Hodges Lifts Drexel Past William & Mary with Free Throws in Overtime Thriller, 59-58

Friday, February 14

Philadelphia, Pa.

6 p.m.

Drexel University

13-9,9-3CAA

William & Mary

10-12,7-4CAA

OT 1

William & Mary

Drexel

Hodges Lifts Drexel Past William & Mary with Free Throws in Overtime Thriller, 59-58

2/14/2025 8:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Three free throws by Chloe Hodges in overtime clinched the Drexel women's basketball team a victory against William & Mary on Friday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, 59-58. Hodges was fouled while taking a shot from behind the arc with half of a second left on the clock. The Dragons improve to 13-9 overall and 9-3 in CAA play, while the Tribe fall to 10-12 and have a 7-4 mark in conference.

BY THE NUMBERS
Cara McCormack paced the Dragons with 20 points, tying a season-high. The graduate student shot 6-for-12 from the field and also found the bottom of the bucket on three shots from long range. McCormack also shot a 5-for-5 clip from the charity stripe.

Amaris Baker finished the game with 15 points on seven field goals.

Hodges pitched in with nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Deja Evans also scored nine points and finished with nine rebounds. The sophomore also recorded five blocks.

Despite William & Mary shooting 5-for-5 in the overtime period, Drexel was able to take the advantage with a pair of 3-point plays. McCormack tied the game at 56 points with a 3-pointer with 58 seconds remaining. Hodges connected on all three of her free throws to end the game and give Drexel the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
William & Mary took a four-point advantage in the first quarter after connecting on a three-pointer and hitting a free throw. Drexel received six points from Baker on 3-for-4 shooting in the first frame. William & Mary led Drexel 14-10 after the first 10 minutes.

The Dragons and Tribe each scored 14 points in the second frame. All seven Drexel players who saw action in the frame scored at least one point and helped Drexel stay even in the frame. While both teams shot 5-for-11, the Tribe connected on one more 3-pointer than the Dragons. Drexel earned its extra point at the line, shooting 3-for-6. At halftime, William & Mary led Drexel, 28-24.

The third quarter was the McCormack show. The graduate student scored 12 of the team's 17 points. McCormack shot 3-for-4 from the field, hit a trey, and went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Drexel held William & Mary to just 2-for-9 from the field in the frame. The Dragons also held William & Mary to without a field goal for over seven minutes. Drexel took the lead for the first time since the first quarter with one second left in the quarter. McCormack's coast-to-coast and-one bucket gave Drexel a 41-40 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Drexel held the lead for more than half of the frame. William & Mary scored a jumper with four minutes remaining to tie the game, then took the lead with 2:06 remaining with a layup. The Dragons answered with 1:37 left in the quarter with a Evans layup. That was the last point of the quarter, sending the game into overtime with the score evened at 48.

William & Mary went 5-for-5 from the field in the overtime period. But with 58 seconds left, McCormack hit a trey from the left corner to tie the game at 56. William & Mary took the lead back 18 seconds later, with a mid-range jumper. William & Mary seemingly had the game locked up, drawing Drexel to foul to send Cassidy Geddes to the free throw line to ice the game. Geddes missed both free throws and Drexel grabbed the rebound with just over one second remaining in the period. After Drexel used its timeout to advance the ball, a play for Hodges to take a shot on the perimeter was drawn up. While in the motion of shooting, Hodges was fouled and awarded three free throws. The Dragons took the one point advantage and Laine McGurk forced a turnover with half of a second remaining to clinch Drexel's victory.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Dragons have a bye on Sunday afternoon and will take a week of recovery before heading to North Carolina to face the Campbell Camels and Elon Phoenix. The Dragons face Campbell on Feb. 21 to face the Camels at 7 p.m. The Dragons then travel to Elon on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.