DES MOINES, IOWA -- The Drake women's basketball team dug itself in a hole early and could never recover en route to dropping a  59-46 Missouri Valley Conference decision to Northern Iowa before 3,126 fans Friday night at the Drake Knapp Center.

Drake had a seven-game home court winning streak snapped.

Owning a 12-5 lead, Drake saw Northern Iowa use a 23-5 run to close out the first half.

Drake made just one basket, while committing eight turnovers  in an 11 minute 55-second stretch.

Senior forward Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo.) ended the drought with a layup with 1:09 left in the first half.

"We turned the ball over which resulted in easy baskets and got them going," said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. "

The Bulldogs shot 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half, making seven of 26 shots.

Drake finished the game hitting a season-low 32 percent.

The Panthers scored 22 points off Drake turnovers.

"We hit a lull and didn't take care of the ball," said Drake senior guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo.)

Senior Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo.) led Drake with 11 points and six rebounds, while collecting four steals.

Drake reeled off nine straight points to grab a 9-2 lead. After freshman Kayla Pearson (O'Fallon, Mo.) made a free throw to give the Bulldogs a 12-5 advantage, UNI responded with a 9-0 run that ignited the strong finish to the first half.

Drake used an 8-0 spurt early in the second half to pull within 31-26 following a free throw by Plummer with 15:54 remaining in the game.

Plummer, Drake's leading scorer with a 16.3 average, had nine points, making three of 11 shots from the floor before fouling out with 7 minutes 39 seconds.

"Plummer is a great player who brings great experience," said Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren. "We really tried to force her to go right and make her feel uncomfortable. We didn't allow her to get into a rhythm which was huge for us."

Drake junior guard Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa), who had missed the last four games recovering from a sprained ankle, played nine minutes and scored three points.

Drake, which fell to 11-6 overall, including a 4-3 league mark, will host Bradley at 2 pm. Saturday.

"We got ourselves into this situation and the good news is, we can get ourselves out of it," Stephens added. "Our confidence is rattled a little bit. Our team needs to get its tenacity back."

"This is tough," said Jones. "This is our home court. We still have another game on Sunday and we have to get better."