Boxscore
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware's six-game win streak came to a halt Sunday afternoon as the Blue Hens suffered their worst offensive performance of the season and fell to Drexel 56-40 in the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball opener for both squads at the Bob Carpenter Center.

The Blue Hens (8-4, 0-1 CAA), off to a hot start and looking to rebound from last year's ninth place league finish, converted just 12 of 50 shots from the field (24 percent), was held to a season-low 40 points, and committed 19 turnovers. Delaware misfired on 3 of a season-high 13 three-point attempts.

Drexel (6-6, 1-0 CAA) pulled ahead in the final 12 minutes and won its second straight game despite junior forward Gabriela Marginean, the nation's leading scorer and the pre-season CAA Player of the Year, being held to just two points.

Sophomore guard Jasmina Rosseel led the Dragons with team-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds while freshman forward Kamile Nacickaite came off the bench to contribute 13 points and senior forward Nicole Hester scored 10 points and dished out four assists.

Drexel overcame 39.1 percent shooting (18 of 46) and 21 turnovers by hitting on 8 of 19 three-pointers. Rosseel and Nacickaite each drained three three-pointers for the Dragons.

Sophomore guard Tesia Harris scored a team-high 13 points, including three three-pointers, for Delaware while sophomore Ariene Jenkins added 12 points and freshman Jocelyn Bailey (at right) came off the bench to contribute 10 points and seven rebounds.

"Plain and simple, we played badly today," said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose team was in action for the first time since Dec. 30 when the Blue Hens downed host Loyola Marymount 66-60 to capture the LMU Holiday Classic in Los Angeles. "We didn't show patience and we were a mess offensively. We have done some good things this year, but this is what happens sometimes when you have a youyng team. You are going to have your ebbs and flows and today was down day."

The Hens, whose nine-player rotation features seven freshmen and sophomores and just one senior, will return to action Thursday when they host Hofstra at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Marginean, who had scored 20 or more points nine times this season with a previous season-low of 15 points vs. Minnesota, was saddled with foul trouble for most of the day and finished with just two points on 1 of 4 shooting from the field in 16 minutes of action. But the Dragons never missed her.

Drexel led the entire first half, going up by as much 13 points at 26-13 with 3:23 left before the Hens followed with a flurry, cutting the halftime deficit to 26-20 thanks to two Harris three-pointers in the final 27 seconds.

Delaware fought back in the second half and finally tied the game at 28-28 on a jumper by Bailey with 13:32 left and took its first and only lead of the day on a free throw by Jenkins with 12:10 remaining.

The rest of the afternoon belonged to Drexel, which followed with a 9-2 run to take control at 40-31 with 7:19 left in the contest. Nacickaite started the run with a layup and added two three-pointers over the next two minutes to fuel the streak. Delaware never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Drexel downed the Hens for the third straight time after Delaware had won 16 straight gamed in the series. The 40 points were the lowest total by the Blue Hens in the 48-game series history against Drexel.