Lucky No. 7 Strikes Twice; Drexel Wins Third CAA Women’s Basketball Championship
Hunter Peters
CHAMP CENTRAL | BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | IN-GAME PHOTO GALLERY | DREXEL CELEBRATION PHOTO GALLERY | DREXEL PRESSER | STONY BROOK PRESSER | SIGHTS & SOUNDS VIDEO
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 17, 2024) – Seventh-seeded Drexel shot 50.0 percent (23-46) from the floor and 57.9 percent from three (11-19), defeating top-seeded Stony Brook 68-60 for its third CAA Women’s Basketball Championship title in program history on Sunday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Dragons (19-14) lead wire-to-wire, winning their second CAA Championship in the past four seasons and second under head coach Amy Mallon. Drexel will represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament after winning the league’s automatic qualifying, and they will learn their fate at 8 p.m. this evening during the NCAA DI Women’s Basketball selection show on ESPN.
It marks the second consecutive season the No. 7 seed has won the CAA Championship – which is the lowest seed in tournament history to win the title. Prior to last season, no team had won four games in four days to claim the conference championship, and now the feat has been completed in back-to-back seasons.
Stony Brook falls to 27-4 after the setback and will make its seventh postseason appearance in program history later this month.
Amaris Baker paced Drexel for the fourth straight game, scoring a game-high 19 points, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2024 Championship. Baker averaged 19.8 points per game during the four-day run. Brooke Mullin added 16 points in the title game and joined Baker on the All-Tournament team, and Erin Sweeney provided a lift off the bench with a career-high 16 points on Sunday.
Four Seawolves scored in double figures, led by All-Tournament selections Gigi Gonzalez and Victoria Keenan, but it wasn’t enough against the red-hot Dragons. Gonzalez had18 points, and Keenan added 14 off the bench. Khari Clark (12) and Shamarla King (10) rounded out the quartet of double-figure scorers.
Drexel’s defense dominated the first quarter, limiting Stony Brook to 18.8 percent (3-16) shooting en route to a 16-9 lead. The Dragons made four of its first six shots to build an early 9-4 lead, with Mullin scoring the first five points. Drexel held the Seawolves to 1-for-9 shooting over the final 6:46, and Baker gave the Dragons a seven-point lead on a second-chance layup with 27 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.
The Dragons caught fire to begin the second quarter. After missing their first shot, they hit five in a row, pushing the lead to 31-18. Jasmine Valentine scored on a pick and roll before Mullin knocked down two triples, finishing with a pull-up jumper and trey-ball from Baker. Drexel maintained at least a nine-point margin the rest of the quarter before taking a 36-26 lead into the break.
The teams traded four-point sprees to begin the third quarter before a 10-3 run pulled Stony Brook within three, 43-40, with 2:45 remaining in the frame. Kennan and King knocked down back-to-back trifectas, forcing Drexel into a timeout. However, as they had all game, Drexel answered. The Dragons finished the frame on a 6-0 run, hitting five of their final seven shots, with Grace O’Neill splashing home a three at the buzzer to give Drexel a 51-42 advantage entering the fourth.
Drexel led the entire fourth quarter despite not making a field goal during the final 5:04 of regulation. Stony Brook did not go without a fight. The Seawolves went on a 10-0 run to pull within four after Drexel gained its largest lead at 64-50; however, the Dragons held SBU scoreless over the final 1:10 and knocked down four free throws to ice the game.
Defensively, Drexel held Stony Brook to 30.6 percent (19-62) shooting in the game and 24.1 percent (7-29) in the first half.
2024 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team
Amaris Baker, Drexel (MOP)
Chloe Hodges, Drexel
Brooke Mullin, Drexel
Victoria Keenan, Stony Brook
Gigi Gonzalez, Stony Brook
Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, Towson
Gallery: (3-17-2024) 2024 CAA WBB Champ Drexel Celebration
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