College of Charleston
5-7, 0-1
Drexel
5-7, 1-0
Cougars Fall in CAA Opener to Drexel's Three-Point Barrage
1/3/2016 10:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – The start to the CAA campaign didn't quite bear the fruit that the College of Charleston women's basketball program was hoping for, as the Cougars (5-7; 0-1 in CAA) fell to the Drexel Dragons (5-7; 1-0 in CAA) by a score of 66-54.
After many lead-changes in the first few minutes, Drexel found their stroke from beyond the arc, a trend that persisted throughout the game. The Cougars managed to hang tight through the first two periods, keeping the deficit to single-digits for most of the time, but the Dragons' 15 triples (on a whopping 35 attempts) were just too much to overcome.
“Drexel did what they do knocked down open shots,” head coach Candice M. Jackson said. “We didn't have enough awareness today to cover shooters the way that we're supposed to.”
Breanna Bolden had yet-another strong performance in the loss, dishing in 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting while adding eight rebounds and three steals. The junior's career-steal-total rises to 180, making her the fifth-most-prolific ball-thief in CofC Division I History.
Jackie Luna-Castro (9-8 with two steals) and Nola Henry (9-6 with two steals) each had similarly useful stat-lines for the Cougars. Dajah Logan meanwhile came off the bench to score a career-best 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
“I was happy to see Bre continue to play at a high level in the transition from non-conference to conference (play),” Jackson said. “Jackie's really stepping up more now, and I was happy that Dajah Logan started to get herself going too. We're starting to get going, I just want everybody else to get there, too.”
As a team, the Cougars managed to win the rebounding battle 33-28, a department they've been working to improve in. They also managed to shoot the ball at an efficient 46% clip. However, in addition to the three-point showdown (15-of-35 for Drexel vs. 3-of-11 for CofC), the Cougars undoing came in the realm of assists (8 vs. 20). Individually, Rachel Pearson was the star of the game for Drexel, scoring 28 points 10-of-19 shooting, eight of which were threes.
CAA play resumes next Friday. The Dragons will remain at home to host Northeastern (5-7; 0-1 in CAA), while the Cougars will conclude their three-game road trip with a jaunt up to Harrisonburg, Va. to face the James Madison Dukes (7-5; 0-1 in CAA).
“It's going to be a focus game,” Jackson said. “It'll be another defensive battle. They have a lot of scorers, they rebound well…it's just going to be an all-around battle, and we have to be prepared for it.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in JMU's Convocation Center.
