DES MOINES, IOWA ? Donning pink uniforms in honor of the Hoops 4 Hope game to raise breast cancer awareness, Drake shot 44.6 percent from the floor and withstood a second-half Southern Illinois charge to register a 72-57 victory over the Salukis on Saturday (Feb. 16) before 5,023 fans. The crowd was the eighth largest in the history of the Knapp Center.
The victory pushes Drake's ledger to 15-8 overall, including 8-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Southern Illinois dropped to 8-15 on the year and 4-9 in league play with the setback.
Drake broke open a 24-17 game in the first half with a 19-0 run extending the margin to as many as 26 en route to taking a 45-21 lead into the intermission. The Salukis compounded their problems by hitting just one field goal over the final 10:53 of the half.
Fueling the run was eight points from freshman Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln).
Drake finished the initial stanza shooting 56.7 percent from the floor, while Southern Illinois connected on just 27.6 percent of its attempts.
The Salukis started the second half on a 13-1 run to cut the deficit to 12 points. The Bulldogs first field goal in the final 20 minutes came courtesy of lay-up from sophomore Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) at the 12:59 mark.
Southern Illinois chipped the lead down to 10, 51-41, before the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to extend the margin to 19 and didn't look back in en route to victory.
Finishing in double-figures for Drake was senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk), sophomore Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter), Jones and Turk with 16, 14, 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Southern Illinois finished the affair shooting 40 percent and was sparked by a 17-point effort from Jayme Sweere.
Martin was one rebound shy of recording her sixth straight double-double as she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
The Salukis outrebounded the Bulldogs, 36-34, but Drake forced 19 Southern Illinois turnovers, which they converted into 19 points.
Drake returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 21) when the Bulldogs hit the road for a 7:05 p.m. tip at Bradley.
