Dragons Women’s and Men’s Teams Get Endgame Wins
December 14, 2021 –
The Drexel Dragons had a doubleheader at the DAC. Both the women’s team and the men’s teams were involved in closely contested games. And each of the Dragons teams pulled away down the stretch and earn a victory.
Women’s Basketball: Drexel 59 Yale 52
The Dragons used their experience, made the right plays at the right time to win 59 – 52 over Yale. Drexel is riding a five-game winning streak.
In a game where Mallon felt the offense was not in flow, the team relied on defense to get it done. Yale held a 49 – 46 lead with just under five minutes to play. The experience and talent of Keishana Washington came to the fore. She scored the next seven points for Drexel who took a 53 – 49 lead with two and a half minutes remaining. Yale pulled to within a point. The Dragons forced a turnover, then senior guard Maura Hendrixson drained a clutch three-pointer at the 46 second mark to make it a two-possession game.
“That’s when you know you are in good shape when you have players who are on point with what you’re thinking, what you’re running, and where the ball needs to be going,” Drexel Coach Amy Mallon said. “Maura Hendrixson hit that big three. That’s something we’ve been waiting for that. It goes to show an experienced player can make a big shot when you need that in the game.”
Then Yale turned it over again with 36 seconds to play. Drexel closed it out at the free throw line.
During the game Washington nailed a three-pointer with just over 3 minutes left in the third quarter. With that basket she joined the 1,000 career-point plateau.
“It’s definitely a great feeling, a great accomplishment,” said Washington. “Credit to my teammates and my coaches for continuously putting me in positions to be successful. I was happy I was able to do that tonight.”
Washington scored a game-high 25 points and took down 8 rebounds.
Tessa Brugler recorded a double-double, her fifth of the season, with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Camilla Emsbo led Yale (6 – 5) with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Jenna Clark added 15 points and had a game-best 7 assists.
Drexel improves to 8 – 2. CAA play looms next as this was their next to the last non-conference game of the season.
Men’s Basketball: Drexel 76 Coppin State 69
In a game played at a very fast pace the Dragons pulled away over the last four minutes and earned a 76 – 69 win over a scrappy Coppin State Eagles team. There was no let up in the pace, back and forth, and get the shots up. The game saw 125 field goal attempts, Drexel put up 65, and there were 61 three-pointers (Drexel shot 33 of them).
This contest would be decided over the last four and a half minutes. The game was tied at 68. Tyree Corbett put the Eagles in front with a free throw. Lamar Oden, Jr. answered for the Dragons with a traditional three-point play. After misses by both teams, Coppin State had a chance to pull to within a point, but a layup attempt for the Eagles was blocked by Amari Williams. He then rebounded a Dragons miss and turned it into a three-point play for a 74 – 69 lead with just over a minute to play. Coppin State missed their next four shots, and Drexel earned the win to even their record at 5 – 5.
“I thought their (Drexel defense) intention to deny certain things the longer the game went on,” said Drexel Coach Zach Spiker on what was effective for the Dragons team. “They made it more difficult to get reversals. But I thought Lamar really gave us a big start early on. we hit three of 10 threes right away to open up a good start tonight.”
Oden, Jr. scored a career-high 15 points in his first collegiate start. He made 3 of 5 from the floor, 2 of 4 from distance, and sank 7 of 9 free throws, a career-best. Williams also set a career scoring mark getting 12 points. He also pulled down 7 boards. Forward James Butler contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds for his 39th career double-double. Drexel had 11 turnovers, but only 3 in the second half.
Corbett scored a game-high 20 points for Coppin State, and Kyle Caradaci contributed 17 points.
Drexel gets ready for a Saturday game at Temple.
Coppin State had to play the game wearing Drexel practice jerseys as theirs were left in Baltimore.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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