TOWSON, Md. — The Towson University women's basketball team will host Drexel in their final regular season game of the season on March 5 at 2 p.m. The team will also celebrate Senior Day and honor their three seniors in Kiara Johnson, Skye Williams and Narrie Dodson.
Drexel was the last meeting between the two teams on Jan. 18 by a slight margin, 58-54. Towson did come out with the victory last season when the team met on Senior Day (Feb. 21), 77-62. The Dragons do hold the all-time edge over the Tigers, 61-22.
Records
- Towson (22-6, 13-4)
- Drexel (24-3, 16-1)
Last Time Out
Towson fell to Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Delaware on March 3, 85-71.
The Tigers rallied from a 25-point deficit in the second quarter to put the contest within four points just before the halfway point of the third quarter, but the effort was not enough as the Blue Hens emerged with the 14-point victory.
Tarriyonna Gary ended the night with a career-high 22 points, shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range. Aleah Nelson added 19 points and five assists while Rayne Tucker recorded 10 points and a pair of blocks.
Skye Williams also had a solid performance off the bench, netting 11 points. Anissa Rivera paced the team off the glass with 13 rebounds.
22 & Counting
With Towson's most recent win over Northeastern (Feb. 27), the team reset the program regular season win record with 22 victories. The program-high was previously set during the 2007-08 campaign.
With the victory, the team also tied the program record for most wins in a season, which was also set in the 2007-08 campaign.
Since arriving in Towson in 2017, head coach Diane Richardson has now garnered two 20-win seasons, as she led the 2018-19 squad to a 20-13 overall mark.
As the Towson men's team currently sits with a 24-7 overall record, it marks the first time in Towson's history both the men's and women's teams have reached 20+ wins in the same season as the men currently have 24 wins.
In The CAA
Drexel (16-1) has locked in the top seed in the CAA Tournament while Delaware secured the second spot (15-2). The Dragons will face #8 Hofstra (3-14)/#9 UNCW (0-17) in the tournament while the Blue Hens will meet the #7 seed, William & Mary (5-12).
Towson (13-4) also locked itself into the #3 seed after falling to Delaware on Thursday night. Elon (8-9), Charleston (8-9) and Northeastern (8-9) are all fighting for the #4 spot.
The Tigers will play one of those teams fighting for the sixth spot on March 11 in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament.
Chasing Records
With five assists against Delaware, Aleah Nelson brought her season total up to 150 helpers, just two helpers shy of breaking the single season assist record of 151. The high was previously set by Q. Murray during the 2019-2020 season.
Home Sweet Home
Going into the final two games of the regular season, the Tigers have an 11-2 record in SECU Arena. The only losses have both come at the hands of Delaware (Feb. 9 and March 3). The team has reached over 70 points seven times and over 90 points on four occasions while at home.
Women's basketball is not the only team to find success while playing at SECU Arena this academic year however, as men's basketball (12-2), gymnastics (10-1) and volleyball (17-1) have also dominated in front of a home crowd. All four teams are a combined 50-6 in SECU dating back to the beginning of the fall slate.
Coming Off The Bench
The Tigers have had a huge late season push off the bench, scoring double-digit points in the last 12 contests. The team posted a season-high 49 points off the bench against James Madison (Feb. 13), led by Anissa Rivera with a game-high 21 points and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas who added 20.
Towson has scored 562 total points off the bench this slate for 20.1 points per game.
Sweepin' Up
The Tigers have completed six season sweeps of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponents this season. The Black & Gold have earned two wins over William & Mary (Jan. 9 and Feb. 4), Elon (Jan. 7 and Feb. 6), James Madison (Jan. 16 and Feb. 13), UNCW (Jan. 23 and Feb. 18), Hofstra (Jan. 30 and Feb. 26) and Northeastern (Jan. 28 and Feb. 27).
Kornegay-Lucas Makes History
Kylie Kornegay Lucas' recorded a historic triple-double against Delaware (Feb. 9) with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The feat marks the first at Towson since 1993, when Tanya Belair did it against Winthrop (17p, 10r, 10s). Chris Pulaski did it when the team was Division II, amassing 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It is also the first in the CAA since 2018 when Shay Burnett of Elon brought in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
D-FENSE!
The black & gold have held 12 opponents to under 35.5 percent shooting 14 times in a game this season. Towson kept Frostburg State (32.8 percent, 19-of-58), Florida (35.2 percent, 25-of-71), Wofford (30.2 percent, 19-of-63), Millersville (19.1 percent, 9-of-47), Howard (25.4 percent, 18-of-71), Delaware State (32.7 percent, 18-of-55), East Carolina (25.3 percent, 19-of-75), UMass Lowell (29.3 percent, 17-of-58), UNCW (32.2 percent, 19-of-59), Elon (33.9 percent, 21-of-62) and Charleston (27.8 percent, 22-of-79) and Northeastern (35.3 percent, 24-of-68) all below the mark. They have also held Hofstra under 33 percent shooting both times they met this season (26.7 percent, 16-of-60/32.8 percent, 21-of-64). When Towson holds its opponent below 34.9 percent shooting, they are 12-0.
The team has also held its opponents to less than 10 points in a quarter 15 times this season. The Tigers most recently held Northeastern to nine points in the third quarter of action.
The black & gold have registered nine double-digit steal games, led by a season-high 18 takeaway performance against Millersville. Aleah Nelson leads the squad with 33 total steals.
Towson has generated 541 total points this season off turnovers, for 19.3 points per game. When the team registers more steals than their opponent, they are undefeated, 15-0.
Taking Care of the Ball
Towson has done an exceptional job of taking care of the ball this season, ranking fourth in the league with a 1.86 turnover margin. The team is also 98th in the nation and third in the CAA in assist/turnover ratio (0.96).
Floor general Aleah Nelson has also been careful with the rock, as she ranks 12th nationally and first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.59).
When the Tigers have fewer turnovers than their opposition, they are 17-0.
Prolific Scoring
At least two Tigers have cracked double figures in 27 of 28 outings so far this season. Nelson has now scored 10+ points in 26 of 28 contests including the last 14 outings.
Six Tigers have also registered +20 point performances in Nelson, Allie Kubek, Anissa Rivera, Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, Rayne Tucker and Tarriyonna Gary. Nelson and Kubek pace the squad with five games over 20 points apiece.
Towson has had two players score 20 or more points four times this season:
- James Madison - Jan. 16 (Kubek-28, Rivera-20)
- Northeastern - Jan. 28 (Nelson-24, Kubek-22)
- Delaware - Feb. 9 (Nelson-24, Kubek-20)
- James Madison - Feb. 13 (Rivera-21, Kornegay-Lucas-20)
Making Some Noise
Towson moved up again to No. 16 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released March 1. The team was previously ranked No. 18.
BYU (24-2) remains in the top spot while Princeton (20-4), FGCU (26-2), Missouri State (21-5) and South Dakota (22-5) complete the top five.
Drexel (23-3, 15-1) leads the CAA in the poll as they are slotted at No. 9. Delaware (20-6, 14-2) sits at No. 21.
The black & gold are still highest ranked CAA team in the NCAA NET rankings, sitting at No. 78. Drexel comes in at No. 81 followed by Delaware at No. 90.
Coming Home
Five of 14 student-athletes on Towson's roster represent their home state of Maryland. Aleah Nelson is the lone Baltimore native while Allie Kubek (Elkton), Ryann Evans (Columbia), Rayne Tucker (New Carrollton) and Anissa Rivera (Capitol Heights) are also from close by.
In The Rankings
The Tigers continue to be among the best rebounding teams in the country, ranking seventh in total rebounds with 1,272 total boards. The team is seventh in rebounds per game (45.43) and 10th in offensive boards per game (16.1).
The team is also killing it on offense, ranked 20th in scoring offense (75.6) and 19th in scoring margin (14.3).
The Tigers currently rank top 40 in the nation in nine statistical categories.
Crashing The Boards
As one of the top-10 rebounding teams in the country, the black & gold have grabbed 40+ boards in all but three contests so far this season, including the last 14 of 16 outings. The team has also reached 50+ rebounds on five occasions.
Towson has either won the fight off the glass or tied in 20 games.
Anissa Rivera currently leads the team, averaging 17.3 boards per contest.
Scouting The Dragons
Drexel has won their last seven contests, most recently defeating James Madison on March 3, 80-60. The team has only dropped one game in conference play, falling to Charleston on Feb. 6, 74-73.
Keishana Washington (19.5), Tessa Brugler (14.1) and Hannah Nihill (13.9) are all currently averaging double-digit points for the Dragons. Brugler also paces the team off the boards with 8.6 rebounds per game while Nihill leads the team with 5.1 assists per contest.
Next Up
Towson will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the CAA Championships. As the team is locked into the #3 seed, they will play on Friday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals against the still to be determined #6 seed.
The winner of that game will play the semifinals on March 12 at 3:30 p.m. against either the #2 or #7 seed.
The championships will be played on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
