BRONX, N.Y. - Junior center
Erin Frederick posted her third career double-double, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the Drew University women's basketball team to an 85-59 victory over Clark University in the first round of the Lehman College Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament on Saturday.
The Rangers (7-2) move on the tournament championship game, to be played on Sunday at 1 p.m. They will take on the winner of the other first-round game between Lehman and Saint Joseph's-Long Island.
Frederick shot 12-for-17 for Drew, which is off to its best start through nine games since the 2013-14 season.
Freshman guard
Joey Meyers contributed 16 points for Drew while senior guard
Julia Ramos registered 10 points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Sophomore guard
Brooke Timinski scored nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range while senior guard
Aly Axman added three steals.
Emily Sifferlen led all players with 30 points for Clark (3-8).
The Rangers never trailed after outscoring the Cougars 9-0 to start the game. Drew continued to pull away in the opening half, building a 22-13 lead through the first quarter and a 47-23 advantage at the intermission. Frederick led all players with 16 points in the first half, when she shot 8-for-9 from the floor.
Clark climbed back into it when it outscored the Rangers 21-8 to start the second half, making it an 11-point game with 2:45 left in the third quarter. But Meyers would answer with four straight points and Drew led 61-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Rangers opened the final stanza with a 7-2 run that included 3-pointers from Axman and Meyers that gave Drew a 20-point lead (68-48) with 8:03 remaining. Clark narrowed the gap down to 15 with 6:22 showing, but Drew won going away, outscoring the Cougars 14-3 the rest of the way. Frederick fueled the decisive run, scoring the first eight points.
Drew came away with 16 steals for the game while forcing Clark into 26 turnovers.
The Rangers will be seeking their second tournament championship of the season on Sunday, as they also won their own Larry Horner C'40 Rose City Classic back on Nov. 16.
