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.