Drexel Turns Aside Northeastern; Heartbreak Again for Delaware
By Mel Greenberg
Another night of upsets and near-upsets in the Colonial Athletic Association found Drexel returning to a tie for second in the league race with Virginia Commonwealth after holding off Northeastern 58-50 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center Thursday night.
Senior Gabriela Marginean topped the Dragons (15-8, 9-3 CAA) with 25 points and 12 rebounds while Marisa Crane finished with 10 points.
Kim Carr had 15 points for the Huskies (9-13, 4-8) of New England -- obviously not those Huskies.
For a change, the two schools avoided overtime, which occurred several weeks ago in Boston. The most notable was the NCAA-record five-overtime win by the Dragons at the DAC in February 2007.
"Six games left," Drexel coach Denise Dillon said of the close race for the regular season title. "Right now the goal is to finish in the top four, anywhere in the top four, to get the bye and avoid playing that opening day."
Drexel won both the regular season title down the stretch for the first time a year ago and then the Dragons toppled perennial winner Old Dominion in the semifinals and host James Madison, a first-ever win in Harrisonburg, Va., to win a first-ever NCAA berth through the CAA's automatic bid.
Marginean, who now has 2,380 points needs 16 points to pass former Penn star Diana Caramanico for the all-time scoring record in the city in Division I competition (2,415 points). The native of Romania recently passed former St. Joseph's star Sue Moran, an assistant coach for the Hawks, and is holding third place behind Caramanico and former Villanova star Shelly Pennefather.
Meanwhile, down in Norfolk, Va., Delaware (15-8, 7-5) increased the number of excrcuciating losses in conference play in the closing seconds to five against the top dogs after dropping a 54-52 encounter to front-running Old Dominion.
The Monarchs (12-10, 10-2) were able to hang tight against a Blue Hens rally and take over sole possession of first place thanks to Hofstra's 74-66 upset of VCU Thursday afternoon on Long Island.
Drexel, which beat VCU last month in a narrow outcome, travels to Richmond to meet the Rams on Sunday.
Delaware fell behind ODU early and then rallied to take a one-point lead at the half. The Blue Hens then went into a deep deficit again but trailed by just one in the final 11 seconds after Eva Riddick grabbed a rebound.
However, she fell out of bounds with the possession, turning the ball over and back to ODU, which hit a foul shot for the final score.
Redshirt-freshman Elena Delle Donne had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Hens, who lost to the Monarchs in the CAA opener on a missed layup in the final seconds in Newark at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Delaware also lost to VCU in Richmond on a three-point shot with 0.04 seconds remaining and both games to Drexel. The Dragons won in double overtime, when Delle Donne missed a short shot with 11 seconds remaining in the second overtime in Newark, and then won in overtime at home on Crane's shot in the final three seconds.
Meanwhile, James Madison (18-5, 9-4), which had been virtually tied with Drexel when the night began, fell a game off the pace courtesy of a 64-56 upset on the road by William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
The Dukes' Dawn Evans, among the nation's top scorers as is Delle Donne, did not play.
Despite the Drexel win, Dillon was not entirely pleased the way things went against the Huskies.
Per a bad trend of games this season, the Dragons almost let another lead evaporate after building a commanding advantage at halftime, 30-17.
The Huskies sliced that differential down to five at 44-39 with 8:16 to play before Marginean came up big down the stretch,
Upset with Drexel's performance, Dillon inserted an array of combinations off the bench in the second half.
"Not on the same page and not understanding what defense we're in," the former Villanova star ticked off the reasons for her concern. "We talked about it and I told them we'll have other players who will get in and do what's necessary.
"It's that time of year where you have to make sure everybody is on the same page and they're focused and they're willing to do whatever is necessary to win games down the stretch. I'm going to hopefully teach that lesson and they'll get on the same page."
However, she did offer that the offense was balanced behind Marginean's points.
"We ran it a little better with the understanding that we have Gabby who is capable of scoring every night. Then the other players, when the offense is flowing, when they're getting looks, it's their job to take them. But then again when crunch time comes, you have to get the ball in her hands."
-- Mel