DES MOINES, IOWA - Sophomore Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) scored 11 of her team-high 13 points in the second half to propel Drake to a 69-59 women's basketball triumph over Columbia on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 29).

The Bulldogs registered their second straight victory and improved their ledger to 3-2 on the year, while the Lions dropped to 3-4 overall.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Drake head coach Amy Stephens commented. “We got great point production from our bench in the first half. Columbia was a team that had been dominating opponents on the offensive glass and it certainly did the job against us today.”

Holding a 40-30 advantage at halftime, the Bulldogs seemed poised to control the final 20 minutes en route to securing their third victory of the season.

Columbia refused to go away as it used a 15-7 over the first 7:16 of the second half to cut the deficit to two, 47-45, on a three-pointer from Katherine Goodwin.

Senior Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) pushed the margin back to five, 50-45, connecting on a three-pointer at the 11:32 mark.

The Lions cut the deficit to three points on four different occasions down the stretch before Turk and redshirt junior Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) scored Drake's final nine points over the final 3:06. Turk netted five points in the surge, while Plummer went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the final two minutes to cement the win.

Joining Turk in double-figures was Dybing and sophomore Morgan Herrick (Cedarburg, Wis./Cedarburg) with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Three Lions finished with double-digit points led by Judie Lomax with 16-point, 13-rebound performance, both marks represented game highs.

After shooting 42.1 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs connected on 50 percent of their shots in the final 20 minutes to finish the affair tickling the twines at a .448 clip. The Lions proved to be the polar opposite as Columbia registered a 51.9 percent shooting mark in the initial stanza only to shoot 38.7 percent in the second half to finish with an identical 44.8 percent field-goal percentage.

The Lions kept the contest close by earning a 41-29 rebounding advantage, including 16-10 on the offensive glass. The 41 rebounds were a Drake opponent season-high.

Plummer and freshman Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) each added eight points for the Bulldogs. Senior Kelsey Keizer (Arnolds Park, Iowa/Okoboji) pulled down a team- and season-best nine rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Fellow senior Ashleigh Brady (Lubbock, Texas/Frenship) recorded seven points off the bench for the Bulldogs.

Drake converted 21 Columbia turnovers into 18 points, while the Lions netted only nine points off of 11 Bulldogs miscues.

Drake returns to action on Tuesday (Dec. 2) as the Bulldogs tangle with 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Coppin State. Game time in the Knapp Center is slated for 7:05 p.m. with Drake's 2008 Missouri Valley Conference regular season and Women's National Invitation banners being unveiled prior to the contest as part of the Bulldogs' championship week.