Hollie Mershon Records A Double-Double In The Victory
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 12/21/2012 – The Drexel Dragons came into this game after a 20 day layoff. It would be natural to expect Drexel to have some rust on their game. Rust? What rust? The Dragons made 33 of 52 from the floor registering a 77 – 50 win over the University of Pennsylvania Quakers at The DAC. With the win the Dragons claim the Battle of 33rd Street women’s basketball version. Senior guard Hollie Mershon registered her second double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Dragons to victory. Drexel Coach Denise Dillon was pleased and a little surprised by the crispness of play by her team.
“I was definitely surprised,” said Dillon. “I thought we would be a little jittery at the beginning, a little anxious, and maybe shots wouldn’t fall or we’s miss assignments on the defensive end. That was a pleasant surprise. The girls came out on the same page, ready to go.”
Penn came into this game riding a 4 game winning streak. Drexel looked for redemption after the overtime loss to Penn last season. The Dragons closed out the first half with an 11 – 2 run to take a 40 – 26 lead into the locker room. The 40 points surrendered by Penn were the second most points allowed at halftime under Coach Mike McLaughlin. If his team was ready to make a second half comeback like they did at St. Francis, Drexel quickly dashed those hopes by scoring the first six points of the second half to lead 46 – 26. The lead would grow to as many as 27 points for the Dragons.
“We said in the locker room, defense is going to win this game,” Mershon said about the importance of starting strong in the second half. “We needed to get crucial stops and our defense was able to create offense which allowed us to get a good flow.”
Senior forward Taylor Wotton was instrumental in the second half runs as she scored 11 points in the half, 15 for the game. Senior forward Nicki Jones added 10 points. Junior guard Fiona Flanagan scored 6 points and handed out a game-high 6 assists. As a team Drexel converted 63.5% of their field goal attempts, 9 of 19 from beyond the arc, and assisted on 23 of the 33 made field goals in the game.
During the game Mershon became the 20th player in Drexel history to reach the 1,000th point plateau. Mershon is honored to be in elite company in Drexel history.
“It feels great,” said Mershon about reaching the milestone. “It is an accomplishment to be recognized among players like Gabby Margenean, Kamile Nacickaite, my former teammates. It feels really good.”
“I couldn’t be happier for Hollie,” said Dillon. “She has done great things for us, and it was great to see her grow in so many areas. Besides her scoring, her rebounding has jumped. The way she is playing, she is setting the tempo.”
Penn was limited to shooting 19 for 52 (36.5%). Freshman guard Keiera Ray led the Red and Blue in scoring with 16 points. Ray also had 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Junior guard Alyssa Baron was limited to 6 points making 3 of 10 field goal attempts.
The Dragons improves to 7 – 2 on the season, and even their home record at 1 – 1. Their routine will be more normal for the basketball season as Drexel meets American U. on December 28, a mere 7 days away. The Red and Blue are at 4 – 4 on the season, and will prepare for Alabama State in the Cyclone Classic in Ames, IA.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Twitter: @Phillycolsports
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