No. 7 Drexel Upends No. 2 Monmouth 58-56 Advancing to CAA Semifinals
Hunter Peters
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 15, 2024) – No. 7 Drexel shot 52.0 percent (13-25) in the first half and held on to upend No. 2 Monmouth, 58-56, in the second round of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Primis, with
Grace O’Neill hitting the game-winner with 34 seconds remaining on Friday evening at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Dragons (17-14) advance to the CAA Semifinals for the 12th time in program history, where they will face the winner of No. 3 Charleston and No. 6 Towson at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Monmouth falls to 21-9 this season and awaits a potential postseason berth.
For just the second time this season, four Dragons scored in double figures. Drexel was led by Amaris Baker, who went 7-of-9 with a game-high 18 points, scoring 17 in the first half. Hetta Saatman followed with 13 points, including 10 in the second half, and a team-high six rebounds. Brooke Mullin (11) and O’Neill (10) rounded out the Drexel quartet in double figures.
Ariana Vanderhoop paced Monmouth with a team-best 16 points, going 7-of-11 from the floor, while Jania Hall added nine points off the bench.
Drexel finished the opening stanza on a 12-3 run, and Baker knocked down a three from the corner at the buzzer, giving the Dragons a 19-10 advantage. It capped an 11-point quarter for Baker, who went 4-for-4 from the field. Drexel scored the first five points before Monmouth battled back to tie the game at seven. A fastbreak layup from Hall knotted the game before the ensuing Drexel run.
In the second, Drexel pushed its lead to double-digits, 24-14, after a Mullin three, but Monmouth responded with back-to-back layups. The Hawks cut the deficit to five with 2:37 remaining in the half after a Kaci Donovan three, but Drexel made four of its final five shots from the floor to take a 32-23 lead into the break. Baker scored the final two baskets for the Dragons, finishing 7-for-7 in the first half with 17 points.
Drexel remained in front throughout the third and took a 46-39 lead into the fourth. Back-to-back threes early in the frame gave Drexel its largest advantage at 38-25. A 7-0 run from the Hawks cut the deficit to six, but the Dragons answered with their third trifecta of the period. Monmouth cut the deficit to five, 44-39, with 1:35 remaining in the quarter before a pair of Drexel free throws.
Monmouth made a furious push in the fourth, but Drexel came up clutch when they needed to, and O’Neill hit the game-winning jumper from the free throw line with 34 seconds remaining to lift the Dragons 58-56. Prior to the game-winner, Drexel had gone scoreless for 3:39, allowing the Hawks to tie the game at 56 with a 6-0 spurt.
Both teams shot extremely well from three-point range, connecting on over 45.0 percent of their long-range attempts. Drexel went 8-of-17 from distance, while the Hawks shot at a 53.8 percent (7-13) clip.
It marked the second straight season Drexel and Monmouth faced in the CAA Quarterfinals. Last season, Monmouth knocked of the Dragons as the second seed en route to the CAA title.
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