2008 Preview

Losing four seniors is normally desvating to any basketball team. Make no mistake about it, 2008 Drexel Women's team will have some holes to fill. Things are made much easier though when you have the Preseason Player of the Year who after just two seasons has already reached the 1,000 point plateu. That's exactly what the Dragons return with forward Gabriela Marginean (1,085 career points) leading the squad after a surprising 18-12 season and fourth place finish in the CAA.

As a freshman, Gabi broke the single game scoring record and was CAA Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore, she reached 1,000 career points and was runner up in the CAA Player of the Year voting. Gabi is a fantastic scorer because she's nearly impossible to stop off the dribble. She possesses good size and is an outstanding finisher around the rim. Gabi also has a good face up jumper and last year improved by extending her range beyond the three point line. She improved some as a passer too. If she can become more effective at setting up her teammates, the Dragons will be even better offensively. Gabi is a strong rebounder as well on both ends of the floor and often gets points via the offensive glass.

Narissa Suber made her mark over the last 4 years as a sniper in the Drexel backcourt. She shattered virtually all the three point shooting records and her 41% from beyond the arc last year will be tough to replace. Making up that kind of production will likely have to come from multiple players. The good news is the rest of the Dragons combined to shoot 35% from deep. Sophomore Jasmina Rosseel figures to do the most to fill the void left by Suber. As a first year player, she shot nearly 37% from three point land.

As a All CAA Rookie Team Member, Jasmina found herself in the thick of things at key moments down the stretch. She can score off the dribble as well as from deep. She hit some very difficult shot in several of the Dragons' key victories last year. During a few of their toughest losses, she often missed jumpers and/or had key turnovers. More consistency in her second year should be expected a could go a long way to making for another successful Drexel season.

During the 2006-2007, Nicole Hester went through something no player should have to experience. The Dragons forward was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and missed the entire season. She came back last season and was sluggish early on as Drexel got off to a slow start. Once Nicole got back into the shape and started playing well, the Dragons took off. The do everything forward is a glue player for this squad. She can score, rebound, pass, shoot and defend. With her out of the lineup in the CAA tournament, the Dragons once again sputtered and exited in the the quarterfinal round. Nicole's ability to stay healthy during her senior campaign will certainly be a big factor in determining Drexel success.

When steady senior point guard Andrea Peterson went down with an injury early last season things looked bleak for the Dragons. Stacy McCollough (now on the coaching staff) filled in admirably. McCollough is now gone, but Peterson is back for another senior campaign after a medical redshirt. During her first season at Drexel (after transferring from St. John's), Andrea had a solid 1.6 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. She'll certainly give the Dragons a veteran presence at the lead guard spot. Whether she's fully healthy remains to be seen.

Delise Johnson might not have put up big numbers last year in her senior season, but she was a big key to the Dragons success. The energetic center was Drexel's most physical player and a good post defender. She was also a solid rebounder and an emotional leader. On a team that wasn't very physical, her toughness will be difficult to replace.

Brooke Cornish, the 6-4 back up center a year ago, likely won't develop into a physical player, but she did prove to be a very effective shot blocker off the bench a year ago. Improving even more on the defensive end could really help the Dragons out to against the much bigger front courts that they typically face in the CAA.

On the offensive side of things, Brooke started off the year by struggling convert on the most basic shots. A very encouraging sign though is that she improved in that area as the year when on and became a pretty efficient player by season's end. The Dragons don't need her to be a dominant scorer, but they do need her to be a scoring threat in the low post (particularly for her size). Brooke will need to be strong on the boards too as the Dragons were near the bottom of the CAA in that category last season.

The Dragons are losing several key players from a year ago and while they might be fine in the starting rotation, the bench play will certainly be a big question mark. The fourth senior that they lost was Anora Suber (Narissa's twin). A four year role player for Drexel will be something that they'll need to replace.

Alison Lupariello (2.1 points per game) will be the leading returner on the bench. Alison is another long ball threat and most of her shots come from beyond the arc. She has near unlimited range. The junior guard must improve on her 26 assists to 28 turnovers from a season ago.

Jen Stjarnstrom, 6-1 junior forward, should see more action than in her first two seasons due to the departure of Delise Johnson. Jen has shown to be a solid defender at times and she provides some size in the front court that really could help out against bigger CAA front court. Her ability to defend and rebound will go a long way in determining how much of a factor Jen can be off the bench.

While depth looks to be an area of concern, the Dragons will likely call on their newcomers to ease some of the burden. Reshirt freshman Silvia Jankova is an unknown commodity at guard after missing her first season due to injury. There will certainly be an opportunity to play in the back court with the losses of Narissa Suber and Stacy McCullough.

Speaking of the backcourt, while Andrea Peterson is a clear cut starting point guard, the back up spot is up for grabs. Jasmina Rosseel can play that position at times, but is most suited at the off guard spot. Alison Lupariello needs to cut down on turnovers to see more time at that spot. That leaves an opportunity open for freshmen Marisa Crane (5-5). Some more speed in the back court could certainly be helpful too. Ayana Lee should via for some playing time as well.

The Dragons brought in two forwards in the freshman class. Tyler Hale (6-0) was the Dragons highest rated player and should provide some athletic ability in the front court. Drexel has recently struck gold with foreign players. Will that happen again with 5-11 Kamile Nacickaite from Lithuania?

One of the other majors factors in Drexel's strong 2007-2008 campaign was their ability to hit free throws. Gabriela Marginean is one of the best free throw shooters in the nation and gets to the line at a high rate of frequency. In addition to strong free throw shooting and three point shooting, the Dragons also had the league's top scoring defense a year ago. They will need to sustain that play in all three areas for another successful season.

Anytime you have a player the caliber of Gabriela Marginean you should be competitive. How much the other players around her can step up and replace the four graduated seniors will determine how far this team goes. Some of the younger players will have to improve and production from the bench will be a key. Look for the Dragons to make more noise this upcoming season.

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.

Dragons Fall Just Short

After getting off to a rough start here early on in the season, the women faced their most formidable opposition to date as they traveled to State College to face perennial Big Ten power Penn State. Despite being outmatched physically, the Dragons battled their way to 66-60 loss.

Coming into the game it looked like this struggling Drexel team might be in for a blowout against the Lady Lions. The Dragons were able to keep it close behind strong play from two of their European players, Gabriela Marginean and freshman point guard Jasmina Rosseel. Gabi quickly showed her Big Ten counterparts that she's fully capable of playing at their level. She scored in a variety of ways, including her patented cut and drive through the middle of the lane en route to a game high 25 points. Gabi now leads the CAA in scoring after the fine performance.

Jasmina provided the second scoring option that the Dragons badly needed. The talented freshman started her first career game, filling in for the injured Andrea Peterson. Jasmina used her quickness to get into the lane, ran the floor well and also buried a pair of threes on the way to 16 points. She is quick a could provide some ball handling that this team desperately needs.

Early on, it looked the women would be in for a long day when the Lady Lions used their size to grab a number of offensive rebounds. They were also red hot from behind the arc. The Dragons defense really dug in though and played an outstanding game the rest of the way. They forced Penn State to work for most of their points. If Drexel can play defense like this night in and night out they'll be in just about every game from here on out.

The Dragons offense looked much better this time out that when I saw from them against St. Joe's. They worked the ball around and created good scoring opportunities. They do have trouble from time to time because they don't get plays started until late in the shot clock and are forced to throw up a quick shot.

After a slow start to the season, Narissa Suber had a efficient game. She hit on two of four three point attempts in the contest and was huge on the defensive end in coming up with 6 rebounds. Because this team is thin at the guard spot, she is forced to handle the ball more than she should. That said, she did a good job with that on this occasion as she had 5 assists and no turnovers. Strong play from Narissa will be a key for the Dragons the remainder of the year.

Despite not scoring a point, Nicole McCombs had a solid game for Drexel. She is the physical player that they badly need inside, especially against a bigger team like the Lady Lions. Nicole played just 11 minutes, but pulled down 7 rebounds, including 4 offensive. She has good hands, is quick in the post and strong. Nicole just needs to learn how to finish on the interior. She also did struggle with 4 turnovers, but you have love her aggressive play.

Another very positive sign for the Dragons was that they just wouldn't quit. PSU utilized full court pressure in the second half and forced Drexel into a number of turnovers. As the Lady Lions built up their lead, it looked like they'd pull away, but the Dragons continued to fight and claw their way back. In the end the 20 second half free throw attempts by Penn State were just too much for Drexel to overcome.

If the Dragons can play near this level the rest of the year, they'll give the CAA fits and definately will finish higher than their projected 8th place finish. If they play sloppy on the offensive end and poor defensively as they have in several other contests this year, it will be long season. Hopefully a strong showing against a quality opponent will get Drexel pointed in the right direction.

Dragons Drop Another

After starting off with a road loss in Baltimore on Friday, the girls found themselves back in the city for another road matchup (this time with St. Joe's). The Dragons got off to a poor start and trouble even gettting shots off without turning the ball over in the first half. Both teams turned the ball over a ton in the game (Drexel 18, St. Joe's 22), but when the Hawks did take care of the ball they were able to execute. St. Joe's shot 37 percent, including 60 percent from three while Drexel struggled with just 27 percent overall and 21 percent from three. The Hawks managed to pull away in the second half for an ugly 49-40 win.

The big concern coming into this year was who would be the solid scoring options behind all league forward Gabriela Marginean. So far, the answer has been no one and Gabi is struggling herself. Gabi has been surrounded time and time again by multiple defenders and teams will continue to defend her in this fashion until someone else proves they can score from the perimeter. One thing that was encouraging was seeing Gabi improve some of the weaker areas of her game. Last year she had a nice mid range game, but her shot didn't extend much beyond 15 feet. Against the Hawks she buried a pair of three pointers. Gabi also had a nice assist to newcomer Brooke Cornish on another play. Hopefully we'll see more improved passing from her as her teammates will be the key to success this season.

Taking care of the basketball was a huge problem last year and that sure continued on Wednesday night. Kira Karlstrom wasn't a great ball handler, but it looks like her loss may already be felt. Andrea Peterson had 4 turnovers from her point guard position. It's hard to just blame her though as her teammates did a poor job of moving around and coming towards the ball. Andrea did have a few nice drives, but didn't set up her teammates much. I had heard great things about freshman point guard Jasmina Rosseel, but she didn't show much in this game. She did look quick, but also looked like a typical freshman who was unsure of what she should do on the court. The problem is the Dragons need her to play like a veteran to have success. Hopefully she can grow up quickly.

When this team has played well in the past it's been due to hot three point shooting. To say the shooting was poor on Tuesday might be an understatement. Narissa Suber, Drexel's all time leading three point shooter, hit only one shot from beyond the arc. She struggled from everywhere else as well. She had a bit of an off season last winter and hopefully that won't continue. It doesn't look too good early on though. She really needs to get back to playing like she did in her sophomore season.

If they can't hit perimeter jumpers, the Dragons will need a post player to step up. Delise Johnson doesn't score much in the low block and is almost strictly a jump shooter (she missed a few of those too). She did have a couple blocks and some nice rebounds, but this team badly needs interior scoring. Brooke Cornish did a good job of establishing post position and got herself some nice looks at the basket, but really struggled to convert. She'll have a height advantage in most games, but will have to play more physical than she did during this contest. A young St. Joe's frontcourt struggled to score around the hoop, but they were able to play more phyiscal and dominate the glass all night long.

Nicole Hester had her moments coming back after missing all of last season, but she also did look rusty. The Dragons also got very little from the bench, although sophomore Nicole McCombs certainly has an interesting skill set and some potential.

The CAA preseason polls had the Dragons picked 8th and I thought they'd end up higher. So far the league coaches look right. Hopefully Drexel can turn it around. I feel like there's talent on this team, they just can't seem to get it together. Turnovers and ball handling were my biggest concern coming into the season and that still appears to be major weakness of this team. Add in poor shooting and no rebounding and you have a disastrous game. One thing I will say is that even after possibly the worst first half I've ever seen them play, the Dragons didn't quiet and they continued and continued to attack until the end. Unfortunately, they were shooting with blanks. Gabi has a ton of talent and if they can just get her some help it can be a special season. If not, it'll be another long winter.