March 6, 2005
Philadelphia, Pa. - Drexel (18-9, 12-6 CAA) gave Katrina Martin (Bowie, Md./Elizabeth Seton) a memorable senior day in her last home game as a Dragon, beating Old Dominion (19-8, 15-3 CAA) for the first time in school history, 71-68. The loss bumps the Lady Monarchs out of a tie with Delaware for the regular season CAA championship, denying ODU its 14th consecutive conference championship. Kira Karlstrom (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston) led Drexel with a career-high 18 points, six rebounds and five assists and shot 4-for-5 from deep. Nicole Hester (Waldorf, Md./Westlake) turned in a superlative defensive effort, swiping Drexel season-high seven steals, six in the second half, and blocking two shots. Martin scored 15 points in front of a large crowd of her friends and family.
Drexel opened the game with a 15-2 run and never looked back, pushing the lead to as many as 19 points in the second half. Karlstrom and Narissa Suber (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) combined to drain three treys during the stretch. Drexel shot a season-best 52.9 percent from deep, connecting on nine of 17 three-point attempts. Suber and Karlstrom had four treys apiece. The Dragons played solid defense and worked hard to outrebound Old Dominion 19-12 in the first half. Drexel's defense collapsed on Old Dominion's slashing guards and contested every interior shot and rebound. Suber closed out the period by dropping a trifecta in the final seconds of play to give Drexel a 32-23 at the half.
Delise Johnson (Queens, N.Y./Martin Van Buran) gave the Dragons some quality minutes in the first half, grabbing three offensive rebounds and contributing four points. Johnson gave Drexel some size in the post that helped to limit Tiffany Green, who had 12 points and 15 rebounds against the Dragons in the teams' last meeting, to just two points and three boards in the first half. The Lady Monarchs made a run in the second half, to cut the lead to seven points in the first two minutes of play. But Hester came up with steals on consecutive posessions and a jumper by Catherine Scanlon (Drexel Hill, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) triggered a 11-4 Dragon spurt capped by a Karlstrom three that gave Drexel its largest lead of the game at 50-31.
After an Old Dominion time out, the Lady Monarchs regrouped and went on to out score Drexel 16-5 over the next six minutes of play. Karlstrom again played rally-killer when she emerged from a pack of Lady Monarchs with a rebound then hit a three from the top of the arc on the ensuing possession to give Drexel a 12-point lead with 4:18 to go.
The lead disappeared in the final minute of the game as Old Dominion attacked the basket and Drexel shot 8-for-12 from the free-throw line to let the Lady Monarchs back into the game in the final seconds. Shareese Grant had 11 points and five assists for Old Dominion and TJ Jordan led the team with 14 points on 3-of-8 shooting from three-point land.