Spring Break
Defense leads Drexel to ninth straight
Alex Falk
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: Sports
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Marginean led all scorers in Drexel's 54-33 victory over the Delaware Blue Hens Feb. 19 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. She had 25 points to go along with her 11 rebounds. It was the team's ninth consecutive win.
"Gabi has really come into her own of understanding what she's capable of doing and what we're looking for her in our offense," Drexel head coach Denise Dillon said. "And then on the defensive end; taking the three charges today, rebounding the ball. She's learning the game and that has taken her to another level."
It was obvious that Drexel won this game with defense, as Marginean was the only Dragon in double figures.
Drexel (17-8, 12-2 CAA) outscored Delaware (12-14, 4-10) 28-6 in the paint, while scoring 24 points off 21 turnovers by the Blue Hens.
"Against most teams we play, we struggle with them in the paint and we're typically taking the shots from the outside. But again the girls took what [Delaware's] defense gave them today," Dillon said. "We grabbed a few put backs. We got some nice looks inside on the cuts."
Dillon was also very impressed with the way her team played on the defensive end as its active zone defense held Delaware to just nine field goals on 22.5 percent shooting overall.
"I was proud of the girls and how we played our zone defense," Dillon said. "I thought we did a nice job of containing them and forcing them to take some outside shots. They wanted to put the ball on the ground. They traveled a number of times. Once we got them out of sync, I think they struggled to make some shots and we capitalized down on the other end."
Another example of the Dragons' smothering defense was the fact that Delaware was held without a field goal for the final 5:13 of the game.
"We were sprinting, getting back into the zone, getting back into the paint and limiting their easy shots," Dillon said of Delaware's lack of offensive production.
Drexel also had some bench players step up late in the game, mainly freshman guard Ayana Lee.
Lee had five points, three rebounds and one block in just nine minutes.
"You don't look at her too often as a scorer, but she showed today when she cuts to the basket and she gets those offensive rebounds she can put the ball back in," Dillon said. "As a freshman, she's growing into her role."
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