Delaware Upsets Drexel To Reach Semifinals
Rob Washburn
Boxscore | Championship Central
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 13, 2015) – Seventh-seeded Delaware continued its run of success at the Show Place Arena, upsetting second-seeded Drexel 55-48 in the quarterfinals of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Friday evening.
The Blue Hens (15-16), who have reached the CAA championship game during each of the four previous years that the tournament has been held in the building, advanced to Saturday’s 3:30 semifinal game against either Hofstra or William and Mary. Drexel dropped to 20-10 with the loss.
The Blue Hens shot an impressive 48.8% from the floor, including 60% (9-of-15) in the second half. They were even better from three-point range, knocking down 6-of-9 treys. Delaware also had a commanding 39-23 rebounding edge, which helped it overcome 25 turnovers. Meanwhile, Drexel shot only 33.9% from the floor and was 3-of-13 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Courtni Green led the Blue Hens with 16 points, while sophomore Hannah Jardine hit three treys and tallied 13 points and sophomore guard Erika Brown chipped in 12 points. Sophomore forward Sarah Curran was the lone Drexel player in double digits with 12 points, while Jackie Schluth and Rachel Pearson each added eight points.
Delaware led 45-35 with 9:54 remaining after a Jardine three-pointer, but the Dragons reeled off six straight points and closed to within 45-41 on a Kelsi Lidge jumper. A driving layup by Brown and another Jardine trey pushed the Blue Hens’ margin back to nine, before a 7-0 Drexel run capped by a Curran layup closed the gap to 50-48 with 2:08 on the clock.
Those would be Drexel’s last points, however, as Green and Brown combined to go 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 30.2 seconds to put the game away.
After taking an early 6-2 lead on three layups by senior forward Joy Caracciolo, Delaware used hot shooting from 3-point range to eventually push its first-half margin to double digits. The Blue Hens knocked down four of their first five attempts from beyond the arc, with Green’s second trey of the night from the left corner giving Delaware a 28-14 edge with 3:57 left in the period. However, that would be UD’s final bucket of the period as Curran scored six straight points to pull the Dragons within 28-20 at intermission.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half until Drexel’s Rachel Pearson drained a three-pointer from the right wing to pull the Dragons within 34-31 with 13:45 remaining. Delaware responded with an 11-4 run over the next four minutes, capped by Jardine’s trey.
Delaware reached the CAA championship game as a No. 7 seed in 2011, upsetting No. 2 Old Dominion in the quarterfinals and No. 3 UNCW in the semifinals before falling to No. 1 James Madison in the title game. With tonight’s victory, the Blue Hens are now 13-2 at the Show Place Arena.
Drexel had reached the semifinals of the past three CAA tournaments before having its streak broken tonight.