DALLAS, TEXAS ? In a game that featured a combined 70 free throw attempts, it was a pair of makes by Ivanic Catic of Kansas with two seconds remaining that propelled the Jayhawks to a 69-64 victory over Drake in first round action of the SMU Hoops for the Cure Classic.

Trailing by six, 64-58, with 1:36 remaining in the contest, Drake mounted a furious comeback as it chipped away at the Kansas lead with senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) connecting on four straight free throws to cut the lead to two, 64-62, with 52 ticks left on the clock.

After a Krysten Boogaard free throw stretched the advantage to three, 65-62, Martin drained a key jumper to bring the Bulldogs to within one, 65-64, with 16 seconds remaining in the affair.

Danielle McCray was fouled on the inbounds pass and converted a pair of tosses at the charity stripe to make it a three-point contest, 67-64, with 14 seconds left.

Drake pushed the ball up the court and got the look it wanted as senior Lindsay Whorton (Independence, Mo./Truman) let fly with a triple with six ticks left on the clock. Whorton appeared to be fouled on the play but the call was not whistled as the shot bounced off the rim into the hands of Catic, who sealed the victory with a pair of free throws.

“We did a great job on the boards but turnovers really hurt us in the first half,” Drake head coach Amy Stephens said. “I thought our ability to change up our defense in the second half and the way we did a good job on the boards for the game allowed us to compete, so despite the loss we did a lot of good things.”

Martin finished the contest one point shy of equaling her career high in scoring (28) as she registered game highs in points (27) and rebounds (14). Martin made the most of her chances at the line as she connected on 17 of her 18 attempts.

Joining her in double figures was Whorton with a 14-point effort.

LaChelda Jacobs paced three Kansas players in double figures with 15 points, while McCray and Porscha Weddington added 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Jayhawks concluded the affair shooting 48.1 percent from the floor, while Drake tickled the twines at 29.2 percent. The Bulldogs made 33 of their 39 attempts at the charity stripe (84.6 percent). Conversely, Kansas went 19-for-31 at the line to finish with a 61.3 percent shooting mark.

Drake remained in the contest despite struggling from the field due in large part to its rebounding as the Bulldogs hauled down 34 rebounds, including recording a 15-12 advantage on the offensive glass. Junior Kelsey Keizer (Arnolds Park, Iowa/Okoboji) pulled down six rebounds for the Blue and White.

Kansas outscored Drake in the paint, 30-16, but the Blue and White created 17 second-chance points to just five for the Jayhawks.

The Bulldogs now stand at 2-3 on the campaign following the setback, while Kansas remains undefeated at 3-0.

Drake concludes tournament action versus Western Michigan on Saturday (Nov. 24) at 5:00 p.m.