The Drexel University women’s basketball team has been on fire for the past few weeks of Colonial Athletic Association conference play. The team has not lost a game since Jan. 6 against James Madison University. They have catapulted themselves to second place in the CAA standings, just behind JMU. Currently, the Dragons have won 10 straight games to give them an 18-5 record overall on the season and 10-2 in the CAA.
The Dragons’ last two games were against Hofstra University Feb. 15 and Northeastern University Feb. 17 at home in the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
First up against Hofstra, the Dragons almost tripled the number of points Hofstra put up in the first quarter. Junior Bailey Greenberg had nine of the Dragons’ 14 points in the first quarter, while Hofstra was only able to put up five points total.
By the end of the second quarter, the Dragons had increased their lead to 11 points ahead of Hofstra. Junior Niki Metzel came alive in this quarter for the Dragons, putting up six of their 13 points in the quarter. Two of Metzel’s three made shots were in the paint.
The lead was 22 points at the end of the third quarter. Another Dragon took over in scoring in the third quarter, freshman Keishana Washington. The Dragons were able to hold Hofstra to only six points in the third quarter. Washington had eight of her 10 total points in the game in the third quarter. Also contributing were sophomore Hannah Nihill and Greenberg to the offense.
In the fourth quarter, it was pretty clear that the Dragons were going to pull this one off for their ninth straight win. By the end, the Dragons maintained the lead, winning 62-39.
A major factor in the win for the Dragons was again their fantastic defense, one of the best in the nation. In the game against Hofstra, the Dragons were able to score 24 of their total points off turnovers. Showing depth in the team, the Dragons’ bench put up 17 points in the game.
Nine Drexel players scored at least two points in the game. Greenberg led the team with a total of 15 points and seven rebounds. Washington followed her with 10 points, then Nihill, who had nine points as well as nine assists. The Dragons made 25 of the 56 shots from the field, good for 44.6 percent, while Hofstra only shot 37.2 percent.
The Dragons are usually on fire from the three-point line but only managed to make two of their 10 attempts from beyond the arc. When they were sent to the free throw line, the Dragons came through for 83.3 percent.
Next up was the game against Northeastern. This game saw a similar outcome as the Dragons led from start to finish.
Through the first two quarters, the Dragons kept Northeastern’s scoring to single digits. After the first quarter, the Dragons were already up 22-5. Northeastern was only able to put up nine points in the second quarter, as Drexel was able to increase their lead to 39-14 heading into halftime.
The Dragons continued to push their lead in the third quarter, leading by 34 points with 5:24 left to play. Northeastern was able to get this lead to only 26 by the end of the quarter, but the Dragons were just dominating the field. By the end, the Dragons had done their job and defeated Northeastern 76-45 for their 10th win in a row.
Four Dragons scored more than 10 points in the game. Greenberg led the team again with 17 points and six rebounds. Washington had 16 points, while Metzel had 14 and Nihill had 13. This victory over Northeastern gave head coach Denise Dillon her 300th career win with the Dragons. She will now have a winning record season for the 11th time over the past 12 years.
The next two games for the Dragons will be away in the Carolinas. They will travel to North Carolina to play the University of North Carolina Wilmington Feb. 22 and then to Charleston, South Carolina, to play the College of Charleston Feb. 24.
Last time the Dragons played these two teams, they won. UNCW is currently 15-9 on the season and 8-5 in the CAA. As of Feb. 21, Charleston was 7-17 on the season and 3-10 in the CAA.