Marginean lifts Drexel past ODU
Alex Falk
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: Sports
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Marginean scored a season-high 40 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading Drexel to its seventh straight win, a 67-55 victory over Old Dominion Feb. 12 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
It was only the second time the Dragons have ever beaten the Lady Monarchs. The last and only prior time was back on March 6, 2005.
"Our girls really came out focused," Drexel head coach Denise Dillon said. "They were ready to go. Understanding that we're in first; they know how important it is to win down the stretch."
This was the second time in her career that Marginean scored 40 points. The other was against Northeastern on Feb. 22, 2007 when she netted 47 points.
"Gaby, she was on fire. She just played extremely well; she was focused," Dillon said. "She got some easier looks than she's used to because she was running the floor well and attacking the basket."
Marginean was 13-of-17 from the floor, while the rest of her team made only 10 field goals collectively.
"We got some great looks, but just didn't knock down some of them," Dillon said.
Old Dominion turned it over 22 times while Drexel had only 12 turnovers.
"They knew what they needed to do today in order to get this win," Dillon said. "We couldn't allow them to get off from the beginning, and defensively their minds were made up of what they needed to do."
Even though most of her team did not contribute on the scoreboard, Dillon was satisfied with her team's performance.
"We say, we're all not going to put the ball in the basket but you can do something when you're out there," Dillon said. "They're all starting to understand that."
Dillon was happy that she was able to get some great defensive efforts out of her supporting players.
"I think our girls did a great job of running the offense and doing what they needed to do on the defensive end," Dillon said.
Dillon was also happy with the play of junior forward Jennifer Stjarnstrom, as she had to deal with Old Dominion's 6-foot-2 senior center Tiffany Green, who averages about 15 points and 10 rebounds a game. Stjarnstrom, however, was able to hold her to 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Freshman forward Tyler Hale also had put forth a great defensive effort, forcing two huge turnovers late in the second half to preserve the lead.
The Dragons' next game is on Feb. 15th as they travel to Georgia State to square off against the Lady Panthers.
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