Drexel women draw No. 3 seed Georgia in first round of NCAA Tournament

The Drexel women’s team received a 14th seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face third-seeded Georgia in the Alamo region. The game will be played Monday at noon at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and will be broadcasted on ESPN2.

This is Drexel’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009. It comes after defeating top-seeded Delaware in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.

“To have the opportunity to go to the Big Dance with this group ... we’re just so excited,” coach Amy Mallon said.

Georgia (20-6) finished fourth in the SEC and is having its best season under head coach Joni Taylor. The Lady Bulldogs are led by Jenna Staiti, who was named to the SEC’s All-Tournament team and All-SEC second team. She averages 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, and is the SEC’s leader in blocks with 3.2 per game.

The first thing that pops out about Staiti is her size. She’s 6-4 and accustomed to finishing in traffic. Hetta Saatman is Drexel’s tallest player at 6-2. She’s started the last four games. Drexel was outrebounded, 86-58, in its last two games against JMU and Delaware’s front lines.

One way to neutralize a shot blocker is to bring is to take it away from the basket. Saatman went 1-for-4 from three this season, but she’s capable of spacing the floor and forcing Staiti to guard the three.

“One of the things that we do in the way we play is we try to take advantage of mismatches,” Mallon said. “I think our bigs are mobile and can do some things from the outside. If a kid is trying to block shots, we’re going to try to get them out the paint and guard in different positions on the floor.”

Drexel (14-8) is a team that consistently plays with energy. It starts with CAA Defensive Player of the Year Hannah Nihill. Georgia turned the ball over 17.1 times per game. The Dragons forced 18.2 and had the best turnover margin in the CAA.

Drexel is 2-0 all-time against the SEC in postseason play. In 2013, the Dragons defeated Auburn and Florida en route to winning the NIT Championship.

“It’s a great memory,” Mallon said. “It’s a team that had a very similar mentality to this team.”

Drexel is still soaking up its CAA tournament championship. Only two players, Nihill and Keishana Washington played major minutes in the CAA Tournament before last week. Drexel lost Aubree Brown and Bailey Greenberg, two players who combined for the program record with 96 wins in their career. Former head coach Denise Dillon also left for Villanova.

“It’s been an amazing experience so far,” Washington said. “We’re all just trying to live in the moment and soak it all in.”

» READ MORE: For Drexel, the Madness started way before March and never stopped | Mike Jensen

The Dragons are always competitive, but picturing them picking up where last year’s team left off felt like a blurred image. But Nihill went from 5.9 to 16.0 points per game. Washington went from coming off the bench averaging 10 points to winning the CAA’s Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 tournament.

Those jumps, as well as the growth of players like Mariah Leonard, Kayla Bacon, and Kate Connolly are why the Dragons made it to San Antonio.

“Last year, having it taken away was a lot more motivation for us this year,” Nihill said. “Just kind of finishing what we started. Amy staying on staff ... we all were so excited and we knew she could lead us to a championship.”