Survive And Advance, Drexel Downs Norfolk State in WNIT

Thursday, March 17

Philadelphia, Pa.

6:00 P.M.

Drexel University

27-5,16-2CAA

Norfolk State

17-12,11-3MEAC

Norfolk St.

Drexel

Photo by: Jim Beaver/Sideline Photos

Survive And Advance, Drexel Downs Norfolk State in WNIT

3/17/2022 8:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Maura Hendrixson stepped up on both ends of the floor as the Drexel University women's basketball team advanced to the Second Round of the WNIT with a 54-47 win against Norfolk State on Thursday night.

BY THE NUMBERS

Hendrixson propelled the Dragons on the defensive end with a career-high 13 rebounds, 10 of them off Spartans' misses. Offensively, she posted eight assists and scored six.
Keishana Washington topped the scoring list with 16.
Tessa Brugler scored 13 and pulled in seven rebounds.
The Dragons' free throw shooting was a key in the game, hitting 15 of their attempts at the line compared to seven for Norfolk State. DU held the edge in rebounding as well, 41-39.
Drexel is now 10-8 all-time in the WNIT and advances to the Second Round for the first time since 2018.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first quarter got off to a slow start for the Dragons who struggled to a 1-for-10 start beyond the arc. Drexel found its stroke as the frame wore on and pulled back to within four points at 17-13 at the end of 10 minutes.
After the Spartans hit a trey for the first basket of the second period, DU took its first lead of the night at 22-20 thanks to a 9-0 run on four points from Washington, a three-pointer from Hendrixson, and a turn-around jumper by Brugler. The remainder of the quarter played out evenly, as Drexel took a 27-26 lead into the break.
The Dragons turned up the defense in the third, holding the Spartans to 3-for-14 shooting during the opening seven minutes of the stanza as Drexel extended its lead to 39-32 with 2:42 to go in period.
Norfolk State pulled to 43-41 on a layup with 6:41 remaining, but after a missed shot and a defensive rebound for the Spartans, Hannah NIhill came away with a steal and jumper and the Dragons never led by less than four the rest of the game.

QUOTABLE
"At this time of year, to win and advance, that's your goal. We knew we were going to play a tough team – any team that's playing this time of year is a tough team – I though Norfolk State did a great job of pressuring us and taking us out of what we wanted to do, but I thought our team did a good job of staying composed." –Head Coach Amy Mallon on advancing with the win against Norfolk State.

"When our shots aren't falling, we have to do the little things to help us in the long run. Our gameplan was to make sure they took contested shots, that every shot they took was going to be harder to make. Getting rebounds was definitely a key to the game." –Maura Hendrixson on the team's effort against the Spartans.

UP NEXT
Drexel now plays the winner between Bucknell and Fordham. The date, time, and location of the contest are to be determined.