After giving up the first bucket of the game to the Hawks in the opening seconds, Barber drilled a three from the wing two minutes later and the Rangers never looked back. The triple by Barber spurred a 12-2 run over the next eight minutes of play giving Drew their first double-digit lead with 7:17 remaining in the first half.

Drew kept no less than a seven-point lead for the remainder of the half, going into the locker room with a 26-17 advantage.

Junior Whitney Mackay (Suffield, Conn./Berkshire) sparked the Rangers in the second half of play, scoring nine of her 15 points in the final 20 minutes. The Hawks made things interesting in the two minutes of the game, erasing a 10-point deficit in under two minutes.

Last year's leading scorer, Kate Purcell, single-handedly brought her team back with eight unanswered points. With 1:35 to play she took the ball the length of the court for a layup, stole the inbound pass, and converted a three-point play to pull the hawks within five. After another Ranger turnover, Purcell knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Ranger lead to two with 49 seconds left.

As a result of the Hawks applying heavy pressure, the Rangers were sent to the line on back-to-back possessions where Mackay and Barber were able to hit four free throws. With the Rangers now up six with 18 ticks on the clock, Hartwick rimmed out two, 3-point shots leaving room for Drew to close the game at the charity stripe.

Between Barber, Mackay, Victoria Ault (Middletown, N.J./Mater Dei) and Jennifer Mateo (Union City, N.J./Union) the Rangers went 7-for-8 from the line in the last 30 seconds of the game.Mateo and Ault each finished with eight boards to lead the team with Ault tallying nine points in the win.

The Rangers have enjoyed success in the month of November in recent years and are now 13-1 in the past four seasons in the opening month. The women's basketball program has not lost a season opener in 17 seasons.

Drew will be on the road this weekend when they travel to Wheaton College for the Wheaton Tip-off Tournament. The Rangers will square off against Haverford College in the opening round on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.