How lucky No. 7 has guided Drexel to March Madness

During Drexel’s last practice on campus before it takes on Texas in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament, the number seven was everywhere.

The game clock read 77:77. The score never shifted from 777-777, and, according to the scoreboard, both imaginary teams had seven fouls. Drexel ran seven-minute drills, with the shot clock blaring at regular intervals.

In case you couldn’t tell, seven is the Dragons’ lucky number. It started in preseason, when Drexel was picked to finish seventh in the Coastal Athletic Association. Coach Amy Mallon started drawing “#7″ on the board in the locker room before games.

“What do people think of us?” Mallon said.

Drexel (19-14) finished right where it was projected to at the end of the regular season, entering the CAA tournament as the seventh seed. But no one predicted what would come afterward, when the Dragons rattled off four straight conference tournament wins to punch their ticket to the big dance, as the only team representing Philadelphia.

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Their upset win over top-seeded Stony Brook in the championship was — you guessed it — the Dragons’ seventh win in a row. And when Drexel celebrated with the trophy, the players all threw up seven fingers.

“We know that no one expected us to be here. But we’re not that worried about that,” said junior guard Amaris Baker. “We’re just worried about what we’re going to do and just have fun out there with each other, be locked in, and see what we can do.”

It’s been a season full of moments where the stars seemingly aligned. Drexel took a trip to Ireland in August. So when the CAA championship game was held on St. Patrick’s Day, it felt like their run was meant to be.

Next to the No. 7 on the board in the locker room, Mallon also has a compass. It’s meant to symbolize the different journey Drexel was on this year, after Keishana Washington, the program’s No. 2 all-time leading scorer, graduated in May and turned pro. In yet another full-circle moment, Washington was on hand for the CAA tournament win and was at the Dragons’ last local practice on Tuesday.

“We know the path to success, and we know how to get there. It’s going to be a lot different this year,” Mallon said. ”We take detours, but I think we get there, if we stay true to our culture.”

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Nobody embodies that different path better than Baker, who joined the Dragons this year after a season at Harcum, a junior college in Bryn Mawr. Baker played her freshman year at Kennesaw (Ga.) State, and then entered the transfer portal after suffering an injury that limited her playing time. Without much collegiate film to attract offers, Baker made a stop on the juco circuit before landing at Drexel.

Baker has been a major part of the Dragons’ journey to this point. She led Drexel in scoring for every game of the CAA tournament and was named most outstanding player.

“I think it’s hard for our student-athletes, because they see it on social media, wherever it is, they think everything happens fast,” Mallon said. “So to really buy into it, and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to get there. It doesn’t seem like it right now, but we’re going to get there.’ I think that’s this team. You see that from a full-team standpoint, and then Amaris as a player, just what she was able to do in the tournament.”

Since her high school days at Cardinal O’Hara, Baker has been waiting for the moment that will arrive on Friday. Baker used to write “March Madness” over and over in her journal, hoping to manifest it.

“The journey was long, but definitely worth it,” Baker said. “Just having O’Hara, the experience from there, I mean, my program from last year, Harcum, all the little things. They all connected to one another. So I’m super happy to take all my knowledge that I had, sponge it up together, and utilize that on the court.”

On Friday, when Baker and her team take on top-seeded Texas — ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25 — on their home court in Austin, Texas, Drexel’s underdog story will turn to another level. And the Dragons will hope No. 16 can become the new No. 7.

“We’re staying levelheaded, just working on us, focusing on our team, what we need to do, and then we’ll see what happens,” graduate guard Brooke Mullin said. “Anything can happen in March.”