Women's Basketball Wraps Southern Swing at UNCW

Sunday, January 9

Wilmington, N.C.

1:00 P.M.

Drexel University

UNC Wilmington

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Sideline Photos LLC

Women's Basketball Wraps Southern Swing at UNCW

1/8/2022 12:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Game Info: Sunday, January 9, 2022 - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Trask Coliseum - Wilmington, N.C.

Social Media
@DrexelWBB | @DrexelDragons
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Opening Tip
Drexel wraps its two-game road trip, heading to Wilmington, N.C. to take on UNCW on Sunday, January 9. Tipoff from Trask Coliseum is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

About Drexel
Playing for the first time in 24 days, the DU got 33 points from Keishana Washington while Mariah Leonard scored the game-winner with 3.8 seconds left as the Dragons edged the Charleston Cougars 61-60 in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams on Friday night. Tessa Brugler added 13 points and 13 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

While always a reliable scorer, evidenced by her reaching double figures in all 11 games this season, Washington has turned things up in a big way during the Dragons six-game winning streak. After averaging 11.8 points per contest through the opening five games of the year, the Pickering, Ontario native is tallying 22.6 an outing during the streak and is shooting 49.1 percent from the floor. She has posted four game in a row with 20 or more points and set a regular season career-high with 33 at Charleston on Friday.

The game setting doesn't seem to matter much to Drexel, which is 3-0 in true road games and 4-1 in contests away from the Daskalakis Athletic Center this season with the only setback coming against Nebraska, who is currently seventh in the NCAA NET rankings. The Dragons have also fared equally well regardless of time of day as they are 5-1 in night games (after 5:00 p.m. local time) and 4-1 in day games.

Against the Dragons, the College of Charleston shot 7-for-31 from three-point range. Since the beginning of December, Drexel's opponents are 17-for-98 (17.3 percent) from distance. Overall on the year, DU ranks 14th nationally as teams are shooting 24.0 percent against on three-pointers. The Dragons will have their perimeter defense put to the test against UNCW as the Seahawks lead the CAA and are 59th in the country, connecting on 34.6 percent of their shots from deep.

Scouting UNCW
UNCW enters play 3-8 overall with an 0-1 record in the CAA and is coming off a 77-67 loss at Northeastern its last time out. Prior to the contest against the Huskies, the Seahawks had gone 2-2 in the month of December.

Leading the offense for UNCW is Sierra DaCosta at 12.6 points per game. Also scoring in double figures is Carrie Gross with 10.3 an outing. Micah Hoggatt provides a third option, netting 8.5 a contest while leading the Seahawks at 6.2 board a game. Allie Best tops the team with 26 assists this season.

A couple of areas that have been a strength for UNCW are shooting from distance as well as getting to and making free throws. The Seahawks lead the conference at 34.6 percent from beyond the arc. They are second in the CAA in both free throw percentage (74.9) and makes at the stripe (125).

Consistency has been difficult to come by at times as only DaCosta has started all 11 games. Hoggatt and Cross have each started 10, but all told, seven players have been on the floor to open three or more games this season and nine players average 10+ minutes a contest.

Veteran coach Karen Barefoot is in her fifth season at the helm of UNCW with a record of 50-73 with the Seahawks. Now in her 24th year as a collegiate head coach, she has a career mark of 363-309 with previous stops at Apprentice (1995-2001), Lenoir-Rhyne (2001-05), Elon (2008-11), and Old Dominion (2011-17), guiding her teams to four 20-win seasons.

All-Time Series
Sunday is the 38th all-time meeting between Drexel and UNCW with the Dragons holding a 29-8 advantage, including 20 wins in a row. Both games in the 2020-21 season were in Wilmington with DU winning 76-63 on January 2 and 61-34 on January 3.

Up Next
Drexel starts a four-game, nine-day homestand, hosting Northeastern on Friday, January 14. Tipoff from the Daskalakis Athletic Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.