DES MOINES, IOWA ? Junior Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) equaled a school record with eight blocked shots as Drake withstood a furious second-half rally by Indiana State to notch a pivotal 77-68 victory over the Sycamores on Friday (Feb. 29).

Leading by 16 at halftime, 36-20, Drake seemed destined to get back in the win column as the Bulldogs held Indiana State to a 15.2 percent shooting mark in the initial 20 minutes.

The Sycamores though had other ideas as Laura Rudolphi netted all 20 of her points in the second half, while Angela Phillips poured in 18 of her game-high 23 points in the final period as well, including four three-pointers.

Indiana State twice cut the margin to six points in the second stanza before the Bulldogs put the game away nailing seven of their final eight free throws over the final 58 seconds to snap a three-game losing streak to the Sycamores.

Drake improved to 17-9 overall and 10-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference with the triumph, while Indiana State dropped to 12-13 on the year, including 6-9 in league play.

The 17 victories by the Bulldogs this season equals the high-water mark for wins under head coach Amy Stephens, set during the 2005-06 campaign (17-12).

Dybing tied a school record with eight blocked shots, equaling the mark of eight set by Whitney Pegram vs. Indiana State, Jan. 9, 2004.

“I was just reacting to the play,” Dybing said. “The whole attitude was to defend and get stops. We knew we had to come together and put all the pieces together.”

The 11 blocked shots by Drake equaled the second-best single-game total in Drake history. The Bulldogs notched a school record 13 blocks at Northern Iowa on (2/28/98), while recording 11 versus Evansville (2/19/98).

“We played 27 to 33 minutes of good basketball but we had a 10-minute lapse in second half where we weren't focused and didn't defend well,” Stephens said. “We gave up too many points in second half. We felt that the team that was more aggressive would probably win and we set the tone in the first half defensively because we wanted to limit points in the paint. We're just trying to build some momentum heading into the MVC Tournament.”

Dybing nearly achieved a triple-double as she turned in a 10-point, nine-rebound, eight-block masterpiece.

Joining her in double-figures was senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomores Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) and Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) with 14 and 12 tallies, respectively.

The double-double for Martin was her league-leading 11th of the season and the 37th of her career. She now leads all active players in the category, men or women, in double-doubles, while she posted her 100th career contest scoring in double-figures.

Drake finished the contest shooting 47.6 percent from the floor and held the Sycamores to a 33.3 percent shooting night. The Bulldogs won the battle of the rebounds, 45-37, including 32-22 on the defensive glass.

Drake dominated the paint, outscoring Indiana State 34-16. Led by 12 points from Plummer, the Bulldogs' bench outscored the Sycamores, 30-7.

Drake closes out the home portion of its regular season on Sunday (March 2) as the Bulldogs host league-leading Illinois State at 2:35 p.m. The game will mark senior day for Martin, Lindsay Whorton (Independence, Mo./Truman) and Brandy Dahir (Carrollton, Texas/Creekview). Fox Sports Midwest will carry the game live.