Women's Basketball 11/25/2008 11:15:00 PM Drake Athletics

Turk's Career High 20 Points Key's Women's Basketball Team Past Tennessee Tech

COOKEVILLE, TENN. -- Sophomore guard Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) took advantage of her first college start by scoring a career-high 20 points, including 18 in the second half, to rally the Drake women's basketball team to a 69-58 victory at Tennessee Tech Tuesday night.

Senior forward Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) and junior guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo.Cardinal Ritter) added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Bulldogs who closed out a three-game, six-day road swing which included stops at Wisconsin and Green Bay.

The trio combined for 36 of Drake's 40 points in the second half. Dybing scored 11 points in the second half. Plummer had 10 points in the second period.

The Bulldogs, who improved to 2-2, opened the second half making six of their first nine shots.

Drake made a season-high six three-point baskets, including a career-high four treys from Turk.

"Kristin (Turk) settled in during the second half and we got to see how capable she was," said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. "She was a spark at critical times for us."

"We looked for Kristin on kick outs against Tennessee Tech's zone."

Stephens shuffled her lineup for the first time this season inserting Turk and freshman forward Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and into the starting unit, while Plummer handled point guard.

"We juggled the lineup," Stephens added. "We're still in the process of finding ourselves and we responded positive tonight."

Trailing 51-49 with five minutes 49 seconds left, Drake went on a 12-2 scoring spree fueled by two three-point baskets from Turk and baskets from Dybing and Plummer.

The Bulldogs sealed the victory down the stretch by sinking all six free throw attempts in the final 1:44.

Drake forced Tennessee Tech into 20 turnovers, while limiting the Golden Eagles to 38 percent shooting from the floor (19-50).

"Rebounding played a factor for us in the first half and we shot the ball better in the second half," Stephens added. "We didn't allow them second shots and we took care of the ball once we made our run."

Senior forward Kelsey Keizer (Arnolds Park, Iowa/Okoboji) came off the bench to lead Drake with six rebounds. Drake outrebounded Tennessee Tech, 36-35.

Senior guard Ashleigh Brady (Lubbock, Texas/Frenship) and sophomore forward Morgan Herrick (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) came off the bench to score six points apiece keying a late rally that allowed Drake to enjoy its first halftime lead of the season at 29-23.

Drake held Tennessee Tech without a basket in two stretches during the first half that lasted more than 5 minutes 30 seconds to enjoy a 26-23 lead.

The Bulldogs' aggressive defense held Tennessee Tech without a basket for the last 5 minutes 17 seconds of the first half to erase a 22-19 deficit.

Herrick ignited a 10-1 run by Drake to close out the first half by hitting a jumper in the paint, while Brady scored four points in the surge.

A running 30-foot jumper off the glass by Plummer beating the halftime buzzer capped off the comeback.

Drake got off to a sluggish start making just one of its first six shots, allowing Tennessee Tech to race to a 7-1 start.

The Golden Eagles encountered their own shooting drought going six minutes 36 seconds without a basket which enabled Drake to go on a 9-2 run to grab its first lead of the game at 10-9 following a rebound jumper by freshman guard Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./East View).

Drake will play its first home game in two weeks this Saturday at 2:05 p.m., entertaining Columbia in the inaugural meeting between the schools.

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