Turnovers prove costly as Drexel falls to Old Dominion

Despite Drexel's struggles this season, coach Denise Dillon has not lost her sense of humor.

"It's simple," the former Villanova star quipped yesterday after the Dragons fell to Old Dominion, 83-51, in a Colonial Athletic Association basketball game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

"If we take care of the basketball and make a few shots, we might have had a chance to beat them," Dillon said. "We threw the ball all over the place."

The Dragons (5-13, 0-7 CAA) committed 30 turnovers against the Monarchs (10-7, 6-0), resulting in a whopping 46-4 disadvantage in scoring points off turnovers.

Drexel shot 40.5 percent from the field, while ODU made 50.8 percent of its attempts.

Gabriela Marginean scored 15 points for the Dragons, and Narissa Suber added 14 points, including 3 of 4 three-pointers.

T.J. Jordan, who shot 3 of 6 three-pointers, finished with 18 points for the Monarchs. Tish Lyons scored 13 points, and Tamara Ransburg added 12.

"Our nonconference schedule helps us get ready for our conference," Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. "When we played really well against Tennessee, that helped us beat Rutgers.

"And when we beat Rutgers, I knew we could compete in this conference," Larry said. ". . . Drexel is a little down off last year, but we've wanted this [more CAA challengers] for a long time, so it's really exciting."

Delaware 67, Hofstra 59 - Tyresa Smith scored a career-high 31 points for the Blue Hens (16-2, 7-0 CAA), who rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half in Hempstead, N.Y. An arena-record crowd of 3,040 saw the Pride (14-4, 4-3 CAA) snap an 11-game home winning streak dating to last season.

St. Joseph's 70, St. Louis 68 - Coach Cindy Griffin gained her 150th career win as the Hawks (10-8, 3-2 Atlantic Ten) edged the Billikens (8-11, 0-5) in St. Louis. Ayahna Cornish had a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds for St. Joseph's.

Minnesota 75, Penn State 62 - Tyra Grant had 22 points for the Nittany Lions (8-11, 2-5 Big Ten) in a conference loss to the Golden Gophers (12-8, 4-3) in Minneapolis.

Louisville 53, Rutgers 50 - Angel McCoughtry totaled 20 points and 16 rebounds to lead host Louisville over Rutgers. McCoughtry posted her 14th double-double of the season and the No. 15 Cardinals (18-2) closed the game with a 14-3 run, ending the six-game win streak of Rutgers (20-6).

Texas 64, Texas A&M 45 - Tiffany Jackson scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and No. 22 Texas (14-5) used smothering defense to beat No. 17 Texas A&M (13-4) in Austin.

North Carolina 86, North Carolina State 65 - Ivory Latta scored 20 points and made six three-pointers to lead No. 2 North Carolina past North Carolina State (13-7) in Chapel Hill.

Camille Little had 19 points for the Tar Heels (22-0), who remained one of the nation's last unbeaten teams - along with top-ranked Duke.

Latta went 7 for 13 from the field and 6 for 9 from three-point range to crack the 2,000-point mark for her career.

Maryland 83, Wake Forest 60 - Marissa Coleman had 21 points and six rebounds to lead No. 3 Maryland (20-1) to a win over Wake Forest (8-11) in College Park, Md.

Ohio State 62, Illinois 52 - Jessica Davenport scored 22 points and reached 2,000 for her career, leading No. 5 Ohio State (17-1) over Illinois (14-5) in Columbus, Ohio.

Connecticut 84, St. John's 63 - Mel Thomas made five three-pointers in the first half and finished with 19 points to lead No. 6 Connecticut (16-2) over St. John's in the Huskies' first game at Madison Square Garden. Kia Wright had 19 points, including the 1,000th of her career, for St. John's (5-12).

LSU 61, Alabama 45 - RaShonta LeBlanc converted two steals into breakaway layups to cap a 12-0 run in the win by No. 8 LSU (18-2) over Alabama (10-11) in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Arizona State 62, Southern Cal 54 - Emily Westerberg had 10 points and nine rebounds to help Arizona State defeat Southern California in Tempe, Ariz., for its sixth straight win. Briann January added 12 points and four assists for the Sun Devils (18-2), who snapped the five-game winning streak of the Trojans (11-8).

George Washington 67, Xavier 55 - Kenan Cole scored 15 points to lead No. 11 George Washington (16-2) over Xavier (14-6) in Cincinnati, the Colonials' ninth straight win.

Purdue 81, Indiana 58 - Katie Gearlds scored 21 points and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton added 15 points and 10 rebounds as No. 12 Purdue (19-3) beat Indiana (13-7) in Bloomington, Ind.

Vanderbilt 72, Georgia Tech 55 - Caroline Williams scored six points to spark a 26-0 run and No. 14 Vanderbilt (17-3) recovered from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half to beat Georgia Tech (11-8) in Duluth, Ga.

Georgia 70, Florida State 65 - Tasha Humphrey sparked a late 13-0 run and No. 16 Georgia (16-4) rallied for a win over Florida State (15-4) in Duluth, Ga.

Michigan State 67, Iowa 57 - Allyssa DeHaan scored 16 points and had seven blocked shots to lead No. 23 Michigan State (15-4) past Iowa (11-9) in East Lansing, Mich. DeHaan, a 6-foot-9 freshman, nearly doubled her average of 4.5 blocks per game, tops in the Big Ten and second in the nation.