CAA women’s basketball tournament: Amaris Baker helps Drexel rally past Delaware in the second round

What fun is March Madness if the games don’t come down to the wire?

That’s exactly what happened between No. 7 seed Drexel and No. 10 Delaware on Thursday at Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington. The Dragons edged past their rivals, 57-55, in the second round of the Coastal Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament.

Hetta Saatman hit a free throw to end Drexel’s 5 minute, 17 second scoring drought in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 53-49 with 2:29 left. She then sank a third-chance layup — grabbing two offensive boards in the process — to make it a two-point game.

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That sequence opened the floodgates for the Dragons, as Amaris Baker tied it, 53-53, with 1:12 left, hit a go-ahead jumper to make it 55-53 with 18 seconds to go, and made a pair of free throws to put the game on ice. The Cardinal O’Hara alumna Baker finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Saatman and Erin Sweeney added nine points each.

“[We] prepare for where we are now,” head coach Amy Mallon said. “To see that pay off, even at the end … executing the little things we need to do … that’s what you need to do this time of the year. So I’m really proud of this group today.”

The Dragons (16-14) went 3-0 against Delaware this season in a trio of single-digit victories.

So it’s no surprise that the majority of the contest was a one-possession game. The second quarter was the only 10 minutes of play where both teams had their own run.

“I think we knew this was going to be a possession game,” Mallon said. “We found times when we could run and score, and I think we did a great job stopping them on their run.”

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After the Blue Hens (11-20) took a 20-12 lead on Nakiyah Mays-Prince’s layup, Drexel responded with a 8-0 run to tie the game with 7:19 left in the first half.

“We keep it pretty simple,” Mallon said. “One possession at a time, the score, and a stop. That’s our focus every time.”

Delaware answered with a 6-0 run of its own over the next 1:56 to take a 26-20 lead before the Dragons cut that advantage to three by the halftime buzzer.

“I think that in those runs you have to be able to control how you respond to them,” Mallon said.

The teams’ home gyms are separated by about 42 miles, and, on Wednesday, there wasn’t much distance between their shooting percentages, either. Drexel shot 36.8% to Delaware’s 35.8%, and neither team had a strong day from beyond the arc, as Delaware hit 5-of-17 three-point attempts and Drexel went 3-for-13. Rebecca Demeke led the Blue Hens with 11 points, and Chloe Wilson (eight points, 11 rebounds) was the game’s leading rebounder.

So with the two squads shooting similarly from the floor, the best offense was, in fact, defense.

“We’ve said that all year long,” Mallon said. “[And] we set a defensive tone for the game today.

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The key piece Drexel capitalized on was Delaware’s staggering 22 turnovers. The Dragons, meanwhile, surrendered 13 and recorded nine steals.

“Those 22 turnovers … I think that really kept us where we needed to be,” Mallon said.

“I’m just really proud of our defensive piece because … that was our goal for the game today,” she added.

Drexel advances to the quarterfinals against No. 2 Monmouth on Friday (5 p.m., FloHoops). The Hawks (21-8) will be playing in their first conference tournament game after receiving a double bye.

Drexel is 0-2 against Monmouth this season, losing, 61-55, in the teams’ last matchup on Feb. 23.