DES MOINES, IOWA. ? On a night when its 2007 NCAA Tournament and Missouri Valley Conference Tournament banners were lowered from the Knapp Center rafters, Drake was stunned by a Green Bay unit equally as talented in its women's basketball season opener on Friday evening (Nov. 9) as the Phoenix posted a 78-66 triumph.
After an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Phoenix, a perennial power in the Horizon League, came to play as it connected on nearly 52 percent (.519) of its shot en route to improving to 1-0 on the campaign, while dropping the Bulldogs to 0-1.
“We've got to get better at some things defensively and obviously Green Bay is a very good basketball team that exploited some weaknesses that we had tonight and starting with defensive transition and simply making adjustments through the course of the game,” Drake head coach Amy Stephens said. “We're disappointed with the loss, but it is early and there are several things we can get better at.”
The contest was ultimately won in the first half by Green Bay's dominance in the paint (20-12) and on the offensive glass (4-1).
After a layup from senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) with 11:14 remaining in the initial stanza, the Drake offense went cold as the Bulldogs missed their next five shots, while the Phoenix scored 12 unanswered points to take a 26-18 on a Kayla Groh layup at the 6:23 mark.
Martin stemmed the tide with a triple and sophomore Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) added two free throws to trim the deficit to 26-23. This proved to be as close as the Blue and White got for the remainder of the half and the game.
After falling behind 56-37 on a Rachel Porath three-point with 12:41 left in the contest, Drake made things intriguing with a 9-0 run fueled by five points from senior Lindsay Whorton (Independence, Mo./Truman). Whorton ended the run with the first of her back-to-back-to-back triples. She finished with 16 points, all coming in the second half.
Plummer connected on 9-of-11 shots from the floor and recorded a career- and game-high 20 points. Whorton added 16 points, including four three-pointers, while Martin chipped in 15 points and hauled in a game-high seven rebounds.
Groh paced five Phoenix players in double-figures with a 20-point performance as she went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Drake wrapped the affair shooting better than 48 percent (.481) from the floor, while Green Bay bettered that mark tickling the twines at a .519 clip. Green Bay outrebounded the Bulldogs on the glass, 34-28.
Two of the better teams in the country a year ago at securing the rock, both sides finished with 14 turnovers. The Bulldogs converted those miscues into 14 points, to 12 by the Phoenix. Points in the paint went in favor of Green Bay, 32-30.
The loss by Drake snapped a three-game winning streak in season openers, as Drake now stands at 21-13 all-time in season lidlifters, including 26-8 at home. The setback was also the first in six home season openers played in odd-numbered years.
The Bulldogs have little time to dwell on the loss as an in-state showdown at Iowa looms on Tuesday (Nov. 13). Game time in Carver-Hawkeye Arena is slated for 7:00 p.m.
