Drexel University Athletics
Drexel University
Virginia Commonwealth
Dragons Come From Behind to Beat VCU 70-62 on the Road
2/14/2010 4:15:08 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score
Richmond, Va. - Drexel used a furious second-half rally to recover from a 13-point deficit against Virginia Commonwealth (16-9, 9-4) for a 70-62 win on the road. Led by its trapping full-court defense, Drexel scored 14 points of turnovers, invcluding eight in a matter of 36 seconds midway through the second half to pull ahead for the first time with 10 minutes to play. Gabriela Marginean scored 15 of her game-high 29 points over the next nine and a half minutes to help Drexel (16-8, 10-3) earn a tough road win in Richmond.
Marisa Crane matched her career high with 11 points and also grabbed seven boards. Hollie Mershon played a pivotal role in the Dragons comeback, playing a career-high 25 minutes in place of Kamile Nacickaite who spent all but seven minutes on the bench in foul trouble. Mershon's athleticism contributed to success of Drexel's trap. In addition to scoring seven points she pulled in four rebounds and dished out a career-high five assists.
Jasmina Rosseel shot her way out of a slump by hitting two key three-pointers and finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and a team-leading four steals.
Drexel shot a sizzling 63 percent in the second half, missing just 10 of their 27 shot attempts in the half.
The Dragons' defense ignited a furious 15-4 rally midway through the second half. Drexel scored eight points in a matter of 36 seconds to claim its first lead of the ballgame on a three-pointer by Jennifer Stjarnstrom from the wing. The bucket came off a turnover by the Rams at midcourt and put Drexel on top 47-46 with 10:02 on the clock.
Drexel's defense forced nine VCU turnovers in the second half and converted them into 14 points. Seven of the miscues came during a span of six minutes and allowed the Dragons to erase an eight-point Rams' lead. The defensive onslaught peaked with 10:38 on the clock when, with Drexel trailing 46-38, Mershon hit Rosseel on the wing for a three-pointer. Rosseel followed her shot into the press and picked off the inbounds pass, promptly hitting a short jumper. VCU's next attempt to bring the ball up court was met with a trap and a loose ball, again recovered by Rosseel. From there Crane drove the lane and hit a wide open Stjarnstrom for her only bucket of the game, a three that gave Drexel it's first lead of the game.
From that point, Marginean took over for Drexel on the offensive end, scoring 15 of the team's next 17 points during a span of nine and a half minutes to give the Dragons a comfortable 64-57 lead with 1:29 to play.
Drexel trailed but just eight at halftime, 32-24, despite shooting 32 percent and turning the ball over eight times, many of which came in the opening moments of play. Virginia Commonwealth opened the game on a blistering pace before cooling off to shoot 40.7 percent in the half. D'Andra Moss poured in 15 of her team's points in the period. Crane led Drexel with nine points and six rebounds.
VCU knocked down eight of its first 11 shots to mount a 21-8 lead over the first six and a half minute of play. While the Dragons did not shoot nearly as well in the opening moments, once they settled into their defense, they were able to get stop and hold the Rams scoreless for a span of nearly six minutes. During the stretch, Drexel went on a 7-0 run and pulled to within six points on a tip-in by Marginean with 3:52 in the period.
The Rams shot just 9-for-29 in the second half after setting the nets ablaze in the opening half. D'Andra Moss led VCU with 25 points. Courtney Hurt put in 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Rams along with Kita Waller, in outrebounding the Dragons 38-34. Waller, the reigning CAA Co-Player of the Week had 12 points in the VCU loss.
Marginean's 29 points moved her into second place on Philadelphia's all-time scoring list, just ahead of Villanova's Shelly Pennyfather. Marginean has scored 2,409 points in her career and needs just seven more to become the all-time scoring leader among Div. I women's players in the city. It was Marginean's third consecutive double-double, a feat which she accomplished earlier this year as well.
The Dragons complete a two-game season sweep of the Rams for the first time since the 2004-05 season. They are now in sole possession of second place in the CAA, one game behind Old Dominion. Drexel will return to the DAC to play Towson next Thursday and Hofstra next Sunday.
