CANCUN, Mexico -
The Drake University women's basketball team dropped its second and final
contest at the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge, Friday, falling 70-60 to Hofstra.
The loss put Drake at 1-4 on the season.
Hofstra (4-1) took control of the contest with a 21-7 run
midway through the second half. The run, powered by nine points from guard Nicole
Capurso, lasted seven minutes and left the Bulldogs in a 19-point hole (59-40)
with eight minutes left in the game.
Drake rallied to outscore the Pride 20-11 over the game's
final eight minutes and cut its deficit to five (65-60) with a minute to go,
but couldn't finish with a win.
"I'm proud of our players," Head coach Amy Stephens said.
"To be down 19 and cut it to five like that is encouraging."
Drake opened the game with five early points from senior
Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and took a quick 9-5 lead
after three minutes. The Bulldogs fell into a nine-minute scoring drought from
there, surrendering 14 unanswered points to the Pride and falling behind 19-9
with 7:17 left.
From there, both teams went on a scoring barrage to end
the first half, totaling 32 points in the final seven minutes to put the score
at 33-27 at intermission.
"We started well," Stephens said. "We broke their press
and got to the basket. We took good shots, they just didn't go in."
Redshirt freshman Carly Grenfell (York, Neb./York) led
Drake with a career-high 14 points. Hackbarth totaled 12 points and eight rebounds,
snapping a season-long double-double streak. Junior Stephanie Running (Oak
Creek, Wis./Oak Creek) totaled 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting while freshman
Symone Daniels (Memphis, Tenn./St. Benedict at Auburndale) notched a
career-high six points and four rebounds.
"Symone was a bright spot this week," Stephens said. "I
like the hustle she showed."
The Bulldogs shot just 30.6-percent (11-of-36) from the
floor in the second half, but managed to outshoot Hofstra 34.9-percent to
33.8-percent. A plus-10 turnover differential (26-16) in favor of Hofstra was a
deciding factor.
"We've got to get the lid off the basket," Stephens said.
"We've got to make more shots and take care of the basketball. We'll get there."
The Bulldogs will remain in Cancun until Sunday and
return home to face North Dakota in a 7:05 p.m. matchup on Thursday.
