DES MOINES, IOWA - Junior guard Jordann Plummer (St.
Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) and senior forward Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix
Lutheran) scored five points apiece in the opening five minutes helping
Drake race to a 20-6 lead and the Bulldogs never looked back en route to 63-38
Missouri Valley Conference romp past Indiana State in its home finale Saturday.
The
Sycamores' 38 points was the second-fewest a Drake team has allowed to a conference
opponent in program history. The Bulldogs defeated Creighton 73-33 in
1977.
The Bulldogs, who avenged a 50-38
loss at Indiana State in its MVC opener, improved to 18-11 overall, while
securing the number three seed in the upcoming State Farm MVC Tournament which
starts Thursday (March 12) in St. Charles, Mo.
“I am proud of our effort this week,”
said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. “We had good focus and played with great
effort which is what you want to see from your team down the stretch.”
Drake will play number six seed Northern
Iowa in a quarterfinal game which will start at 8:30 p.m. Friday (March 13).
Freshman guard Amber Wollschlager
(Milbank, S.D./Milbank) scored 13 points to pace a balanced Drake attack.
Dybing, who was one of two seniors
appearing in her final home game, added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Bulldog dominated the
backboards, outrebounding Indiana State, 46-25, while outscoring the Sycamores,
14-4 in second-chance points.
“We rebounded really well today,
especially on the offensive end,” commented Stephens. “We didn't shoot especially
well and when your shots aren't going in, crashing the boards is what you want
to see.”
Drake junior forward Monique' Jones
(Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs held Indiana State to
33.3 percent shooting, including 28 percent in the second half.
Sophomore guard Kristin Turk (Des
Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) collected 10 points off the bench for Drake.
Drake survived a six-minute
40-second stretch without scoring late in the first half to mount a 32-21
halftime lead.
After a three-point basket by
Wollschlalger staked Drake to a 30-14 lead with 9:13 left, the Bulldogs missed
their next nine shots before Dying ended the dry spell with a layup to give
the Bulldogs a 32-21 advantage with 2:32 left in the half.
Drake opened the game up in the
second half, going on a 11-2 run to take a 51-31 lead at 7:19, sparked by four
straight points from Turk.
The Bulldogs shot 36.7 percent on
22-of-60 from the floor and 72.2 percent on 13-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Drake held advantages on scoring in
the paint (24-16), points off turnovers (19-7), fast-break points (6-0) and
bench points (20-12).
