Drexel

Drexel will travel to Bradley on Feb. 20, during the NCAA's Bracketbuster Weekend. The game, scheduled for 7 p.m., is considered an official Bracketbuster contest since it will not be televised. The event provides programs from 14 participating conferences, a chance to face top nonconference opponents about three weeks before Selection Sunday. Drexel and Bradley will have to win their respective conference tournaments to reach the NCAA tournament. Drexel is 13-11, while Bradley is 11-11.

In their final game wearing a Drexel uniform, Kamile Nacickaite and Tyler Hale finished with 11 points apiece, but the Dragons lost, 65-43, to Syracuse in second-round women's NIT action last night at the Daskalaskis Athletic Center. Drexel kept it tight in the first half and trailed, 44-41, with 6:18 to play before the Orange opened an insurmountable 21-2 run. Syracuse (20-14) was led by a double-double from Kayla Alexander (16 points, 11 rebounds). Drexel finished 19-14, its best record since the 2008-09 season.

Tim Whitworth led Drexel to an 80-76 victory over William and Mary in a seesaw Colonial Athletic Association game last night. Whitworth, a graduate of Chestnut Hill Academy, scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half. That included a three-pointer that broke a 74-74 tie with 29 seconds left. Drexel (8-6, 3-2 Colonial) and William and Mary (4-11, 1-5) followed a roundabout route to that tie. William and Mary had led by as much as 11 in the first half. Drexel, which trailed by 38-35 at halftime, led by as much as 14 in the second half.

Delsea forward Kate Kane, considered among the fastest soccer players in South Jersey, has signed with Drexel. Kane earned a partial academic and soccer scholarship. She became the second South Jersey player this season to commit to Drexel. In the fall, Paul VI defender Noel Niederkorn also made a commitment to Drexel. Kane and Niederkorn, who are teammates for the Medford Strikers, will be roommates at Drexel. "I originally had it narrowed down to Delaware and St. Joe's," Kane said yesterday.

In a battle between two of the nation's top leading scorers, James Madison's Dawn Evans got the better of Gabriela Marginean and Drexel after a 60-56 women's basketball final at the JMU Convovcation Center yesterday. Evans, the nation's leading scorer netted a game high 30 points to lead JMU (11-5, 4-1 Colonial Athletic Conference) while Marginean - holding down the fourth spot paced Drexel (8-8, 3-2 CAA) with 25. In another game, host Duquesne beat Temple (10-6, 2-1 Atlantic 10)

Derrick Thomas has orally committed to play basketball for Drexel next season, a source close to the player said. Scouting reports praise the 6-foot-4 shooting guard from St. John's College High School in Washington for his shot and his ability to drive to the basket. He averaged 15 points, six rebounds and 3.5 assists this past season. Thomas joins Dartaye Ruffin, Darryl McCoy and Shannon Givens as new players for Drexel next season.

Nicole Hester scored a season-high 17 points to help Drexel extend its winning streak to seven games with a 62-42 victory over George Mason in a women's basketball game yesterday in Fairfax, Va. The streak is the Dragons' longest since 2000-01. Drexel (8-6, 3-0 Colonial Athletic Association) shot a first-half, season-best 58.8 percent to take a 37-24 halftime lead. Narissa Suber had 14 points and Jasmina Rosseel added 13. Leading scorer Gabriela Marginean was held to nine points in 23 minutes because of foul trouble.

Scott Rodgers scored 25 points as Drexel beat Hofstra, 63-56, yesterday afternoon. Drexel (5-6, 1-1 Colonial Athletic Association) led by 13 points late in the second half before Hofstra closed within 56-51 on a three-pointer by Cornelius Vines with 1 minute, 15 seconds left. Rodgers answered with a jumper, and Jamie Harris hit two free throws moments later to seal it. The point total was a career high for Rodgers, a senior guard from Central High. Harris finished with 14 points.

Drexel will renovate the Drill Hall at the Philadelphia Armory, with plans for a convocation center and basketball arena, the university announced yesterday. Details of the lease agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be announced today at a news conference at the West Philadelphia landmark. The Armory is home to the 103d Engineering Battalion of the National Guard as well as ROTC programs for several universities.

Taylor Wootton scored 20 points to lift host Drexel to its first home win, a 72-59 pounding over City Six rival La Salle in women's basketball. Hollie Mershon added 13 points for the Dragons (5-3). Alexis Scott scored a game- and season-high 33 points for La Salle (3-8).   In another game: *  At St. Francis, Pa., Katie Kuester's 16 points led Saint Joseph's (6-4) to an 83-53 win.