Nov. 16, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Behind hot shooting and a strong performance by Kamile Nacickaite, Drexel came into Tom Gola Arena and walked away with an 86-55 victory on Tuesday night in non-conference action.
Alexis Scott led the Explorers with 11 points and four assists, while Jess Koci grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go with eight points. Nadia Duncan added nine points, five boards and Ashley Gale chipped in nine points and had two assists, steals and blocks.
Drexel (1-0) used an 11-0 run over a three minute span to race out to a 12 point lead just six minutes into the contest. After Gale knocked down a three to pull La Salle to within 6-5, the Dragons scored on five of their next six possessions.
Nacickaite, who scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting with a pair of threes and 4-for-4 from the foul line and added seven boards, five assists and three steals, started the run with a jumper at the 16:24 mark. Hollie Mershon scored the first two of her 15 points in the game at the 14:04 mark and Drexel led 17-5.
Scott ended the run with a short jumper, but the Dragons continued their impressive first half and increased their lead to as many as 23 points (42-19) on a Mershon lay-up with 4:08 left in the half. Drexel shot 60.7% from the floor in the first (17-28), hit four three-point baskets, were 9-for-9 from the line and turned the ball over just four times.
La Salle (1-2) closed out the half with back-to-back threes by Scott and Ebonee Jones, who scored eight, to cut the deficit to 15 (47-32) heading into the locker rooms. Chelsea Conner (five points, four boards) drained a three to start the second half and the Explorers were 12, the closest they had been since the 13:32 mark of the first.
However, Nacickaite responded with her own three pointer and the Explorers would never get the deficit below 14 the rest of the way.
Drexel shot 57.1% from the floor for the game and were 13-of-14 from the line. La Salle did pull down 14 offensive rebounds and hit a season-high eight threes, but shot just 28.6% for the game.
The Explorers return to action on Friday, when they head to the nation's capitol to take on Georgetown with tip slated for 7 PM.
