PHILADELPHIA, PA. 12/17/2017 – The Saint Joseph’s Hawks offered a holiday treat to its fans. A double header featuring the women’s and men’s basketball teams in action. The women took the floor first hosting a city rival as the Drexel Dragons came to the Hagan Arena.
It was an emotional start to the game as the US Basketball Writers Association announced that Saint Joseph’s senior guard Avery Marz was the recipient of the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award. The team was made aware in a ceremony prior to the game.
Once the teams took the floor it became an expected city battle. Drexel has been riding its defense this season and it helped to overcome Saint Joseph’s. The Dragons win on Hawk Hill for the first time since 2009 taking a 65 – 58 decision.
“It’s a tough place to play and any city games are not pretty, but we did a nice job finding a way,” said Drexel Coach Denise Dillon. “Defensively, a lot of our players stepped up.”
Turnovers were a factor as Drexel forced 22 Saint Joe’s miscues. Fourteen of the turnovers were created by steals. Bailey Greenberg had 5, a career-high, along with Kelsi Lidge.
“We had some opportunities,” said Saint Joseph’s Coach Cindy Griffin. “We were there to make plays, but whether it was a missed shot or a turnover, we weren’t able to convert.”
“They have length and that bothered us a little bit. We were late with our passes.”
Many of the steals came in the interior offense of the Hawks and forced them to go back outside. Drexel had the answer there holding Saint Joe’s to 4 of 17 from beyond the arc. The Dragons ahd a 119 – 9 edge in points off turnovers.
Offensively, Drexel had 3 players scored in double-figures. Megan Marecic had a career-best 20 points. Greenberg set a career-mark with 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Aubree Brown added 17 points, one shy of her career-high. Kelsi Lidge took down a game-best 8 rebounds.
“She found different ways to score and did not depend on the three,” Dillon said about Marecic’s offensive performance.”
For the Hawks Chelsea Woods and Alyssa Monaghan had 16 points each, and Sarah Veilleux added 11.
Drexel (7 – 4) gets a win against another city opponent. Philadelphia wins are important for the Drexel program.
“These games are huge,” Dillon said. “These girls play against each other in the off-season. I was pleased with our local kids, Bailey Greenberg and Aubree Brown stepping up today. They can get a little bit ahead of themselves instead of just playing the game.”
The Hawks (5 – 5) travel to Florida and will try to break a five-game losing steak against Princeton at the Gator Holiday Classic.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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