Women’s City 6 notebook: Drexel passes big test in convincing fashion

Another week of game-winning shots and overtime nail-biters. A Hollywood script can be written about some of the finishes in these City Six women’s games.

Drexel, the team that has become most associated with thrilling finishes, wasn’t the culprit this week, but the Dragons had as much success as anyone.

Here’s a look at the week’s biggest performances and a recap for each of the City Six schools.

No overtime games this week, but Drexel (15-6, 8-1 Colonial Athletic Association) continued its winning ways. The Dragons defeated Towson and James Madison to extend their winning streak to eight games.

Playing at home is an advantage, but no school in the City Six is reaping the benefits of that like Drexel. The Dragons are 10-1 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Coach Denise Dillon said the success at home stems from “the sense of urgency that your seniors have, knowing their time is limited on their home floor and really having the crowd at the DAC behind you to get these necessary wins.”

Bailey Greenberg’s production is what fuels this team, but the Dragons are so deep, every week another player shares the spotlight with her. This time, it was sophomore Keishana Washington.

The game against James Madison was supposed to be the litmus test. Both teams entered the game with one conference loss, and the Dukes had the better overall record. Instead, it was a 22-point blowout win led by Washington’s 27 points. She hit six three-pointers and finished 10-for-13 off the bench.

“I think Keishana has really bought into being that spark off the bench that we need,” Dillon said. “She’s really comfortable with that role, embracing it, and was rewarded for it Sunday.”

A game Sunday at Northeastern should present a substantial challenge to the streak, but then again, you could have said the same thing last Sunday about James Madison.

Welcome back to the win column, Penn.

No team in the City Six had a better start to the season. Penn was 10-1, the best start in program history. Four losses followed, concluding with a 58-51 defeat at Harvard last Friday. The Quakers outscored the Crimson by 12 in the second half, but their second-quarter performance was one to forget. Penn was outscored 15-2 in that frame.

The Quakers (11-5, 1-2 Ivy League) made their return to the win column emphatically the next day at Dartmouth, 66-33. Kayla Padilla and Phoebe Sterba led the scoring with 15, and Eleah Parker had a 14-point, 16-rebound double-double.

Penn is still 5-1 at home, and it will have two Ivy League contests at the Palestra Friday and Saturday against Columbia and Cornell.

Temple (13-8, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) takes the cake for the wildest game this week. The Owls built a lead as large as 12 but couldn’t shake Central Florida. It was a roller-coaster affair. Temple used a 13-2 third-quarter run to get its lead to 12, but UCF cut it to three before the fourth. The teams traded runs in the fourth quarter, but the Owls’ defense sealed the deal with a last-second defensive stop for a 67-65 win.

Marissa Mackins led the Owls with 22 points and made five threes. Mia Davis’ three-game streak of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds streak ended, but her late putback was one of the game’s biggest baskets. She finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

La Salle started its week with a 77-65 win against George Mason. The Explorers jumped out to a 24-13 lead in the first quarter and the visiting Patriots were playing catch-up after that. The biggest highlight was the performance of Claire and Amy Jacobs. Claire scored 29 and Amy added 14 points as the Explorers’ only double-figure scorers.

The week didn’t end as well. La Salle (9-13, 3-6 Atlantic 10) lost 62-45 at Fordham. The Explorers shot 27.6% from the field and were outscored 17-8 in the first quarter, 21-9 in the fourth.

Villanova took the honors this week as the school that made its fans’ hearts skip a beat when the host Wildcats defeated St. John’s, 66-64, in overtime Friday. Villanova was trailing by two when Madison Siegrist knocked down a midrange jumper to tie the game with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Siegrist led Villanova with 22 points.

The Wildcats (12-10, 6-5 Big East) saw a nine-point fourth-quarter lead vanish in their 65-63 loss to visiting Seton Hall on Sunday. Leading 63-62, Villanova fouled Mya Jackson, who made the first free throw and missed the second. Seton Hall’s Shadeen Samuels got the rebound and scored the winning basket with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Mary Gedaka scored 26 in the loss. Gedaka was named Big 5 Player of the Week and Siegrist earned her ninth Big East Rookie of the Week award.

St. Joseph’s (8-13, 2-7 A-10) dropped home games to George Washington (56-50) and Dayton (59-44). The Hawks have lost seven of eight since opening conference play with a win.

Freshman guard Kaliah Henderson was the only Hawk to score in double figures in both games. Henderson seems to be finding her way now. After scoring in single digits in her first 13 games, she has reached double figures in four of the last five.

The Hawks have two tests against St. Louis on Thursday and Duquesne on Sunday.