Women’s Basketball Come Up Short versus The Dragons

By Ethan Marsh, Reporter

Wilmington, NC - The UNCW Women’s Basketball Team had all the potential to wrap this game up in the bag early at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, but the Drexel Dragons took this away by overpowering the Seahawks for the rest of the way behind Sarah Curran’s play Friday night. This matchup was the first game of the Seahawk’s current three-game homestand. This game served as the Feature Night of Ovarian Cancer Awareness. As a part of this awareness, the “She Rocks” Organization was present. The founder of the Organization was honored before the game’s commencing. People that are cancer survivors were honored at halftime by playing cornhole for t-shirts. The Women’s Basketball team wore their teal-colored uniforms in honor of this awareness night.

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​The UNCW women’s basketball team had lost 5 of their last 6 games before this game. Drexel had won the last five contests and held a 16-8 advantage before this game as this game made the 25th time the two played. No. 33 Sarah Curran of the Drexel Dragons came into the matchup being the third-leading scorer in the CAA. Drexel appeared ready for their opposition in the Seahawks as they led a pre-game chant as the Seahawks took on their reserved approach. The Dragons ended up prevailing in this one.

The UNCW women’s basketball team did not have the same size of a crowd present as the men’s game do but the crowd that was present still had the same type of spirit and almost had the same feeling as the packed out crowd that the men’s basketball team draws. There was a small group of Seahawks students that gave encouraging shouts every time the team made great plays and tried to defer the Dragons by distracting shouts.

The UNCW women’s basketball team started off so well that Head Coach Adell Harris said “good job there” in the 2nd quarter. The Seahawks started off hammering the Dragons 22-10 into the beginning of the 2nd quarter behind 3 point baskets by 2 of them by Junior Point Guard Jasmine Steele, 1 by Sophomore Guard Madison Raque, and 1 by Senior Point Guard Shatea Cole. 4 of the 6 made 3 pointers were made in the 1st quarter. Cole scored 18 points for the ninth straight game that she scored in the double figures. Jasmine Steele and Madison Raque added 13 points each. Raque scored 8 of the 11 final points in the matchup. Junior Foward Jordan Henry added 8 points and scored the first point in the 1st and 2nd quarters.

All the impressive statistical play by the Seahawks did not result in a win because of the more impressive play by the Drexel Dragons and also by UNCW’s poor defensive play. Number 33 Sarah Curran scored a total of 21 points while Meghan Creighton added 18. The Dragons were down 22-10 early but outscored the Seahawks 21-8 afterwards to go into halftime with a 31-30 halftime lead. The Dragons came out in the 2nd half and outscored the Seahawks 40-27. The UNCW women’s basketball team was up by 12 in the early 2nd quarter but then the momentum switched to the Dragons favor by conducting a 10-0 run to close the gap. After the Dragons set up a halftime lead and started running away with it, the closest the Seahawks came is 4 points at 55-51 and 60-56 in the 4th quarter. However, the Seahawks never came closer than that. The Seahawks had the potential to win but didn’t quite get there. The Seahawks started off well defensively but let up as the game went on and ended up losing by 14.

This loss for the Seahawks dropped their record to overall 6-15 and 2-8 conference record. The win for the Dragons improved their overall record to 12-9 and conference record to 8-2. The UNCW women’s basketball team will continue their current three-game homestand on Sunday, February 7th versus CAA opponent William & Mary at 2 pm at Trask Coliseum on the campus of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.