Drew Stays Perfect In Landmark With Road Win

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A game turning 11-0 run to end the first half and a career high game from Jessica Del Vecchio gave the Drew women's basketball team a huge, 67-59, win over Catholic as the Rangers improved to 2-0 in Landmark Conference play. 

Down 20-19 with six minutes left in the opening period, Drew reeled off the final 11 points of the half and the next three points of the second half to build an unassailable lead.  Del Vecchio poured in a career high 18 points and Allison Hartnett scored 16 with Laura Methvin adding 14.  Drew's defense held the Cardinals to just 37.5% from the field while the Rangers hit on 70% from behind the arc and 22-25 from the line. 

The game went back and forth for most of the first half until Brianna Peterson put Catholic up 20-19 at the 6:41 mark.  That hoop triggered a decisive Ranger run until the end of the half.  Laura Methvin converted Marissa Maffei's assist to give Drew the lead, 21-20, before Michele Cordaro hit a pair of free throws near the four minute mark, 23-20.  For the rest of the half, the Ranger defense set up an good offensive possession for the Rangers.  After forcing a turnover, Hartnett drilled a three for a six point lead and another Cardinal turnover became a Ann Mularz jumper.  A Cordaro steal and a Methvin block kept the momentum going before the half ended with Cordaro hitting a pair of foul shots to give Drew the 30-20 edge. 

The second half opened with Hartnett hitting free throws before a six point run by Catholic cut the lead to six points.  At the 15:33 mark, Del Vecchio took over on the offensive end to not only deny a Cardinal rally, but drag Drew up to its biggest lead of 17 points.  A three, two free throws and another three, all by Del Vecchio brought the lead up to 13 for Drew, 44-31.  Emma Grossman's free throws made it a 15 point lead with 13:11 left before Del Vecchio added another pair of free throws for a 17 point edge. 

After Catholic rallied to bring it back to 11 points, the sophomore hit triples on back-to-back possessions, 54-37 with just over eight minutes left.  Catholic cut the lead back down to seven with 5:46 left on Kelly Ryan's lay-up, but Methvin countered with a lay-up to slow the rally.  The game finished with that exchange as the pattern, as the Cardinals would try to comeback, but the Rangers would come up with the hoop to slow them down.  Kelly Ryan brought the lead back down to six points with under one minute left and Brianna Peterson made Ranger hearts skip a beat with two free throws with 46 seconds left to cut it to 63-59.  The rest of the game belonged to Methvin as she hit all four of her free throws and grabbed a key defensive rebound. 

Del Vecchio hit on 4-6 of three pointers and all six of her free throws.  Hartnett had 16 with four boards and three assists while Methvin's 14 points gave Drew three double figure scorers.  Emma Grossman had five a piece of points, boards and assists.  Drew's shooting was a key to the win with the Rangers hitting on 19-45 field goals, but more importantly 7-10 threes and 22-25 free throws.