PEORIA, ILL. ? Sparked by a game-high 18 points from junior Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), Drake collected a 77-63 triumph at Bradley on Thursday (Feb. 21).
The Bulldogs improved to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in the MVC with the victory, while the Braves dropped to 9-16 on the campaign, including 3-11 in league action.
“I thought we were a little sluggish to start off the game and then midway through the first half we did a much better job and it set tone for the start of the second half,” Drake head coach Amy Stephens said. “We've been more aggressive offensively of late and tonight we moved the ball around and we were able to get five players in double figures.”
Drake connected on eight of its first nine shots in the game but found itself in a tightly contested battle, as Bradley didn't allow the Blue and White to extend the margin to beyond four points in the game's first 13 minutes.
The Bulldogs then began to pull away as they took a 31-24 advantage with 6:44 remaining. The Braves had an answer off their own going on a 10-0 run to retake the lead, 34-31. It took a lay-up from freshman Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) to end the rally and start an 8-2 run to complete the half.
Drake finished the first stanza shooting 64 percent from the floor and was paced by 10 points from Dybing. Bradley connected on 53.1 percent of its first-half attempts and was led by 10 points from Kelly Krumwiede.
Skye Johnson netted the Braves' first basket of the final 20 minutes to cut Drake's lead to one, 39-38, before the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to extend the margin to 46-38. Fueling the surge was baskets from senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) and sophomores Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) and Kaniesha Agee (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill).
Bradley remained within striking distance before the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run to capture as 12-point lead on a lay-up by Turk with 5:33 remaining.
The margin swelled to as many as 16 points before Drake exited with a 77-63 victory.
The Bulldogs shot a season-best 57.7 percent from the floor, while limiting the Braves to a 41.3 percent shooting mark.
Dybing led five Drake players with double-figures with 18, while Martin, Turk, Jones and sophomore Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) added 12, 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Sonya Harris directed Bradley with a 15-point effort and was joined in double-figures by Johnson and Krumwiede with 14 points apiece.
In spite on nine rebounds from Martin, the Bulldogs were outrebounded in the affair, 34-32.
Drake returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 24) as it travels to face in-state rival Northern Iowa at 3:05 p.m. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
