Drexel Holds Off VCU, 65-61
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 9, 2012) - Third-seeded Drexel
held off a furious VCU rally and recorded a 65-61 victory over the sixth-seeded
Rams in the final quarterfinal game of the Virginia 529 CAA Women's Basketball
Championship Friday night at The Show Place Arena.
The Dragons (17-12) advance to Saturday's semifinals against
second-seeded James Madison at 2:30 p.m. It will be Drexel's first trip to the
semifinals since 2009 when it won the CAA title. VCU dropped to 17-14 after the
setback.
Senior All-CAA forward Kamile Nacickaite led four Drexel
players in double figures with 25 points. Junior Hollie Mershon poured in 13
points, senior Tyler Hale added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and
junior Taylor Wootton chipped in 10 points.
VCU got a team-high 19 points from senior Andrea Barbour, 18
of which came in the second half. Senior Courtney Hurt recorded her 20th
double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds and also
became the sixth player in CAA history to go over 2,000 points (2,017) for her
career. Junior Robyn Hobson added 13 points for the Rams and Robyn Parks scored
10 off the bench.
VCU trailed by 18 at the half and was still down 53-40 with
2:28 remaining before beginning their dramatic comeback. The Rams scored eight
consecutive points and closed within 53-48 on a Barbour jumper with 1:04 to go.
Drexel pushed the margin back to eight on a pair of Hale free throws with 35
seconds left, but VCU continued to battle and trimmed the gap to 63-61 on a
Barbour three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left. Nacickaite hit two free throws
with a second to go to seal the victory for the Dragons.
Drexel took control of the game early, outscoring VCU 20-4
over the final 13 minutes of the first half to take a 30-12 lead into the
break. The Rams trailed just 10-8 on a Hurt jumper with 13:06 to go before the
Dragons reeled off 15 consecutive points. Nacickaite, who had 10 first-half
points, started the surge with a jumper and closed it by draining a
three-pointer that put Drexel ahead 25-8 with 5:31 remaining in the period. Ayana
Lee also had five points during the surge.
VCU, which shot just 19% from the floor in the first half,
made only one field goal over the final 13 minutes of the period. The 12 points
tied a CAA Tournament record for fewest in a half. The Rams bounced back to
shoot 37.7% for the game after making half (16-of-32) of their second-half
field goal attempts.
Drexel shot 59.1% in the opening half and 47.5%
for the game. The Dragons also shot 77.4% from the free throw line, including
22-of-28 in the second half.