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.
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