Spring Break
Women chasing CAA Title
Brett Fischer
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Sports
| |
|
Last season Drexel was 18-12 overall and 13-5 in the CAA, their best-ever conference record. After struggling with their 1-6 start, the Lady Dragons finished strong going 17-6 over their final 23 games. The team put together an impressive nine-game winning streak and won six of its last seven regular season games to close the season. Their only loss during that span was at Old Dominion.
The Lady Dragons finished tied for third in the regular season and earned the fourth seed in the CAA Tournament, allowing them to play Towson in the first round. Drexel lost its Jan. 24 matchup at Towson 57-52 in overtime and won its Feb. 28 matchup at the DAC 68-63 to split the season series. But despite leading most of the game, the Lady Dragons blew a 13-point second-half lead and lost in the CAA Quarterfinals 62-53. They did not advance to the semifinals and get the chance to dethrone the Old Dominion Monarchs who have now won 17 straight CAA Titles.
Drexel only loses two starters in Delise Johnson and Narissa Suber, who scored 11.9 points per game last year; however, it will be difficult to replace Anora and Narissa Suber, Johnson and Stacey McCullough, who played a combined total of over 380 games. In addition, this was coach Dillon's first recruiting class. The good news is that the Lady Dragons have plenty of talent returning from last year's team.
Eight letterwinners, including three starters, return for Drexel, none more important than junior forward Gabriela Marginean, who averaged 19.0 ppg and 7.1 rpg and was honored last year with All-CAA first team recognition. She is the CAA Preseason Player of the Year and is the team's returning leader in scoring, steals and rebounds. She also shot an NCAA-best 91.5 percent from the free throw line.
Also returning are senior forward Nicole Hester, who has named the 2008 V Foundation Comeback Award after overcoming Hodgkin's Lymphoma, who averaged 7.1 ppg, as well as senior guard Andrea Peterson (6.8 ppg), who missed the majority of the 2007-08 season due to injury.
The Lady Dragons will hope to get some more contribution from sophomore guard Jasmina Rosseel who averaged 9.0 ppg and provided a spark off the bench last season as a freshman. The other four returning players are redshirt freshman Silvia Jankova, junior guard Alison Lupareillo, junior forward Jennifer Stjarnstrom and senior forward Brooke Cornish. The four freshmen joining the squad include forward Tyler Hale and guards Marisa Crane, Ayana Lee and Kamile Nacickaite from Lithuania.
Head coach Denise Dillon fits perfectly with the Lady Dragons. Not only does she have experience as a player (she was named to the All-Big East and All-Big 5 Teams from 1994-96) and is an inductee of the Big-5 Hall of Fame, she also has had an incredible coaching career thus far. She was the 2004-05 CAA Co-Coach of the Year, has the second most coaching wins in Drexel history and reached the 70-win mark faster than any coach at Drexel. She hopes to continue to lead the team in the right direction with her great knowledge of the game and her expertise as a coach at Drexel. In five seasons with Drexel, she has compiled a 72-75 overall record.
According to a vote of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media, the Lady Dragons were pre-ranked fourth in the conference behind Old Dominion, who is going for its 18th straight CAA Title, VCU and James Madison. Towson, UNC Wilmington, Delaware and Georgia State follow right behind Drexel and the last four spots are rounded out by Northeastern, William & Mary, Hofstra and George Mason.
The Lady Dragons need to find a way to win on the road early. They only have three games at the DAC until Jan. 11 when they host Hofstra for their first home conference game. Possibly the most exciting matchup of the year occurs Feb. 12 when conference foe Old Dominion visits the DAC. Non-conference road games include American, La Salle, Bucknell, Minnesota, Penn and two games against Holy Cross and Maine Dec. 28 and 29, both of which are in the St. Joseph's Hawk Classic. Non-conference home games include only St. Joe's, Army and Richmond. Home conference games include Hofstra, Georgia State, Northeastern, Towson, William & Mary, Old Dominion, Delaware, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason. Road games are at Delaware, William & Mary, James Madison, Hofstra, UNC Wilmington, George Mason, Georgia State, Northeastern and Towson.
The Drexel women's basketball team has a chance to have their best season ever in conference play and just might be good enough to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Dragons only play the top three teams in the conference once each. They host Old Dominion and travel to James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth. It might be unlikely, but if Drexel can beat all the teams projected to finish lower and find a way to steal a game from ODU, JMU or VCU, the Lady Dragons could be looking at a 16-2 conference record.
Hester and Peterson have to continue being the leaders of this team. They need to act as role models for the younger players like they have in previous years. As long as Marginean is the same player she was last season, teams will be forced to double team her, so it is important for Rosseel to have a big role from beyond-the-arc. She is the "x-factor" of this team. If she can replace the type of three-point shooter Narissa Suber was, this could be a very special season for the Lady Dragons starting with the season opener Nov. 16 at American.
Be the first to comment on this story