ITHACA, N.Y. – Drexel jumped out 14 point lead midway through the second quarter and then held off a furious Big Red comeback that saw the home team get within three points with under 1:30 to play, as the Dragons downed women's basketball, 63-53, this afternoon in Newman Arena. The Big Red takes a 5-3 record into the University's two-week exam break and will return to action at Youngstown State on Saturday, Dec. 17 at noon.
 
Cornell was led by Megan LeDuc with 17 points, while Nia Marshall came one rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds. LeDuc knocked down 5-of-8  3-pointers, just one shy of her career-high, and handed out three assists to go along with three steals. Kerri Moran also had a solid outing with nine points, five assists, and two steals, while Marie Hatch finished with seven rebounds to help the Big Red to a 28-23 advantage on the boards.
 
Drexel (4-2) had a trio of double-digit scorers, led by Jessica Pellechio's 17 points, while Sarah Curran and Meghan Creighton finished with 16 and 14, respectively.
 
The Dragons ran an incredibly efficient offense, connecting on 51.2 percent of its shots (21-41) overall and 42.1 percent from 3-point range (8-19), while assisting on 13-of-21 baskets. Cornell also shot well, hitting 40 percent overall (20-50) and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc (7-15).  The Big Red also registered 13 assists on 20 baskets.
 
The teams traded baskets in the opening moments of the contest before a trey by Creighton opened up a 7-0 run to put the Dragons up, 12-5. Cornell cut the lead to 12-7 at the first break after a tough offensive putback by Hatch.
 
After a single made free throw from Bailey Greenberg to open the second quarter, Curran knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to push Drexel's lead to 19-7 at the 7:54 mark. The Dragons eventually extended its lead to 21-7 before a 20-8 Big Red run put the home team behind, 31-30, at the half. During the run, LeDuc connected on a three 3-pointers and Moran added six points, including a pivotal steal and layup at the start of the run, to make it a two-point game late in the second. A trey by Caroline Shelquist with 25 seconds to play, and a defensive stop by the home team, accounted for the one point difference at the break.
 
While the Big Red guards led the way in the first half, it was the Cornell forwards that accounted for eight of 10 points of the second half, with Nicholle Aston and Marshall registering four points apiece. An elbow jumper from Aston to open the third quarter and handed the Big Red its first lead since the 8:09 mark of the first quarter, but Drexel responded with five unanswered to push its lead back to 36-32.  Cornell got back within three points (41-38) on a tough layup from Marshall but the Dragons closed the quarters on a 4-2 run to take the 45-40 lead into the final break.
 
Drexel scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including its eighth 3-piointer of the game, to push its lead to double-digits (50-40) with 7:30 to play in the contest. LeDuc answered with her fourth trey of the game and after trading turnovers, a foul-line jumper from Aston made it a seven point contest (52-45) with just over five minutes to play.
 
A driving layup from Creighton at the end of shot clock was answered by a layup from Marshall and a trey from LeDuc, her fifth of the contest, to make it a four-point game (54-50) at the 2:30 mark.
 
After a foul by Moran, Curran knocked down a baseline jumper to push Drexel's lead back to six points, but Marshall completed a traditional three-point play to make it a 56-53 contest with 1:29 to play.
 
That would be as good as it would get for the Big Red, as Creighton connected on 7-of-8 free throws and then pulled down a critical rebound off a Big Red miss to seal the Dragons' 63-53 victory.