After a back-and-forth first half, the Drexel University women’s lacrosse team was outscored by the University of Delaware 8-2 in the second half, and lost 16-9 at home April 29 with a bid to the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs on the line.

Delaware was dominant in the opening fifteen minutes of the game as the Blue Hens took an early 6-2 lead over the Dragons. However, from that point until halftime, Drexel went on a 5-2 scoring run to draw within one goal of the Blue Hens.

Freshman Courtney Dietzel got the run started with an unassisted goal at the 13:44 mark in the first half. Senior Caroline Thiele followed with an unassisted goal just a minute later. Delaware scored the next goal, but the Dragons once again responded with back-to-back goals, this time from graduate student Lisa Rogers and senior Devin Nihill.

Senior Lauren Gerrie scored the final goal of the first half, making the score 8-7 as the two teams went to their locker rooms.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, Delaware took complete control of the game in the second half. The Blue Hens scored the first two goals of the second frame, extending their lead to 10-7. Freshman Jamie Schneidereith scored for Drexel at the 20:10 mark, but Delaware answered by scoring three consecutive goals.

Junior Nadia Pelham-Lacey found the back of the net for Drexel with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game, cutting Delaware’s lead to 13-9. However, Pelham-Lacey’s goal would be the last for a Dragon this season. The Blue Hens scored the final three goals of the game and clinched the CAA fourth seed with a 16-9 victory over Drexel.

The Dragons ended the year on a three game losing streak, a disappointing end to a season in which it appeared, just two weeks ago, that Drexel was playoff bound. Drexel finished the season with a 7-9 overall record and a 2-4 clip in the CAA.

Individually, Pelham-Lacey had a standout season for the Dragons as she finished seventh in the CAA in points per game average at 3.25. Pelham-Lacey also finished with the ninth highest goals per game average, 2.12, in the conference, just ahead of her teammate Devin Nihill, who averaged 2.06.

Photo courtesy Drexeldragons.com

After back-to-back conference losses last weekend, the Drexel University women’s lacrosse team will play at home against the University of Delaware April 29 in a win-and-in matchup for the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs.

With the Dragons holding a 2-3 record in the CAA and the Blue Hens sporting a 3-2 record in conference, the winner will earn the league’s fourth and final playoff spot.

Had the Dragons won both of their games last weekend, they would have already clinched a playoff berth. However, the two teams they played, James Madison University April 21 and Towson University April 23, were both ranked in the Top 20 of Division I Lacrosse.

JMU, Drexel’s first opponent, took the Dragons down 19-7 at Vidas field. The game got out of hand early as the Dukes outscored the Dragons 14-4 in the opening 25 minutes of the first half.

After that, Drexel was able to momentarily get back into to things with a 3-0 scoring run that began when senior Devin Nihill netted a goal at the 3:20 mark in the first half. Then the Dragons came out of halftime and scored the first two goals of the second period, one by freshman Caroline Cummings and the other by graduate student Lisa Rogers.

With their lead trimmed to 14-7, the Dukes responded by scoring the final five goals of the game as they cruised to a 19-7 victory. Cummings, who had her first career multiple goal game, was a lone bright spot for the Dragons.

Following their home loss to the Dukes, the Dragons hit the road to play the Towson Tigers April 23. Once again, Drexel was plagued by a slow start as Towson scored the first five goals of the game.

The Dragons got on the board for the first time at the 9:08 mark in the opening half, again off of a goal from Nihill. Sparked by Nihill, Drexel went on a 4-2 run into halftime, which was capped by a Rogers goal that found the net just eight seconds before the first half clock expired.

At the midway point, Drexel had cut Towson’s lead to 7-4 and had all of the momentum on its side. However, the Tigers are a nationally ranked power for a reason, and they proved that early in the second half by killing Drexel’s momentum with a 3-0 stretch.

In a game of runs, the Dragons made one final push. After trailing 10-4 with less than 14 minutes to go, the Dragons scored three consecutive goals to get back within three of Towson. Regardless, the Tigers got the last laugh, scoring the game’s final four goals and picking up a 14-7 win.
Against the Blue Hens, the Dragons will have one final chance to clinch a playoff berth. If they are able to do so, their first round opponent would likely be JMU, who bounced the Dragons from the CAA playoffs last season in a 15-3 rout at Vidas Field.

The Drexel University women’s lacrosse team went 1-1 last weekend, losing 15-2 at Elon University April 14 and winning 12-8 on the road against the College of William & Mary April 16.

In the first game of the weekend, Drexel was completely outplayed by Elon. Junior Nadia Pelham-Lacey scored the first goal of the day for the Dragons, tying the score at 1-1 with 20:30 to go in the first half. However, after Pelham-Lacey’s score, the Phoenix went on a four-goal streak.

That streak was ended by Drexel senior Devin Nihill, who scored the Dragons’ second goal of the game with 6:53 remaining in the first half. That would be Drexel’s final goal, though, and Elon scored ten more times after that to finish with a dominant 15-2 victory.

Looking to bounce back from their loss to the Phoenix, the Dragons took the field against the William & Mary Tribe on Sunday. Drexel managed to flip the script from two days prior, as this time it would be the Dragons who would dominate. Pelham-Lacey again scored Drexel’s first goal of the game, and less than a minute later Nihill scored to give Drexel an early 2-0 lead.

After the Tribe got on the board to make it 2-1, Drexel ripped off seven consecutive goals, which was the team’s second longest scoring streak of the season. Senior Caroline Thiele got the run started for the Dragons, scoring at the 15:04 mark in the first half. After Thiele, Nihill and Pelham-Lacey both scored twice, and junior Alex Beilman and senior Lisa Rogers each had one goal.

Heading into halftime, the Dragons were boasting a 9-1 lead. However, the Tribe did their best to get back into the game in the second half. William & Mary scored five straight times at the beginning of the second half, cutting Drexel’s lead to 9-6.

Pelham-Lacey ended the Tribe’s run with a goal at the 15:53 mark in the second half. After the Tribe responded to Pelham-Lacey’s goal, Beilman scored for Drexel, which made the count 11-7 in favor of the Dragons with just 1:21 remaining in the game.

Following Beilman’s goal, sophomore Lindsay Shettle capped things off for the Dragons, scoring a goal with 26 seconds to go. The Tribe scored again before the final buzzer, but the Dragons got the last laugh as they picked up a 12-8 road win.
Drexel improved to 7-6 on the season and to 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dragons have two huge games coming up, with the first being at home against No. 16 James Madison University April 21 at 5 p.m., and the second on the road against No. 17 Towson  April 23 at noon.

The Drexel University softball team was unable to snap its eight-game losing streak after being swept at home in a three game series with Elon University April 9 and then falling to the University of Pennsylvania April 12.

In their first game against the Phoenix April 8, the Drexel offense struggled for most of the evening, unable to get a baserunner until the bottom of the seventh.

Kiandra Mitchum, Elon’s ace and one of the best pitchers in the Colonial Athletic Association, pitched a gem against Drexel. She had a perfect game going into the final inning, retiring the first 19 batters she faced. However, Drexel senior Baeley Reed ended the perfecto by singling up the middle of the infield with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Reed’s base hit momentarily sparked the Dragons as freshman Linda Rush followed up by lining a double off the top of the left-centerfield wall to set Drexel up with runners on second and third and just one out in the inning. Drexel’s offense was still within striking distance of Elon, thanks to a strong start from senior Tara Konopka, who surrendered just three runs in a full seven innings.

Mitchum was able to retire Drexel’s sophomore cleanup hitter Taylor Lee for the innings second out, but freshman Hannah Walker drew a walk, which brought the winning run to the plate for the Dragons. In stepped freshman Mari Gardner with a chance to be the hero. However, Mitchum recovered from the walk with a solid pitch sequence and retired Gardner on strikes, giving Elon a 3-0 victory.

After a 20 minute break, the Dragons and the Phoenix took the field for the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. Once again, the Dragons struggled offensively, scoring their only run of the game in the bottom of the third when Reed drove in freshman Savanna Johnson with a sacrifice fly.

Elon had no problem putting up runs, scoring 13 times in the game’s first five frames. With the mercy rule in effect, the Dragons fell 13-1 to the Phoenix at the end of the fifth inning.

In the final game of the series April 9, Elon looked to put the Dragons away early, scoring the first 10 runs of the contest. Mitchum was on the mound again for Elon, blanking the Dragons in the first three innings. Going into the bottom of the fourth, Drexel was once again in danger of being mercied as the Dragons trailed the Phoenix 10-0.

However, the Dragons’ offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth when Mitchum was replaced on the mound by Kenna Quinn. After Reed and Lee reached base for Drexel, sophomore Kai Uyesaka picked up an RBI single to score Reed and advance Lee to second base. Then Mari Gardner knocked in Lee with a double, which set Hannah Walker up with runners on second and third and just one out in the inning.

Sensing a shift in momentum, Elon head coach, Kathy Bocock made a pitching change and re-entered Mitchum to face Walker. Unfazed by Elon’s best hurler, Walker drove the ball over the left-centerfield fence for her first career home run. cutting Elon’s lead to 10-5 in the process.

Despite Walker’s dinger, Mitchum settled down and retired the Dragons to end the inning. Unfortunately for the Dragons, Mitchum kept her top form for the remainder of the game and held Drexel off the board in the following three innings. Drexel ultimately lost 13-5, being swept by Elon and falling to 1-8 in conference play.

Following the series with Elon, Drexel hosted their University City rival, the UPenn Quakers, April 12. Freshman Alyssa Hamilton made her first career start on the mound for the Dragons. Hamilton was decent early on, giving up a run in the top of the first, second and third innings respectively.

In the bottom half of the first, the Dragons took their first and only lead of the game when Rush smacked a two-run blast into the net behind the leftfield fence. Rush’s homer, the fifth of the season for her, put the Dragons up 2-1. Again in the bottom of the third, Rush had a big hit as she drove in freshman Taylor Kent with an RBI single, tying the game 3-3.

Regardless of a solid start, the Dragons got in their own way too many times. Hamilton allowed a few runs to score on wild pitches, and the Drexel offense made three crucial baserunning mistakes to kill rallies.

The Dragons were unable to score after the third inning, and the Quakers managed to get seven more runs home, giving them a 10-3 win. With the loss, Drexel’s overall record fell to 9-18 on the season.

This weekend, Drexel will play a three game series at home against the College of Charleston, with a double header April 15 and a single game April 16.

After scoring a season high eight consecutive goals in the first half, the Drexel University women’s lacrosse team held off a comeback effort from Hofstra University and captured a 12-11 win at Vidas Field April 7.

It was Drexel’s first Colonial Athletic Association matchup of the season, so the Dragons got off to a good start in conference play.

“Getting your first win in the CAA is huge, so I’m really glad that we got it with the first game of our CAA play. It just, it’s a momentum from here on out that’ll just help us rise up into our next game,” junior Molly Savage said April 7.

The Dragons got off to a furious start against the Pride and scored the first eight goals of the contest. Junior Nadia Pelham-Lacey scored a goal less than 40 seconds into the first half, which began Drexel’s offensive onslaught.

Senior Lauren Gerrie scored the next two goals for Drexel, the first unassisted and the second off of a pass from senior Caroline Thiele. Moments later, Thiele dished out another assist as junior Alex Beilman caught Thiele’s pass and fired the ball into the net at around the 20th minute.

Pelham-Lacey followed up by scoring her second goal of the day at the 18:26 mark, which extended Drexel’s lead to 5-0. Then, Beilman found the net with 8:14 remaining in the first half, making her the third Dragon on the day to score multiple goals.

Not to be outdone by her teammates, Gerrie scored her third goal of the evening on a ridiculous backhand scoopshot with 7:18 remaining in the first half. Gerrie’s score not only gave her a hat-trick, but it also gave the Dragons seven consecutive goals, which tied their longest streak of the season.

It didn’t take long for Drexel to best that streak, however, as senior Devin Nihill scored her first goal of the game off an assist from Pelham-Lacey with 4:49 left until halftime.

Out to a commanding 8-0 lead, it appeared as if the Dragons were going to coast to victory. However, the Pride would not go quietly into the night, thanks in large part to their freshman phenom Alyssa Parella, who entered the day as the CAA’s points leader.

With just over a minute left until halftime, Parella broke Drexel’s goal streak and got the Pride on the board with a goal of their own. It would be the lone score of the first half for Hofstra, cutting Drexel’s lead to 8-1.

Coming out of halftime, the Pride looked hungry. Hofstra scored in the opening 40 seconds of the second half when Lexi Lanaghan, off of an assist from Parella, put a shot past Drexel’s senior goalkeeper Carlee Ries. Then, a few minutes later, Parella scored her second goal of the day, cutting Drexel’s lead to 8-3.

Pelham-Lacey answered with a goal at around the 21 minute mark in the second half, pushing Drexel’s lead back up to six. However, the Pride scored the next two goals of the game, one by Becky Conto and the other by Morgan Knox, to come within four points of the Dragons.

Alex Beilman picked up a hat trick with just 15 minutes left in the game, and her goal put Drexel up 10-5. Regardless, Hofstra refused to go away, and the Pride scored four of the game’s next five goals, trimming Drexel’s lead to 11-9 with 8:09 left to play.

“We expected them in the second half to definitely come out, come back with a fight. We weren’t expecting to just walk away with a win,” Savage said.

Pelham-Lacey scored a clutch goal at the 7:11 mark in the second, giving the Dragons some breathing room as it stretched their lead to 12-9. Hofstra was quick to counter, though, as Conto scored her fourth and fifth goal of the game at the 6:31 and 5:16 marks respectively. With just over five minutes remaining, the Dragons once commanding lead had evaporated to just one point.

“As it got closer, it definitely got a little more hectic, but we practice pressure situations every single day in practice. So we were prepared and we were confident in every single person, even when we made mistakes. I made mistakes, my teammates had my back the whole way,” Savage said.

Under pressure, the Dragons’ defense prevailed with two key stops that kept the Pride from tying the game. All Drexel fans in attendance breathed a sigh of relief as the Dragons held on for a 12-11 victory.

“The CAA, it’s a tough league. Every team is going to fight for every single game. Every single game matters, especially when it comes down towards the send of the season, so the early games, on, count,” Savage said.

Pelham-Lacey finished the day as Drexel’s top scorer, with five goals and one assist. Beilman and Gerrie each finished with three goals for the Dragons.

Parella ended up scoring six points for Hofstra, with four goals and two assists. Conto finished the game with five goals, the high mark of the day for a Pride player.

With the win, the Dragons improved to 6-5 on the season and 1-0 in the CAA. Drexel will travel to Elon University April 14 to take on the Phoenix in another CAA matchup.

After being tied for eighth place through the first round April 2, the Drexel University golf team had a strong second round April 3 and finished even with Bryant University for second place out of 19 teams at the Coca-Cola Lehigh Valley Invitational.

On the first day of the tournament, the Dragons shot a combined 307, which had them tied with Saint Peters’ University for the eight spot. Junior Aaron Fricke led Drexel with a team low 74 in the first round. Sophomore Michael Cook turned in a 75 for the Dragons in the tournament’s opening stage.

By the end of the first round, the Dragons were well behind the University of Connecticut, who was in first place with an impressive score of 295. Fordham University was not far behind, shooting a combined 296 in round one.

However, the Dragons found their stride on day two and combined to shoot a 289 in the second round, which was the second lowest team score on the day, trailing only the University of Connecticut’s 287. With their impressive second day, the Dragons moved all the way up into a tie for second place.

Fricke had a solid second round, besting his score from the previous day by shooting a 73. His 147 on the tournament earned him a tie for the fifth best individual score.

Despite Fricke’s consistency throughout the first and second round, he was outplayed on day two by two of his teammates, when senior Yoseph Dance shot a team low 70 and freshman Connor Schmidt carded a 71.

Dance’s 70 in round two also earned him a tie for lowest the individual round score in the tournament. For the tournament, Dance shot a 149 and finished in a tie for the eleventh best individual score. Schmidt shot a 150, which was good for the sixteenth best score. Cook also managed to have one of the top 20 individual scores, finishing the tournament with a 151.

Next up for the Dragons is a trip to Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, to compete in the Finegan Invitational April 10.

Senior Jourdan Skirha helped the Drexel University softball team kick off last weekend in dramatic fashion by delivering a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam to give Drexel a 9-7 win over the University of Delaware Blue Hens April 1.

Skirha’s dramatic dinger was the first home run of her career, and it helped the Dragons snap a nearly two-year-old Colonial Athletic Association game losing streak, with the team’s last conference win being April 25, 2015.

“Honestly, at first, I knew it felt really awesome when I hit it, and I knew that the wind was playing a huge factor with all of the balls that were hit up high, so I was really excited at first, and then, kind of, was taken aback because I saw the left fielder going towards it. And then, as I rounded first and saw it was over, I literally sprinted home because I was so excited. Not just because it was my first home run, but it just meant so much breaking the conference losing streak,” Skirha said April 5.

While the wind was playing indeed playing all game long, blowing towards home plate from the left field fence, Skirha got plenty of power behind her swing and drove a frozen rope clear over the fence.

“I didn’t even realize that it was a grand slam, or that we just won on a walk off, until Baeley [Reed] told me afterwards ‘you just hit a grand slam!’ And I was like, wow, you’re right. I don’t know, it was just so unreal. It does mean a lot because, like I said, we haven’t won against a conference opponent in two years, close to,” Skirha said.

Skirha’s grand slam capped a five-run rally in the seventh by the Dragons, which was originally sparked when freshman Taylor Kent led off the inning by reaching first base on an error. Following Kent, senior Vanessa Lightfoot walked to set Drexel up with runners on second and third, and still no one out. Then freshman Linda Rush, a standout in Drexel’s lineup this year, stepped into the box and drove a 1-2 pitch to the warning track, which allowed Kent to score and Lightfoot to reach third base.

With the tying run on second base, sophomore Taylor Lee, the team’s cleanup batter, hit a chopper to Delaware’s pitcher, Jordan Cargile, and was retired for the first out of the inning. Sophomore Kai Uyesaka followed Lee by drawing a walk, which loaded the bases. Freshman Hannah Walker was due up to swing, but Skirha pinch hit, and we all know what happened after that.

The win was credited to senior Tara Konopa, who entered the game at the top of the third inning in relief of junior Katie Haley. Konopa pitched five innings, surrendered just one earned run and struck out four Delaware batters.

Rush finished with an impressive statline, going three for four with a double a two runs scored. Drexel’s freshman first baseman Mari Gardner hit a homerun, the second of her college career.

The following day, Drexel looked to build upon its emotional walk off win and played a doubleheader against the Blue Hens. With momentum on their side, the Dragons took an early 3-1 lead into the top of the third.

The Dragons got on the board in the bottom of the first when Taylor Lee sent a sacrifice fly deep down the right field line, which allowed for the speedy Vanessa Lightfoot to score all the way from second base. Uyesaka drove in Rush later in the inning to extend Drexel’s lead to 2-0.

Delaware scored its first run in the top of the second, but in the bottom half of the frame, Drexel was once again aided by Skirha, who had cracked the starting lineup at third base. This time, with two outs and no one on, Skirha drove a liner into the right centerfield gap for a double. Sophomore Janelle Ladrido followed suit with a base hit that scored Skirha, but Ladrido was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double, thus ending the inning.

With starting pitcher Taylor Curran proving to be ineffective against the Dragons, Delaware made a pitching change in the bottom of the third and brought Jordan Cargile in out of the bullpen.

Despite pitching the entire game in Delaware’s 9-7 loss the day before, Cargile was called upon to stop the bleeding for the Blue Hens, and it was a role she excelled in. Finding her groove early on in the third, Cargile blanked Drexel the rest of the game, pitching five innings of shutout ball.

To go along with Cargile’s dominant relief performance, Delaware’s offense exploded in the final four innings of play. In the top of the third, the Blue Hens scored four runs, three of them due to a homer by Devon Steiner. Delaware then scored a run in the fifth, two runs in the sixth, and three runs in the seventh to cruise to an 11-3 win.

Drexel’s struggles continued into the second game of the double header where Cargile once again earned the start for Delaware. Cargile pieced together a gem, throwing five more shutout innings while giving up just six hits.

The Blue Hens offense managed to score eight runs by the bottom of the fifth, which put the mercy rule into effect. Drexel was unable to get a run across in the bottom of the fifth, and the Blue Hens came away with an 8-0 win.

After giving up nine runs in six and a third innings pitched less than 24 hours prior, Cargile finished the doubleheader with ten shutout innings, and two victories. The Dragons were unable to right the ship in their doubleheader with Delaware State University April 4, losing the first game 4-2 and the second game 1-0.

Headed into the weekend, the Dragons will look to improve upon their 1-5 conference record when they take on CAA foe Elon University. Drexel and Elon will play a doubleheader April 8, with the first game starting at 11 a.m., and the final game of the series will be played at 12 p.m April 9.

Despite a first half lead that reached as high as 12 points, the Drexel University women’s basketball team lost 76-68 to James Madison University in the March 10 semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Precious Hall, JMU’s star and the fourth-leading scorer in all of Division I women’s basketball, had a game for the ages as she scored 37 points to lead the Dukes to their fourth straight appearance in the CAA Tournament Finals.

After a sloppy first half of play, she was unconscious in the second half, where she scored 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, showcasing why she deserved to be named the 2017 CAA Player of the Year.

Prior to Hall’s second half outburst, the Dragons, who were 0-2 against JMU heading into the matchup, got off to the start they wanted. In their two regular season losses to the Dukes, the Dragons struggled offensively out of the gate and found themselves in double-digit deficits to JMU by half-time. While they were able to fight back in both those contests, the holes that the Dragons dug themselves into proved to be too large to overcome against a talented JMU roster. In order to compete with the Dukes in the semifinals, Drexel needed to take command of the game in its opening quarter.

Early on, it appeared JMU would once again dominate in the first quarter of play. Hall opened the game by making three-pointers on back-to-back JMU offensive possessions. Sparked by Hall, the Dukes took an early 10-4 lead in the game’s opening five minutes.

Regardless of all signs pointing to another first quarter catastrophe, the Dragons found their rhythm on the offensive end after senior Sarah Curran made a jumper at the 4:49 mark. Her basket ignited a 14-5 Drexel run to end the first quarter, which was capped off by freshman Bailey Greenberg’s buzzer beating jumper. Greenberg’s shot gave the Dragons an 18-15 lead heading into the second period.

The Dragons rode their momentum into the second, and opened the quarter on a 5-0 run. Greenberg connected on a rainbow three-pointer at the 9:49 mark, and then, after the Dragons forced several JMU turnovers, junior Kelsi Lidge hit a turnaround jumper at the 7:48 clip to give Drexel a 23-15 lead.

A few minutes later, freshman Aubree Brown drilled a three-point basket to give Drexel a 28-18 lead with 5:45 remaining in the first half. Overwhelmed and out of sync, JMU was forced to use a timeout to talk things over. Hall, who connected on her first two attempts from long range, had gone cold and JMU was committing far too many turnovers.

Following the timeout, Drexel and JMU traded baskets for a few possessions. The Dragons got their biggest lead of the contest when junior Sara Woods, who was coming off of a career high-scoring game (12 points) in the CAA quarterfinals, made a layup at the 2:39 mark, extending her team’s lead to 34-22.

Despite being dominated for most of the first half, the Dukes went on a 6-2 run in the second quarter’s closing minutes and cut their deficit to 36-28 going into halftime. At the half, Woods, Curran and Brown were all tied with eight individual points for the Dragons, and Greenberg wasn’t far behind with seven of her own.

Hall had 14 first half points for JMU, which was half of the team’s total, but she had also committed four costly turnovers. In total, the Dukes committed 12 turnovers in the first half, and Drexel capitalized on many of those mistakes. It also didn’t help the Dukes that Hall was the only player to make more than one basket in the game’s opening two frames, with no other JMU player scoring more than three points during that stretch.

Coming out of halftime, Hall was determined to get her team back into the game. She scored JMU’s first five points in the third quarter, with two coming off a layup in traffic and three coming off a contested jumper from long distance.

The Dragons did their best to keep some distance between themselves and the Dukes, with Curran and Lidge both making three-pointer shots to offset Hall’s five points. Drexel was more than content with allowing Hall to score, so long as no one else on JMU’s roster was able to. Unfortunately for the Dragons, JMU’s role players began to come alive.

With the Dukes trailing 42-33 at the 7:11 clip in the third, Aneah Young converted on an and-one to cut Drexel’s lead to six. On JMU’s next possession, Young swished a mid-range jumper to make the score 42-38 in favor of Drexel.

Young’s offensive productivity opened up holes for the rest of the Dukes, and JMU went on a 14-5 run in the final seven minutes of the third quarter to take a 50-47 lead into the game’s final period.

Drexel got off to a nightmarish start in the fourth. After senior Jessica Pellechio missed a three-point basket on the offensive end for Drexel, the Dragons left Hall wide open for a three-point basket on the defensive end that gave JMU a 53-47 lead. Pellechio missed an open three-pointer on the subsequent Drexel possession, and it was clear that Drexel’s sharpshooting guard did not have her normal touch from behind the arc.

Greenberg kept Drexel in the game with a trip to the foul line at the 7:35 clip. After Greenberg made both of her free throws, the Dragons trailed 53-49. JMU and Drexel traded buckets for the next minute until Sarah Curran hit a three-pointer to make the score 57-54 in favor of JMU with 6:09 left to play.

However, after Curran’s basket, the Dragons went cold and were unable to make a field goal until the 2:55 mark in the fourth quarter. By then, JMU had extended its lead to 63-56, and Precious Hall had found her shot. Hall made a jumper in the paint with 2:36 left to play, which put JMU up 65-56.

Trailing by three possessions, Drexel was forced to play the foul game throughout the contest’s final two minutes. Hall converted on four consecutive free throws, but Pellechio and Curran both made three-pointers to cut JMU’s lead to 69-64 with just 1:06 remaining.

With just 58 seconds to go, Hall was fouled by Greenberg, and went to the charity stripe with a chance to ice it. To the surprise of everyone, Hall was off target on both of her attempts, but the Dragons were unable to come away with the rebound after her second miss.

If the Dragons had snagged the rebound, they would have had an opportunity to cut JMU’s lead to one possession. However, the rebounding lapse proved be Drexel’s fatal wound, as Kamiah Smalls stepped to the line, after being fouled, and cashed in two free throws to give JMU a 71-64 advantage. Smalls’ free throws put the game out of reach for the Dragons, who ultimately fell by a score of 76-68.

Curran finished the game with a Drexel high 22 points. Her final basket of the night, a three-pointer in garbage time, moved her into a tie with Drexel great Hollie Mershon for fifth place in program history on the career points scored list (1601).

Woods finished with 11 points, one shy of her career high, and seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. Greenberg ended up scoring 12 points, one shy of her career high.

Pellechio and senior guard Meghan Creighton struggled from the three-point line. The normally dominant long distance duo shot a combined 2-for-13 from beyond the arc, which had a significant impact on the game’s final outcome.

Credit to the Dukes’ perimeter defense, however, as they clamped down on the senior guards all season long. In their three games against JMU this year, Pellechio and Creighton, who shot a combined 41.6 percent from three against all other opponents this season, made just six triples on 30 attempts, which translates to roughly 20 percent shooting. The Dukes were consistently able to make Drexel’s second and third leading scorers non-factors, and that is likely the biggest reason for their 3-0 record against the Dragons.

Despite the loss, the Dragons’ season is not yet over. Drexel qualified for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, and is set to play a home game against Duquesne University Friday, March 17 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

With a 75-64 road loss to The College of William & Mary Tribe March 1, the Drexel University women’s basketball team concluded the regular season by extending its losing streak to three games.

This skid is anything but a good sign for the Dragons, who needed to enter the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament with momentum on their side.

Instead, they’ve picked up their first losing streak of the season. Before the loss to the Tribe, the losing stretch began with a 74-64 home loss on Senior Night to James Madison University Feb. 24, and continued with a 58-53 road loss to Hofstra.

With a 9-2 non-conference record, Drexel began the season with high hopes of finally getting back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2009. While they had some bumps in the road during CAA play, the Dragons still looked like a contender, at least going into their Senior Night contest with JMU. Their last three games, however, have been about as discouraging as it can get.

Even Drexel’s last win, a 53-49 overtime home victory against the University of Delaware, was not an impressive showing.

Against JMU, Drexel came out flat and trailed by as many as 21 points in the second quarter. Much to their credit, the Dragons fought all the way back and got the game to within three points, 57-54, with 6:36 remaining in the fourth. However, the Dragons got in their own way and committed four turnovers in the final four minutes of the game, which ultimately was the difference in the 74-64 loss.

The Dragons had four players score in double figures, but it still wasn’t enough to take down JMU.

Drexel followed up its senior night loss with a lackluster performance on the road against the Hofstra University Pride, a team that finished tied for last in the CAA.

Early on, senior Sarah Curran was the only effective offensive option for the Dragons. Curran scored 12 of the Dragons’ 23 first-half points. Hofstra managed 24 in the first half, thanks in large part Ashunae Durant, who scored 15 points in the opening two quarters.

The Dragons would have no answer for Durant for the entire game, as she made big basket after big basket for the Pride. Durant finished the game with 25 points on an efficient 10-for-12 shooting from the floor.

Though Drexel didn’t have an answer for Durant on the defensive end, they began to get help offensively in the second half from senior Jessica Pellechio. Pellechio found her shot, scoring 13 points off three-for-four shooting from three-point range in the second half.

Despite Pellechio’s offensive outpouring, the Dragons weren’t able to get key stops down the stretch, and the last place Pride held on for a 58-53 victory.

Drexel’s most recent loss came at the hands of the Tribe. Despite having three players, Curran, Pellechio and freshman Bailey Greenberg, score double-digit points, Drexel was unable to string together a solid defensive effort. The Dragons allowed the Pride to shoot an astronomical 58.3 percent from the floor en route to their 75-64 win.

With the loss to William & Mary, Drexel fell to 20-9 on the season and 11-7 in CAA games. The Dragons finished as a marginally better home team than road team, with their record at the Daskalakis Athletic Center being 12-2, and their record away from Philadelphia being 8-7.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, there will be no home games in the CAA Tournament. Drexel will travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to take on Northeastern University in the CAA Tournament’s Quarterfinals March 9.

Despite their recent skid, the Dragons could still make a run for the CAA title. Against Northeastern this season, Drexel is 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 26.5 points.

However, assuming there are no upsets in the tournament, Drexel would have to face JMU in the semifinals and Elon University in the finals. While the Dragons were a combined 0-4 against Elon and JMU this season, none of those losses were by more than a 10-point margin.

It would certainly be tough to win both of those games, especially when you consider JMU is playing in its home arena, but this is as much talent and as deep of a team Drexel has had since its WNIT Championship run in 2013. We’ll just have to wait and see what the Dragons can do

After a dramatic 53-49 overtime home victory against the University of Delaware Blue Hens Feb. 19, the Drexel University women’s basketball team clinched, at minimum, the Colonial Athletic Association Conference three seed.

It was win number 20 this year for the Dragons and their first overtime triumph since Feb. 17, 2011 against the College of William & Mary. Prior to defeating the Blue Hens, the Dragons had come up short in their previous six overtime contests.

“I’m definitely pleased with the win. We found a way to win today, that’s basically what it comes down to. It was not one of our prettier games, and I would say a month or so back we would have been on the losing end, so I was really pleased with the effort,” Drexel head coach, Denise Dillon said Feb. 19.

In a game that was a bloodbath on the defensive end for both teams, the Dragons’ offense, for most of regulation, was the Jessica Pellechio show. Pellechio, a senior shooting guard, poured in a game high 23 points on seven of 13 shooting from the floor and five of nine shooting from three.

The first half of the game was particularly low scoring, with the Dragons trailing the Blue Hens 18-15 by the end of the second quarter. Pellechio and Delaware’s Erika Brown were the leading scorers in the game at that point, both having scored a whopping five points.

It was in the third quarter that Pellechio began to heat up. During that period, Pellechio scored 14 points, making four of six three-point attempts and also cashing in on two free throw attempts. On the strength of Pellechio’s offensive explosion, the Dragons took a 34-27 lead into the game’s final quarter.

“I thought Jess played a really good game. So that was nice, and I thought she was under control,” coach Dillon said.

However, the Blue Hens opened the game’s final frame in dominant fashion. Delaware began the fourth on a 7-0 run, led largely by Erika Brown, to tie the game at 34-34. Drexel senior Sarah Curran snapped Delaware’s run with a layup at the 6:53 mark, but Brown responded with a midrange jumper at the 6:30 point in the fourth, giving her seven points in a row for the Blue Hens.

Curran, who had struggled with her shot all afternoon, hit a three-pointer, with a defender in her face and the shot clock winding down, at the 4:48 mark to give Drexel a 39-36 lead. Prior to connecting on that three, Curran was just two for 10 from the floor.

“She wanted to take that shot. She had taken one a little earlier in the game and didn’t make it but, yeah, she came up with a big one down the stretch,” Coach Dillon said.

Curran’s shot was not the only clutch three-pointer that a struggling Dragon connected on in the fourth. At the 2:42 mark, with Delaware then ahead 40-39, freshman Bailey Greenberg hit a rainbow three-pointer from the corner to put Drexel back on top 42-40. Prior to that basket, Greenberg, who has the team’s third highest field goal percentage this season, was just one for 10 from the floor.

“You know Sarah Curran is going to continue to shoot, that’s her job. But I was so pleased that Bailey Greenberg took that shot,” coach Dillon said.

Delaware was not yet out for the count as Makeda Nicholas made a jumper at the 1:38 mark to tie the game at 42-42. After both teams followed Nicholas’ jumper with empty possessions, Drexel got the ball back and called a timeout to set up a play with 43 seconds remaining.

Pellechio, the hot hand for the Dragons up to that point, drove down the baseline and tried a reverse layup, but her shot sailed over the basket. Fortunately for the Dragons, junior Kelsi Lidge stood directly beneath the ball as it began its descent. With no Blue Hen anywhere around her, Lidge cleaned up Pellechio’s miss and put it back up for a layup, giving the Dragons a 44-42 lead with just 35 second to go.

This time, it was the Blue Hens who needed a timeout to set up a final play. Whatever Tina Martin, head coach of Delaware, drew up in the huddle worked as Hannah Jardine was left wide open for a mid range jump shot from just beyond the charity stripe. Jardine didn’t blink, draining the shot for Delaware and tying the game at 44-44 with 13 seconds remaining.

Coach Dillon called a timeout in the hopes of setting up a game winning play for Drexel. However, the Dragons were unable to execute as Curran turned the ball over to Delaware just before the clock expired.

The game went to overtime, which was unfamiliar territory for the Dragons who, prior to last Sunday, had not been in an overtime contest this season. Drexel did not get off to a good start in overtime, giving up an and-one to Brown on Delaware’s first possession.

As she had done throughout regulation, Pellechio responded for the Dragons and hit a jumpshot to cut Delaware’s lead to 47-46. On Drexel’s next offensive possession, Pellechio was fouled on a shot attempt and went to the free throw line. She cashed in on both of her attempts and put the Dragons ahead 48-47 with 2:46 left in overtime.

Delaware was unable to score on their next possession, but Drexel was able to take some time off the clock by getting two offensive rebounds on its next offensive possession. Finally, Greenberg went to the free throw line after being fouled and made both of her shots, increasing Drexel’s lead to 50-47 with 1:09 left to play.

The Blue Hens were unable to score another basket until there were 12 seconds remaining in the game, but by that time, Lidge had made two free throws of her own, and Drexel was ahead 52-49. With no other option to stay in the game, Delaware fouled Curran and sent her to the free throw line, hoping she would miss both attempts. Curran was off on her first shot, but made the adjustment and buried the second to ice the game for Drexel.

With the victory, the Dragons improved to 20-6 on the season and 11-4 in the CAA. It’s the fourth time in her 14 year head coaching career at Drexel that Dillon has led her team to 20 or more wins. Since a 79-75 road loss to the College of Charleston Feb. 3, Drexel is on a five game winning streak.

“It’s all about how you finish and we just continue to remind the team it’s controlling your own destiny. We figured that right after the Charleston loss. We can’t worry about what everyone else is doing, we’ve got to worry about us,” Coach Dillon said.

At 11-4 in conference games, Drexel is currently in third place in the CAA, trailing James Madison University and Elon University who are both 13-2. Drexel’s next contest will be its final home game of the season.

The Dragons will take on the JMU Dukes at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at 7 p.m. Feb. 24. It will be senior night at the DAC, and Drexel will honor Curran, Pellechio and Meghan Creighton.

“We only have one more here at the DAC, which is sad to say with the group we have, with the seniors, but if you’re going to finish here at the DAC, you might as well finish against the best in JMU. We’re excited. We have three remaining, but we’re only focusing on the next one,” Coach Dillon said.