The Triangle

Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Aaron Walizer

Media Credit: Aaron Walizer

Gabriela Marginean has always been known for her scoring prowess. But it was what she did on the defensive end in the women's basketball team's home opener that had everyone on their feet.

Marginean scored a game-high 35 points and drew a crucial charge to halt a late St. Joe's comeback as Drexel won its first game of the season, beating the Hawks 76-61 Nov. 19 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

"That's a difference," Drexel head coach Denise Dillon said of her team's added ability to take a charge. "We talked to the girls about how important it was to take charges [before] this game. Teams are going to continue to look to get to the basket on us. Now we're stepping in, helping correctly and taking the charge is just a bonus."

The junior forward, who was named the CAA Preseason Player of the Year had 31 points in the Dragons' 74-65 loss to American in their season opener, but bested her previous performance by four to help Drexel even its record at 1-1.

Marginean went 13-of-22 from the field, 8-of-9 from the free throw line and grabbed six rebounds.

"I just thought she [Marginean] did a nice job of not trying to force anything," Dillon said. "She posted up when a smaller kid was guarding her, she faced up when a bigger kid was guarding her and she made some nice passes and then re-posted. So she did a good overall job of playing within the system."

The Dragons were comfortably ahead 60-45 with 8:06 remaining, but St. Joe's battled back to within four at the 3:52 mark thanks to a 14-3 run.

After Drexel failed to score on its next possession, the Hawks had a chance to cut it to two, but Marginean stepped into the lane and fell hard to the floor when a driving Brittany Ford (team-high 14 points) barreled over her.

The Dragons got the ball back and with 2:07 left and little time remaining on the shot clock, freshman point guard Marissa Crane nailed a clutch 3-pointer to get the lead back up to seven - a lead Drexel would never relinquish.

"Marissa did a great job of recognizing that the shot clock was down," Dillon said. "She took the big shot and she made it."

Crane finished with eight points and four assists, while Jasmina Rosseel chipped in 16 points - connecting on four of her seven three-point attempts - and a team-high five assists.

The Dragons spotted St. Joe's a 10-point lead from the outset and did not score in the first 3:54.

However Drexel outscored the Hawks 32-25 the rest of the first half and trailed by only three heading into the locker room.

The Dragons, down by as many as nine early in the second half, used a 28-4 run to jump out to their largest advantage of 15.

Drexel shot 50 percent from the field and turned the ball over just 14 times.

Game notes: Last season Drexel started 1-6 before going 17-6 the rest of the way. … 718 fans attended the game. … The Dragons improved to 2-6 all-time against the Hawks. … St. Joe's won the series' last meeting 49-40 Nov. 19.

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