DES MOINES, IOWA
-- Creighton forced Drake into two turnovers in the final 21 seconds to
snap the Bulldogs' six-game winning streak en route to earning a 68-65
Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball victory Saturday.
A
layup by Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) had
given Drake a 65-63 lead with 2:24 left but the Bulldogs would fail to
score the remainder of the game, committing three turnovers in their
final four possessions.
Creighton tied the score at 65-65 on a
jumper by Chevelle Herring with 1:54 left. Then Megan Neuvirth forced
Dbying into a turnover with 1:35 remaining. Dybing fouled Kristina Voss
with 1:10 left. Voss made one of two free throws to give Creighton a
68-65 advantage.
Herring then forced Drake freshman center
Rachael Hackbarth into a turnover with 21 seconds left. Forced to foul,
Drake sent Kelsey Woodard to the free throw line where she made two
free throws with 14 seconds left.
Dybing had a three-point shot from the top of the key with three seconds blocked out of bounds by Creightons' Kelsey Crites
Drake
had one last chance to tie the game but an inbounds pass from Drake
freshman Amber Wollschlager with 2.3 seconds left was stolen by
Neuvirth.
“In basketball the most aggressive team wins and today the
most aggressive team did win,” said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. “We
didn't execute well or take care of the ball very well today.”
Junior
guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) led Drake with a
career-high 27 points, including 16 in the first half. Dybing added 12
points and Monique Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) tied a
season-high with nine rebounds.
“Jordann really stepped up today and has been stepping up for the last five or six games,” commented Stephens.
There were seven ties and five lead changes in the game.
With
Plummer scoring nine points, Drake raced to an 11-3 lead. Plummer's
three-point basket with 18 seconds left gave Drake a 33-30 halftime
lead.
Drake shot 48 percent (25-of-52) from the floor, 50 percent (12-of-24) in the first half.
The Bluejays shot 35 percent from the floor and 89 percent from the free-throw line, hitting 25-of-28 from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs edged Creighton in rebounding, 35-30, and doubled the Bluejays inside points, 32-16.
Drake
played without the services of starting point guard Brittnye McSparron (Apple
Valley, Minn./Eastview) who did not play the 28 minutes of the game after
getting injured.Drake fell to 12-8, including a 6-3 conference mark. The Bulldogs travel to Wichita State for a Feb. 6 match-up with the Shockers. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.