scorers and was one off her season-high with 22 points. She also tied a career-best with nine assists.
Keishana Washington scored 21, connecting on 9-of-18 shots.
Tessa Brugler added 16 and tied Mariah Leonard for the team high with seven rebounds.
The Dragons shot a blistering 54.8 percent in the first half.
DU recorded 20 fastbreak points in the contest compared to six for the Blue Hens.
The 11-game winning streak for the Dragons is the second longest in Division I (South Dakota – 14).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Tied at 52-52 entering the final period, Washington, who had scored just two points since the first quarter, led the charge, connecting on her only three-pointer of the night before hitting a step back jumper and a couple of free throws.
After a defensive stop, Brugler came back with a layup on the fastbreak off a feed from Nihill, pushing Drexel on top 61-54 four minutes into the frame. From there, defense and free throw shooting sealed the win as the DU held UD to 4-for-16 from the field in the final 10 minutes and went 7-of-8 from the line during that time.
The teams played an even start to the game before a 6-0 run from Delaware put the Blue Hens up 16-14 with 2:28 to go into the opening frame.
Roaring back, Drexel scored eight consecutive points in a span of just 52 seconds, six of them on back-to-back treys from Maura Hendrixson to take a 22-16 lead at the end of the first period.
The run continued into the second as DU scored seven of the first nine points of the stanza, going up 29-18 on a three-pointer from Nihill at the 7:31 mark.
In a first half of runs, the Blue Hens had the final one, outscoring Drexel 12-7 in the final five and a half minutes, closing the gap to 38-34 at intermission.
The hot shooting the Dragons enjoyed in the first half went cold to begin the third as Delaware took a 43-40 lead before a jumper by Brugler and a fastbreak layup from Nihill sent the advantage back to DU.

QUOTABLE
"Today's game, to play your rival team like Delaware and knowing what kind of battle it was going to be, it was a reminder to our team of what's possible when everyone is on the same page. From start to finish, we stayed on the same page with what our goals were, defensively and on the rebounding side of it. I feel like, as a team, we did what we needed to do." –Head Coach Amy Mallon on team cohesion against Delaware.

"We prepared very hard each day this week. I think our coaches do a great job of making sure that we're ready for every game that we play and I felt especially ready for tonight's game." –Hannah Nihill on the team's preparation for Delaware on Sunday and Towson this past Tuesday.

UP NEXT
Drexel closes the month on the road, starting with a trip to Elon on Friday, January 28. Tipoff from the Schar Center in Elon, N.C. is slated for 7:00 p.m.