PEORIA, ILL. -- Bradley made three consecutive three-pointers in the first
minute and a half of the second overtime and the Bulldogs never recovered as
the Braves topped Drake, 87-80, in Missouri Valley Conference play Saturday.
With the loss Drake moves to 16-10, 10-5 in the Missouri
Valley Conference while Bradley improves to 19-6, 10-4 in conference.
Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) hit a three-pointer
with 44 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 62-62. The Bulldogs
defense held as Skye Johnson missed a jumper and Michelle Lund missed a
three-point attempt, sending the game into overtime.
Back-to-back three pointers from Turk and junior Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) put the Bulldogs up
four, 72-68, at the 1:42 mark in the first overtime.
Bradley's Skye Johnson converted a three point play to bring
the Braves within one at 1:23.
Plummer made
two free throws to give Drake a 74-71 lead with :12 seconds remaining.
Freshman Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D./Milbank) missed
two free throws with eight seconds remaining and Jenny Van Kirk secured the
rebound for Bradley. Van Kirk hit Renee Frer icks on the outlet who dribbled up
the left side of the court and hit an uncontested three pointer as the clock expired, sending
the game into a second overtime.
Frericks hit two three pointers to begin the second
overtime, followed by another from Lund, to give the Braves an 83-74 lead with 3:40
remaining.
Drake came within three with 29 seconds remaining off a
jumper by Kelsey Keizer but were forced to foul.
Johnson and Rogers were each perfect from the line, making
two free throws apiece in the final 28 seconds.
Junior forward Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's
Summit North) and freshman forward Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin
Lutheran) recorded double-doubles for the Bulldogs with 16 points, 10 rebounds
and 10 points, 10 rebounds, respectively.
Turk led Drake with 17 points while
Plummer added 15 points and six assists and Wollschlager had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Poor free throw shooting plagued the Bulldogs again, as they finished
11-of-21 from the line after going 9-of-10 in the first half.
Drake shot 40.5 percent from the field, including 56.7
percent in the second half and overtimes.
Bradley outrebounded the Bulldogs, 53-50.
Drake travels to Creighton Friday (Feb. 27) for a 7:05 tip
off at the Qwest Center. The match-up will be the first-ever
regular-season women's game to be played at the Qwest Center.