Nine Straight Wins

The red hot Dragons have yet to cool off as they won their ninth straight with a 63-50 victory over UNCW at the DAC on Sunday afternoon. The great shooting that has been one of the staples of this current run continued again as Drexel buried 11 three pointers. Not only did they shoot well, but the Dragons played excellent defense once again too. They jumped the passing lanes a number of times and made the Seahawks work for every basket.

I've talked all year about the big three (Gabriela Marginean, Narissa Suber and Nicole Hester) and they were good once again, but it's the depth and the role players that have been a huge success for this team too. Stacy McCullough isn't a flashy point guard, but she plays hard and smart. She took advantage today and buried a couple open jumpers for 8 points. She also had some really nice passes and a few steals with her aggressive defense too. Stacy has really taken advantage of her playing opportunity (following Andrea Peterson's injury) and provided steady senior leadership on the court. Alison Lupariello came off the bench today and hit several big shots including a three pointer that pushed the Dragons lead to double digits. She finished with 9 points. Delise Johnson doesn't provide a lot of scoring, but she has been playing with a lot of energy and effort. She could be found diving on the floor for loose balls today as well as applying tough pressure defense. She also had several nice passes. This entire team moves the ball well and excellent passing is leading to open shots.

The big three played strong as usually. Nicole Hester was huge, especially early on a she hit three baskets from beyond the arc. She also distributed the ball very well and matched a career high with 8 assists. Narissa Suber buried a few three pointers as usual and also had several nice drives.

Gabi still got her points, but was stifled by the UNCW defense early. She was clearly frustrated and forced some shots. She's a solid shooter, but much better in that area when she gets open jumpers within the offense. Her teammates were playing well and she didn't need to try to force the action. In the second half, she played much more within the system and scored several easy baskets. She took advantage of her teammates breaking the UNCW press. Gabi still had a solid game.

The Dragons faced a tough opponent today and weren't fazed. They are clearly going to be able to compete with some of the better teams in the league. UNCW went to a full court press defense early in the second half and Drexel was flustered for awhile. They regain control and began getting easy baskets. While their ball handlers aren't outstanding, it is really tough to press them when Gabi can dribble so well.

Thursday will be a huge road test and unbeatens collide in Towson, Maryland. This will be a good opportunity to show the rest of the league that they are going to be a force the remainder of the season. Let's hope they can extend the win streak to double digits.

Women Extend Streak to Eight

The women continued their hot play with another impressive home victory 71-66 over Northeastern. The win may have been against a last place team, but the Huskies certainly didn't play that way. They shot very well (over 49%) and led by two at halftime. The Dragons are going to start taking their opposition's best shot. They did so on this day and battled through for a win.

Drexel started off on fire and opened up a comfortable early lead. They struggled defensively though as the first half went on as Northeastern scored a number of easy baskets. The undersized Huskies were quicker early on and gave the Dragons difficulty.

The Dragons picked it up in the second half and continued to shoot well (over 60% in the 2nd half). Gabi was fantastic as usual. Last year she poured in the school record 47 points in the 5 OT thrilller. Tonight she wasn't that dominant, but still had 25 points. She even actually had a couple close misses late in the game and still finished 11-19. The sophomore is now approaching 800 career points.

After being named CAA Player of the Week, Narissa Suber had another good game. The sharpshooter was only 1 for 2 from beyond the arc. Instead she took advantage of a mismatch and attacked off the dribble. She did miss a few times around the rim, but also followed up her shot on a couple occasions.

Nicole Hester put together another fine all around game too. The talented forward sure fills up the stat sheet. She finished with 12 points (4 of 6 from the field), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, only 1 turnover, 2 blocks and a steal. Her ability to drive and finish or shoot or distribute are causing a lot of problems around the league. Jasmina Rosseel continues to really help this team off the bench. She finished with 8 points and has become a very deadly three point shooter. She dished out 4 assists as well.

Foul shooting is another area that can't be overlooked with this team. They were 15 of 16 from the charity stripe and scored 11 more points from there thanks to their aggressive play. They are second in the conference to only Northeastern from the line.

This team still hasn't faced any real stiff competition from the top of the league so it's tough to figure out just how good they are. They have been on fire from the field and it would be tough to see that continue at this level all season. That said, they have really worked for good shots and clearly have talented shooters on the roster. With neither Brooke Cornish or Delise Johnson playing physical inside, there will be some concern when they play bigger teams. Brooke has been great blocking shots, but really struggled today against the smaller and quicker Huskies. Delise was pretty solid defensively though. Rebouding hasn't hurt this team yet, but it certainly can against some of those teams. It's been a fun ride over the last few weeks and we can only hope it'll continue.

Dragons Slay Rival

On the surface it looked like a red hot Drexel team that has won 6 straight games against a young Delaware team that is struggling to find itself at 2-12. Look deeper though and you'll find more than that. The Dragons hadn't knocked off their arch rivals in the last 18 tries. There have been a number of close losses and that has to weigh on your mind anytime things start going wrong. Also, Drexel had been cruising alone against some weaker competition and mostly in the confines of their own gym.

On a night where not everything was going their way, this team responded and pulled up a tough victory. Early on, it looked like a blowout was in the works as Drexel built a commanding lead behind 4 three pointers. The offense then slowed down and the defense was hurt by a closely officaited game. Two of their key players Gabriela Marginean and Nicole Hester had to sit with foul trouble. The Dragons didn't allow Delaware to get on a huge run during that stretch though. Instead they forced the Blue Hens to crawl back into the contest. Delaware eventually took a one point lead into the locker room. With two of her teammates in foul trouble, Narissa Suber really stepped up in the first half and helped keep the game within reach.

Once Gabi and Nicole were able to get back on the floor in the second half, it was a completely different game. Gabi was nearly unguardable as she sliced through the lane. Nicole was efficient shooting and grabbed some rebounds. Perhaps most impressive were several beautiful passes for her 5 assists. As her play and minutes have improved, so have the Dragons. Narissa continued her strong play in the second half and was perfect on the day from the charity stripe (11-11). She hit a couple jumpers, but also cut well into the lane to get herself free. Jasmina Rosseel played well again. Her quickness and deft shooting touch gave the Blue Hens defense problems. She also chipped in defensively when some of her other teammates had trouble with Kyle DeHaven's quickness.

The Drexel defense adjusted in the second half and also helped key the victory. Instead of playing pressure defense and allowing the Blue Hens to get by with the dribble, Drexel backed off and forced them to execute from the perimeter. Delaware failed to do so as they hit no three pointers in the game. While the defense was solid, the rebounding really struggled. The Blue Hens were much bigger and pulled down an astounding 22 offensive rebounds. This is an area that will continue to hurt the Dragons as the season moves along. They just don't have the physical player inside to compete with bigger teams.

It wasn't the toughest team Drexel will face, but tonight's win got them off to a good start in the CAA. They also were able to get a huge monkey off their back as they snapped the Blue Hens streak. It has been like night and day watching this team now compared with the beginning of the year. Early on, they struggled so much that they couldn't even get into offensive plays. They were turning the ball over so much. Now they are taking care of the ball much better and their offensive sets are so much crisper. As Nicole Hester's production has been huge as of late. Now Drexel has to keep it going as more difficult opposition is just around the corner. They certainly looked poised to give the rest of the CAA fits.

Women Continue to Roll

After a sluggish start, the Dragons have really started to kick it into high gear as they won their fifth straight on Sunday afternoon 59-30 over Hofstra. In the last three victories, the Dragons have outscored the opposite 215 to 133.

Not suprisingly Gabi has been playing well. She's shooting the highest percentage from behind the arc as anyone on the team as well as dominating around the basket. She's just a master at scoring in traffic. Gabi is already approching 750 points in less than a season and a half.

Perhaps the biggest difference in this team is the play of Nicole Hester. Earlier in the season, she looked like she was struggling to get back into game shape. Now she is back to her old ways. She's scoring off the dribble, from the perimeter as well as rebounding and distributing the ball. Nicole is such a solid all around player and the glue type of player this team really missed last year.

Narissa is really bouncing back after a sub-par (by her standards) season shooting the ball last year. She isn't shooting a lot, but has been very consistent. Narissa is doing a very good job as a secondary scorer. She's also taking care of the ball.

Stacy McCollough is an outstanding story for Drexel. She started her career as a walk on. She battled through knee injuries and is now getting a chance to start. She isn't much of an offensive threat, but has provided steady ball handling. She's part of a solid three guard rotation that has come in a played solid when replacing the injured Andrea Peterson. Alison Lupariello has protected the ball as well and has rained down three pointers at a high rate. Freshman Jasmina Rosseel has also been shooting well. She just needs to learn to cut back on the turnovers and run the offense better.

Defensively the Dragons have been sound lately. That has really started with some good shot blocking by Brooke Cornish off the bench. She has blocked 4 shots in each of the two games this weekend. Her size and timing can give Drexel and intiminating backline player. Hopefully she'll learn how to finish better on the other end though. She gets pretty good position there, but just doesn't have a good feel of where she is in relation to the hoop. She'll really be needed defensively and on the boards most though during CAA play.

There are still some concerns about ball handling with this team as well as interior play. The guards replacing Peterson have been solid, but the competition hasn't been strong lately. When they are pressed (as early on today) they take a long time to get the ball across mid court. This often leaves them with little time to run the offense. Hopefully the Dragons can handle the ball well against the more talented guards in the CAA. Also, while Brooke's play on defense has been great inside it has been against smaller teams. She doesn't play physical so it'll be interesting to see if she can stop the bigger CAA players. If she continues to play well defensively then she definately deserves more minutes.

The other big question is whether or not the Dragons can win away from home. They have just one road win thus far (at Monmouth). They did play well at Penn St. earlier in the season though. Can they win in the CAA on the road though? The first test will come this week at Delaware. Although the Blue Hens are having a terrible season, Drexel has really struggled at the Bob for years. This team is certainly playing well and it looks like they'll be good enough to suprise some people. It's still going to be difficult to finish near the top of the standings with many CAA teams playing well right now.