ST. CHARLES, Mo. - A 47-point second half surge and a 26-point, nine-rebound performance from junior Rachael Hackbarth couldn't power the Drake University women's basketball to victory Friday night (March 11) in the quarterfinal round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs fell, 86-77, to Missouri State, ending their season with a 15-15 record.
Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis.) tallied her fourth-straight game with 20 or more points to lead Drake. Senior Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa), playing in her final game as a Bulldog, scored 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including 5-of-12 from three-point distance.
"It's very tough to think this was my last game in a Bulldog uniform," Turk said. "It's been so much fun to play for this team."
Missouri State scored 47 points in the opening half behind 10 points each from Christiana Shorter and Casey Garrison. Hackbarth kept Drake in the game with 15 first-half points, exactly half of Drake's 30-point halftime total.
"They put us back on our heels early," said head coach Amy Stephens. "But we fought in the second half."
After trading baskets for the first five minutes of the second half, Drake embarked on a 14-4 run over the next five minutes, cutting Missouri State's lead to 10 points, 68-58, with 10:02 remaining. The Bulldogs cut the lead to seven at the five-minute mark, but jumpers by Garrison and Lacey Boshe and clutch free throw shooting by the Lady Bears helped Missouri State put the game away.
"We had the ball at seven down, ready to close the gap," Stephens added. "But we couldn't execute."
Junior Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D.) totaled 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Turk, who was honored with first team All-MVC laurels Thursday evening, finished the season with 600 total points in 30 games this season; an average of 20.0 points per game. Turk's stellar season put her at 1,405 career points, 15th on the all-time Drake scoring list. Turk also tied Stephanie Schmitz (1998-2002) for 10th place on the single-season Drake three-pointers list, finishing the year with 63.
"What a phenomenal young woman," Stephens said. "She's the heart and soul of our team. You hope that your younger players take notice and strive to emulate her."
Hackbarth, in addition to leading the Bulldogs with 26 points, became the 22nd Drake performer to score 1,000 or more points in a career. The junior has amassed 1,018 career points in three seasons in Blue and White.
