Melissa Kraft picked up where she left off on Tuesday and Courtney Cunningham kept pace, but the Rangers lost a shutout with Wilkes, 87-82, in Wilkes-Barre. Kraft hit seven three pointers and scored 27 points while Cunningham added 26. Wilkes shot a remarkable 61% from the floor in the second half to overcome a half-time deficit. The Rangers fell to 9-7, 4-2 in the Freedom with the loss while the Lady Colonels improved to 5-11, 1-5 in the conference. The defeat marked the end of a four-game winning streak for Drew.
Kraft, who scored her 1,000th point last game while hitting a school record nine threes, dropped in 16 points in the first half as the Rangers built a 45-31 advantage. The junior guard hit all four of her long range attempts in the opening period while backcourt mate Cunningham also scored 16.
The Rangers lead increased to 16 early in the second half on a Cunningham jumper, but the Lady Colonels used a 32-16 run over ten minutes to tie the game at 63-63 with just over nine to play. The game remained close until Laura Methvin, who scored 12 points in the game, tied the match for the fifth time with a lay-up at 4:24. The Colonels then hit four of their next five shots and seven of ten free throws to outlast the Rangers.
Rena Bolin led the Colonels with 22 points while Andrea Kacprowicz, Randi Corbo and Lacey Andresen all reached double digits in scoring. Wilkes hit 19 of 31 field goals in the second half, six of nine from three-point range. The Rangers hit on 11 of 17 threes in the game and 15 of 17 free throws, but shot only 33% from the field in the second half as the sixth game in fourteen days took its toll.
Kraft finished with 27 points and five rebounds. Cunningham had three steals to go with 26 and four boards and Genie Valantassis continued her improvement with another strong performance. Valantassis scored nine points and recorded 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
The Rangers get back into action on Wednesday at home to King’s.
Drew University vs Wilkes University 01/21/06 1:00 p.m. at Wilkes-Barre, PA At Wilkes-Barre, PA WILKES UNIVERSITY 87, DREW UNIVERSITY 82 DREW UNIVERSITY (9-7/4-2 Freedom) Melissa Kraft 9-17 2-3 27; Courtney Cunningham 9-16 5-6 26; Laura Methvin 6-12 0-0 12; Genie Valantassis 1-5 6-6 9; Maggie Marquis 2-9 2-2 6; Kaitlyn Campi 1-4 0-0 2; Ann Mularz 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-65 15-17 82. WILKES UNIVERSITY (5-11/1-5 Freedom) Rena Bolin 7-11 7-10 22; Lacey Andresen 5-10 4-6 15; Andrea Kacprowicz 5-10 0-0 14; Randi Corbo 5-10 0-0 13; Tiana Lee 2-2 3-4 8; Kelly Patchell 3-6 0-0 6; Khadija Bates 1-1 1-2 3; Holly Leszyk 1-3 0-0 2; Karyn Perestam 1-5 0-0 2; Katie Cappelloni 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 31-63 15-22 87. Drew University............... 45 37 - 82 Wilkes University............. 31 56 - 87 3-point goals-Drew University 11-17 (Melissa Kraft 7-9; Courtney Cunningham 3-7; Genie Valantassis 1-1), Wilkes University 10-22 (Andrea Kacprowicz 4-9; Randi Corbo 3-4; Rena Bolin 1-2; Lacey Andresen 1-2; Tiana Lee 1-1; Katie Cappelloni 0-3; Holly Leszyk 0-1). Fouled out--Drew University-Melissa Kraft, Wilkes University-Katie Cappelloni. Rebounds-Drew University 33 (Genie Valantassis 11), Wilkes University 42 (Lacey Andresen 9). Assists-Drew University 9 (Genie Valantassis 2; Maggie Marquis 2; Laura Methvin 2), Wilkes University 20 (Randi Corbo 7). Total fouls-Drew University 18, Wilkes University 20. A-200