In its final competition before the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, the Drexel golf team finished 12th in the Wolfpack Spring Open in Raleigh, N.C. This tournament marked the first time in three weeks that the Dragons finished outside the top two teams in competition.

Leading the Dragons, as he has all season, was freshman Christopher Crawford, who shot a 72 and 73 for a combined score of 145. His six birdies helped him finish eighth overall in a field filled with top-level competition.

“Chris finished eighth with [Atlantic Coast Conference] competition and future PGA players, that’s saying something,” head coach Mike Dynda said. “He played very well.”

Along with Crawford, senior Ben Feld continued to play very well, as he had last week. Feld shot a 78 and 73 to combine for 151 and finish tied for 31st.

“Ben Feld had a great last nine holes, and now hopefully that gives him a little momentum heading into CAAs,” Dynda said.

While Feld and Crawford had solid performances overall, the rest of the team struggled. Senior James Braunsberg scored a 161, while fellow senior Andrew Lawson shot a 167. Junior Ben Hinge finished with a disappointing 173. For the upcoming match, the Dragons will head to Southport, N.C., to compete in the CAA Championship April 26-28.

While Drexel has never won the CAA Championship, Dynda said he believes that if his golfers are firing on all cylinders, they have the potential to make some noise in the tournament. The University of North Carolina Wilmington is currently the top-ranked team in the championship, and Dynda said they are the team to beat.

“UNCW is head and shoulders above everyone else in the conference,” he said.

Dynda is relying on his top three to continue what they have been doing all season, but he will need production from his fourth and fifth golfers to truly have a chance to make an impact in the tournament.

“Chris, James and Ben can play with any team in the conference, but [the CAA Championship] is all about how well your fourth and fifth score,” Dynda said.

Dynda will bring the aforementioned Crawford, Feld and Braunsberg to North Carolina, as well as Lawson and senior Billy Reube. Dynda is relying on Lawson’s and Reube’s past success in the CAA Championship to help them in the coming weekend.

“Andrew is due for a really good round, and I know he’s had past success here before,” Dynda said. “As has Billy, so I’m hoping they can find that form again.”

If Reube and Lawson can find a bit of magic, along with Feld, Crawford and Braunsberg doing what is expected of them, then the Dragons will have a chance to contend in the CAA Championship.

The post DU golf heads to NC for CAAs appeared first on The Triangle.

The Drexel golf team’s spring season has proved to be one filled with promise and excitement. Head coach Mike Dynda has seen his team steadily get better in their three tournaments of the second half. The first tournament the Dragons participated in was the Wildcat Invitational in Malvern, Pa. The tournament featured local schools such as Villanova University, Saint Joseph’s University and Temple University.

“It was the first event of the spring, and we were getting all the jitters out,” Dynda said. That explained the reason for the team’s performance, as they tookseventh place out of 13 teams. Freshman Christopher Crawford shot a 75, 75 and 69, which placed him fifth overall with a score of 219. Along with Crawford’s performance, senior Ben Feld finished tied for 11th overall with a score of 227. Following their sluggish performance in Malvern, the Dragons went to Easton, Pa., to compete in the Lafayette Invitational.

The Dragons improved on their previous week’s performance, as they placed second out of 19 teams at Lafayette College. Crawford captured his second victory of the season thanks to an impressive score of one under par. He scored first in the par-3s and third in the par-4 holes for a combined score of 143. Feld continued his steady play, placing10th by shooting a 76 and 73 over the two rounds.

“Chris played very well. He is getting better every week, and he’s just a solid golfer,” Dynda said. “Ben has really stepped up of late and has done really well for us of late.”

Following the impressive showing at the Lafayette Invitational, the Dragons went to Longwood University April 12 and 13 to participate in the Manor Intercollegiate Tournament. Dynda’s team continued its low scoring and placed second out of 10 teams. Feld tied for 22nd with a score of 227, and junior Ben Hinge tied for 31st with a 231. Senior Andrew Lawson finished 59th, as he shot a 246. Meanwhile, Crawford continued to pace the team with a 10th-place overall finish and was tied by senior James Braunsberg; they both shot 222 to finish six over par.

Dynda was proud of his seniors’ performance over the weekend, saying, “James really stepped up for us, and he got the game ball from us on the ride back home.”

The Dragons have one more tournament remaining before the Colonial Athletic Association Championships begin. They will head to North Carolina to take part in the North Carolina State Wolfpack Invitational April 20-21. The tournament will feature schools including Duke University, Clemson University and North Carolina State University.

“I’m not going to measure our success based on place but rather on how we perform overall,” Dynda said. “More than anything, I hope we head into the CAAs with a lot of confidence because then I think we can do well.”

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[media-credit name=”Kameron Walsh” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] The Drexel Dragons women’s basketball team made history April 6 when they won the WNIT and became the first women’s basketball team to win a Division I championship in Philadelphia.

With each step up the ladder to cut down the nets, senior guard Hollie Mershon was closer to realizing a dream she has had from the moment she stepped onto Drexel University’s campus. Words couldn’t express the feeling that she and fellow seniors Taylor Wootton, Renee Johnson-Allen and Nicki Jones had after completing the greatest season in Drexel women’s basketball history.

“When we were talking and getting interviewed after the game, I just said that it’s pretty amazing to cut down the nets that we’ve been shooting with all season long,” an elated Mershon said after the game. “It was such a good feeling to have a home crowd there when we cut them down.”

The Dragons came into the Women’s National Invitation Tournament Championship Game against The University of Utah in unfamiliar territory. They had never won a WNIT game before this season, let alone had the opportunity to compete for the title. However, the unfamiliarity did not stop the Dragons from stepping up to the occasion and winning their first-ever WNIT title.

After losing last year’s leading scorer, Kamile Nacickaite, the Dragons were picked to finish fourth in the preseason Colonial Athletic Association poll. However, head coach Denise Dillon knew she had a special group of players who had the chemistry and effort necessary to win games.

“Team chemistry was a big reason why we won so many games this year,” Dillon said. “When we met early in September, we knew we were going to be good [enough to] contend for a championship.”

Dillon also had a player in Mershon who set a new standard for every current and future Dragon. This season, Mershon led Drexel in scoring, rebounding and assists. She was also named First Team All-CAA and became the only player in Dragon history with 1,600 points and 300 assists in a career. The Dragons set a new team record with 28 wins and became the first Philadelphia Division I women’s basketball team to win a postseason tournament.

The WNIT Championship was a great game, considering the occasion. The Dragons trailed for much of the first half as Utah withstood every attempt by Drexel to take the lead. However, Utah saw its five-point lead diminish in the second half when Mershon did what she had done all year and stepped up to the plate. She made the shots needed to have the 1,922 fans in the Daskalakis Athletic Center storm the court to celebrate after the game.

The first half featured a Drexel team struggling to find answers offensively and defensively against the well-prepared Utes. As a result, the Dragons trailed 24-21 at the half. Early on in the second half, their struggles continued as Utah extended its lead to 31-24. Dillon’s team knew it had to find a way to contain Utah’s post play and create more chances on the offensive end.

“We went back to the 2-3 more [as well as] playing a little bit of man-to-man, but in the first half we were just getting lazy on defense,” Mershon, who was named the WNIT MVP, said. “In the second half we had to turn it up and stay on the defensive boards to eliminate their second-chance opportunities. We just really stepped up our game.”

That change helped to spark the Dragons’ second-half comeback, as the top-10-ranked Dragons defense allowed only two Utah points in a span of nine minutes in the second half. Johnson-Allen took a pass from Mershon with 10:38 remaining to tie the game at 33-33.

On their next trip down the floor, junior guard Fiona Flanagan hit a three from the top of the key to give the Dragons their first lead of the day. When Mershon drove down the lane on the Dragons’ next offensive possession, she gave them a 38-33 lead.

The last eight minutes of the game were a back-and-forth affair that saw the Dragons grind out the victory. After Utah’s Iwalani Rodrigues hit a three-pointer to give Utah a 43-42 lead with three minutes to go, the Dragon defense clamped down. And with 21 seconds remaining, Mershon drove down the left side and hit a layup to put Drexel up 44-43. After being fouled with nine seconds to go, she hit the two biggest free throws of her career to give the Dragons a 46-43 lead. While Utah had one final attempt to tie the game, the shot came up short, and the DAC Pack stormed the court.

This game was won by the Dragons in part thanks to the determination and will of the seniors both on and off the court. Wootton, who scored her 1,000th career point in the second half, led the team with 16 points. Mershon ended up with 14 points, even though she shot just 5-20 from the field, while Johnson-Allen finished with six points. Jones, who was lost to an injury late in the season and missed the final 15 games, was every bit a part of this team and the championship run.

“After playing every game up until I got hurt and being involved with my teammates, I still felt like a part of the team even though I wasn’t able to do anything [basketball-related] at all,” Jones said after the game. “So I still felt like I won the championship, which I did.”

After the game, the Dragons celebrated with their coaches, fans and families. This was the moment everyone on this team imagined being a part of: the confetti, music and dancing in celebration.

“Special” was the word Dillon used to describe her championship team. “Everything about this team was special. You know when you have something great, and this team had it.”

As each Dragon embraced this special moment, they realized they had one more step to take to complete their journey: the step off the ladder and back down to Earth.

The post Drexel women’s basketball makes history appeared first on The Triangle.

Junior forward Abby Redick drives through the University of Florida defense in Drexel’s 67-57 win over the Gators in the WNIT semifinals.
The Dragons will take on the University of Utah in the championship game April 6 at the DAC at 3 p.m.

Coming off a close defeat in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship Game to the University of Delaware, the Drexel Dragons headed into postseason play with high hopes that that loss wouldn’t define their season. As a result, head coach Denise Dillon and her team put together a string of wins that led them to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament Final.

The road to the WNIT Final Four involved a pair of home wins, first a 59-50 decision against Iona University and then an 82-72 triumph over Harvard University. Following those victories the Dragons went on the road to Bowling Green State University and Auburn University. The Dragons pulled out a narrow 50-47 victory against Bowling Green in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the Dragons defeated Auburn 56-43 to return home for the WNIT Final Four.

In front of a packed Daskalakis Athletic Center crowd, the Dragons defeated the University of Florida April 3 to reach the WNIT Championship Game. It was the type of game that Dillon has imagined her team playing all season long. The Dragons had a strong defense that forced bad shots and turnovers, supporting role players who have continued to step up and score crucial points for the team, and finally a special player in senior Hollie Mershon, who has refused to lose in the last games of her career.

Mershon, as she has done all season, led the Dragons against Delaware with 28 points and 10 assists in the CAA Tournament Final. Her relentless play both on the offensive and defensive end willed the Dragons to their fifth consecutive victory in the WNIT in the game against Florida.

“Hollie Mershon is a special player, and she had an outstanding game,” Florida head coach Amanda Butler said.

Along with Mershon’s stellar performance, fellow senior Taylor Wootton and junior Fiona Flanagan had impactful performances against the Gators. Wootton had continued her streak of scoring in double figures for the ninth consecutive game by scoring 16 points. Flanagan, whose three-pointer early in the game gave the Dragons a 9-6 lead they would not relinquish, finished with 11 points. The defense, which is ranked in the top 10 in the NCAA, forced 15 turnovers and six steals. The Dragons defense held a Florida team that had been averaging over 70 points in the WNIT to only 57 points.

Dillon believed the days off truly helped prepare her team for the challenges they would face against Florida.

“Well, I think the few days of preparation helps. We set the tempo and we didn’t allow them to get easy looks, and we talked about having all players want the ball and shoot the ball,” Dillon said.

The Dragons are doing something no Drexel team has ever done before by not only winning games in the WNIT but also defeating two Southeastern Conference opponents in Auburn and Florida for the first time in school history.

“I think we have a special team in general. Not only do we get along on the court but off the court as well,” Mershon said of her team.

Every victory adds to the incredible journey that the Drexel women’s basketball team is on. Every player on this team is contributing to this memorable run for the Dragons. Leading the way is Mershon, who played 39 minutes of the 40-minute contest. Her grit and determination have led the Dragons to heights they have never reached before. Only one more contest remains for her team to leave a legacy that no team has done before. On Saturday, April 6, at 3 p.m. against the University of Utah at the DAC, Mershon and her fellow seniors will look to cement their legacy by winning the WNIT Championship.

[media-credit name=”Kameron Walsh” align=”alignleft” width=”210″] Senior guard Hollie Mershon and the Drexel women’s basketball team begin postseason
play against a weak William & Mary team at the CAA Championships March 15.

Prior to the start of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, members of the Drexel Dragons women’s basketball team received well-deserved honors at the conference’s awards banquet March 13 in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Senior guard Hollie Mershon was honored twice on the evening. Mershon was named First Team All-CAA for her efforts. She leads the Dragons this season in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and free-throw percentage this season. This was her second consecutive All-CAA award. She was named Second Team All-CAA in 2012. Mershon led the Dragons in scoring for the first time in her career with 19.4 points per game, which was second in the CAA this season. Mershon was also the recipient of the Dean Ehlers Award, which goes to the student-athlete who “embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with her academic-athletic achievement.” Mershon was not the only Dragon to receive an award on the evening.

Fellow senior Taylor Wootton was named Third Team All-CAA, as she averaged 11 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Freshman Meghan Creighton was also named to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Creighton started all 29 games for the Dragons this season and had a very impressive 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. While the Dragons enjoyed the awards banquet, they were all aware of what is ahead of them as they take on The College of William & Mary March 15 for their first match of the tournament. The Dragons head into the tournament as the No. 3 seed. The two teams seeded ahead of them are the two teams who last defeated the Dragons and who truly stand in their way of a CAA title.

“I feel we are prepared. They’ve put together the effort, they paid attention and stuck together, so you feel good leading up to the match,” head coach Denise Dillon said about her team’s state leading up to the match.

The Dragons know that they can count on two things as they head into the tournament: Mershon and their defense. The defense, anchored by Wootton and fellow senior Renee Johnson-Allen, allowed just 52.3 points per game heading into the CAA Tournament, second in the league and two points better than last year’s squad that set a Drexel program record at 54.3 points allowed per contest. Mershon is the team’s focal point on offense. However, she may be the only key individual whom teams focus on during games, which presents a problem for Dillon and her team.

“It’s really the balanced attack; it can’t come down to Hollie Mershon. That’s not to put pressure on Taylor [Wootton] and Fiona [Flanagan], but you need that balanced attack,” Dillon said.

While Wootton has stepped up her scoring as of late, teams still know that if they can stop Mershon, chances are they will defeat the Dragons. Dillon has continued to stress the need to keep moving the ball and find the right player to make the right plays. Creating more scoring opportunities for players other than Mershon will be the key deciding factor in the Dragons’ chance at a CAA title.

If the Dragons are to win the CAA title, they know the University of Delaware and James Madison University are standing in their way. However, before they think about playing those teams, they must first defeat William & Mary.

[media-credit name=”Kameron Walsh” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] Freshman guard Meghan Creighton has started all 29 games this season for Drexel. Creighton averages 6.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 29.3 minutes per game.

This proved to be a defining week for the Drexel University women’s basketball team, as they faced the two teams most likely to stand in their way of winning a Colonial Athletic Association championship.

First, the No. 18 nationally ranked Blue Hens of the University of Delaware squeezed out a 62-57 victory at home against the Dragons to end their four-game winning streak. The first half was tightly contested between these two top teams. Delaware started the game on an 11-2 run. However, the Dragons fought back thanks to senior Hollie Mershon and freshman Meghan Creighton, who sank a three to make it 11-8. The back-and-forth affair kept going throughout the first half, and the Blue Hens went into the intermission with a slim 26-25 lead.

Coming out of the first half, the Dragons started slow. Delaware went on a 26-15 run midway through the second half to go up to 52-40. At that point Mershon and freshman Rachel Pearson started to heat up. Pearson scored nine points, all of which came within the last six minutes of the game as part of a 17-5 run by the Dragons. Mershon had eight points as well in that stretch. The Dragons continued to fight, and a Mershon three-pointer at the 3:10 mark tied the game at 54-54.

In the teams’ previous matchup, Drexel’s main priority was to contain All-American Elena Delle Donne. On this occasion, however, it was fellow Blue Hen Lauren Carra who helped close out the game for Delaware. Carra hit a three with under two minutes to go to give Delaware the lead. Pearson came back on the other end and hit a three-point shot to tie the game once more. However, Carra went to the free-throw line four times within the final two minutes and hit all four shots. Delle Donne hit a two within the final minute of the game to seal the game for Delaware.

Mershon scored 26 points in the game. It was the most points allowed to a single player by Delaware’s defense in over a calendar year. The key to the game for Delaware was second-chance opportunities. Delaware had 16 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points. The Dragons could manage just nine offensive rebounds and five second-chance points.

Drexel looked to conclude its regular-season schedule at home on Senior Night against James Madison University. Unfortunately for the seniors, JMU had other plans for the evening, as they defeated the Dragons 62-53 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was an off night shooting for the Dragons, as they only shot 33 percent from the floor the entire game. Aside from Mershon, who had 27 points in the game on 50 percent shooting, no other Dragon could get into a flow and truly have an effect on the game. Despite being down by as many as 14 points in the game, the Dragons, as they have done all season, did not quit.

They fought back and got within six points when the score was 40-34 in the second half. However, the lack of offensive production from other players hurt the Dragons’ ability to complete the comeback. Senior Taylor Wootton recorded 12 points and two blocks in the game.

“If we are going to rely on [Mershon], then the other team’s mentality is that one player can’t beat us,” head coach Denise Dillon said of the Dragons’ stagnant offense.

Despite losing the game that locked up the No. 2 seed in the CAA Tournament, for JMU, Dillon said she still believes this team can go all the way, especially because of the way it has competed in every game.

Dillon credited the competitive nature of the team to her four seniors: Mershon, Wootton, Renee Johnson-Allen and Nicki Jones.

“This group of seniors is by far the most special group. They bought in from day 1, have given everything to this University, and we like to see them succeed and do well,” Dillon said about her senior class of players.

The Dragons will be preparing for the postseason as the CAA Tournament starts March 15 against The College of William & Mary.

[media-credit name=”Khoi Tran” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] Senior forward Taylor Wootton hopes to slow down Delaware senior forward Elena Delle Donne when Drexel travels to Newark, Del., to take on the Blue Hens March 3. The Dragons will look to extend their win streak to five games.

There are two games remaining for the Drexel women’s basketball team before the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. One of their remaining games is against a rival and the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament, the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware. However, before facing Delaware March 3, the Dragons had to get past two very tough opponents trying to stop their two-game winning streak.

Head coach Denise Dillon and her team completed their three-game homestand by defeating The College of William & Mary 62-47 to earn their third consecutive victory. Freshman Meghan Creighton had an offensive explosion for the Dragons, as she led the team with a career-high 20 points. Along with her 20 points, Creighton added three rebounds and two assists. Creighton’s career night was the most points by a Drexel freshman since 2007, when Gabriela Marginean accomplished that feat eight times during the season. Dillon expected such a performance from her freshman guard and knows she has more of that in her.

“It’s big for us to have her as a scoring threat. I know she has the ability, but it’s a matter of confidence,” Dillon added.

Senior Renee Johnson-Allen, who was inserted into the starting lineup when fellow senior Nicki Jones was lost due to injury, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.

“Renee is 5 foot 6, and she plays like she is 6 foot 6. What she did rebounding is tremendous,” Dillon said of her senior guard.

“Renee is awesome. She has adjusted really well being inserted to the starting lineup, and what she did rebounding was amazing,” Creighton, who also earned her the CAA Rookie of the Week award, said.

Along with the strong performance from Johnson-Allen and Creighton, senior forward Taylor Wootton added 10 points and six rebounds. Six of her 10 points came down the stretch of the game and were crucial in putting the game away for the Dragons as they finished their homestand on a high note.

In order to earn their fourth straight victory, the Dragons continued to get a strong performance from the supporting cast of their team. Johnson-Allen continued her recent string of excellent performances by earning her first career double-double. Johnson-Allen scored 10 points and added another 12 rebounds. She now has 24 rebounds in the past two games, more than any other Dragon. Senior guard Hollie Mershon led all scorers with 23 points. Creighton added 12 points, including four of seven from three-point range.

The Dragons earned a 58-49 victory over Georgia State University in what will be their last meeting as CAA foes. Georgia State will be leaving the conference after this season. The 20th victory of the season for the Dragons marked the fourth time the program has reached that mark. Their victory against Georgia State also marked the ninth road victory of the season, which ties the school record. The Dragons will have an opportunity to break that record when they travel to Newark and take on Delaware.

[media-credit name=”Ajon Brodie” align=”alignleft” width=”300″] Senior guard Hollie Mershon drives to the net against Old Dominion University. The
Dragons defeated Old Dominion 64-50 at the DaC.

The Drexel women’s basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end Feb. 14  as they lost on the road to Hofstra University. Before facing Hofstra, head coach Denise Dillon’s team avenged a loss to Old Dominion University. It was an up-and-down week for the women’s team, but that is to be expected, as they are now at the heart of their Colonial Athletic Association schedule.

The Dragons lost 53-50 Jan. 31 to Old Dominion in a game they thought they should have won. Feb. 10 saw the Dragons not only get off to a fast start, but they were able to maintain a lead and defeat ODU at the Daskalakis Athletic Center by a resounding 64-50 score.

It was the seniors who carried the team in this game, led by Hollie Mershon, Nicki Jones and Taylor Wootton. Mershon had 19 points, to lead all scorers, along with six assists and seven rebounds. Jones had an impressive offensive night, adding 15 points, but as usual was a defensive presence with three blocks and five rebounds. Taylor Wootton, who also played a great game defensively, added 12 points to go along with five rebounds.

The key to the game was sharing the basketball, as 17 of the 25 field goals made by the Dragons were assisted. But it was the Dragons’ starting five that led the way all through the match, as they scored 59 of Drexel’s 64 points. Freshman Meghan Creighton added seven points, while junior Fiona Flanagan chipped in with six.

Getting back to their winning ways was key for the Dragons because it shows that the adjustments they have been making throughout the season to get better have been working. Early on, the team relied heavily on Mershon to carry the scoring load. Lately, however, it’s been an all-around team effort as evidenced by this game.

“To get back on a winning streak, we have been really focusing on allowing our offense to create scoring opportunities. We’ve been working on running it efficiently. It has also been important that the five players out on the court are all capable of scoring at any given time. We have stayed focused on the defensive end and limited second-chance opportunities for our opponents,” Mershon said of their latest winning streak.

While the Dragons got their revenge against Old Dominion earlier in the week, Hofstra also got a little bit of revenge as well. It was a poor offensive night for the Dragons, as they shot 17 percent from the field in the first half and 24 percent as a team for the whole game. Mershon led the way again for the Dragons with 12 points, and Wootton poured in 10.

Dillon’s team kept itself in the game thanks to its suffocating defense. They pressured Hofstra into 20 turnovers. Unfortunately, they could not capitalize on those turnovers. The Dragons scored just 11 points off the 20 turnovers. This game, while damaging for the Dragons, helps them prepare for their upcoming three-game homestand at the DAC. Next is a game Feb. 19 against the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The Dragons already defeated UNCW earlier in the season 64-51.