Thursday, December 22, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa - Senior Rachael Hackbarth scored 17 second-half points to lead the Drake University women's basketball team past Loyola, 65-50, Thursday night at the Knapp Center. The win put Drake at 6-5 and gave the Bulldogs their fifth win this month.

Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led Drake with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She added 12 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

"She really helped us get our lead to 12, 14, 15," said head coach Amy Stephens. "She played great in the second half."

Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) totaled a season-high 16 points. Freshman Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo./Webb City) added 12 and hit 3-of-5 from three-point range.

As a team, the Bulldogs held Loyola to just 32.2-percent shooting.

"That was a great defensive effort by our team," Stephens said. "It was a huge key for us to hold them to just 50 points."

The Bulldogs totaled 17 assists, led by Hackbarth's five - tying a career-high. Drake outrebounded the Ramblers by 16, 47-31, to improve its Missouri Valley Conference-best rebound differential to plus-4.8.

Drake never trailed but allowed Loyola to pull within two, 23-21, after the Ramblers executed a 12-3 run beginning at the 10:55 mark of the first half. A three-pointer by Clark served as Drake's only points during the run.

"I wasn't happy with our first half performance," Stephens added. "It took us until the second half to really start executing our game plan."

The win gave Drake a 6-5 non-conference record for the season and propelled the Bulldogs into the conference season on a high note.

Drake opens MVC play Dec. 31 at Creighton. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena.