PHILADELPHIA, PA. 2/18/2014 – The Delaware Blue Hens visited the DAC to continue their longest rivalry in program history. For the host Drexel Dragons a win would mean a tie for second place with the Blue Hens. Delaware got the basket for easier scores while Drexel did not. The Dragons got only two points close in while the Blue Hens scored twenty-two in the paint to get a 55 – 50 win. Drexel Coach Denis Dillon believed that the inability to score down low, cost her team a victory.
“When you are not making shots from the outside, you are making adjustments trying to score around the basket,” Dillon said. “Anytime we got it into the paint, our players kicked it out or made a turnover. We did not take advantage of that area of the court. You’re not going to win that any games scoring two points in the paint, not going to the foul line, and relying on the three-ball.”
The host team did kick the ball out resulting in 28 three-point field goal attempts of their 56 shots. Drexel made 11 of them. Delaware took only 7 shots from beyond the arc. The Dragons went to the line 5 times making 5.
Still, Drexel was within a point at 48 – 47 on a three-pointer by senior forward Tory Thierolf with 3:30 to play. Delaware could have closed the game out at the free throw line, but made only two of seven down the stretch (9 of 16 for the game). Drexel could not close the gap missing six of their next seven shots. Only Thierolf converted scoring the last Drexel points making a shot from distance with 58.3 on the clock to cut the deficit to 53 – 50.
Thierolf scored a career-high 16 points shooting 5 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 5 from three-point land. Sophomore guard Meghan Creighton made 4 of 9, all from beyond the arc. Creighton has 103 made three-point field goals in her career making her the ninth player in program history to make over 100 made three-pointers.
“Tory Thierolf has shown nice things,” Dillon said. “She knocked down some big shots in the second half. We had to go to her to take some shots down the stretch. Not having some players show today really hurt us.”
In the contest the Dragons shot 17 of 56 (30.4%), while the Blue Hens made 21 of 47 (44.7%).
Delaware guard Courtni Green scored a game-high and career-high tying 18 points while handing out 3 assists and pulling down 5 rebounds. Fellow guard Erika Brown recorded 7 points, a career-best 8 assists, and 5 rebounds.
The Dragons drop to 12 – 13 on the season and are 7 – 5 in the CAA. The next game is February 23 at Northeastern. Delaware extends their winning streak to 6 games. The Blue Hens are 17 – 6 overall and 9 – 3 in conference, second place behind James Madison University.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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