Thursday, January 12, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - A strong game from senior Rachael Hackbarth and a career night by sophomore Morgan Reid propelled the Drake University women's basketball team to a 73-59 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Southern Illinois Thursday at the Knapp Center. The win put Drake at 8-7 overall and evened the team's MVC record at 2-2.

Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) tallied 25 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to lead all participants in both categories. The effort was Hackbarth's eighth double-double of the season while her rebound total helped Drake tie a season high with a plus-18 rebounding advantage (48-30).

"We did a great job on the boards tonight," said head coach Amy Stephens. "We didn't give them a lot of second shots."

Reid (Kansas City, Mo./North) totaled a career-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added six rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes of action.

"Morgan Reid had a nice game for us tonight," Stephens added. "She's been a big reason why our defense has improved this season, but we'll continue to ask more of her on the offensive side as well."

The Bulldogs were held scoreless for the first 4:35 of the second half while Southern Illinois put in nine unanswered points to grab a 38-35 lead at the first media time out. The Salukis extended their lead to a game-best six, 44-38, with 13:49 remaining in the game.

From the 13:49 mark onward, Drake outscored Southern Illinois 35-15 behind 12 points by Hackbarth and seven points apiece from Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D./Milbank), Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and Reid. McSparron and Wollschlager finished the game with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

"It was a great win for our team," Stephens said. "I'm proud of the way they came out and protected their home court. Morgan [Reid] and Amber [Wollschlager] were outstanding for us. When we were down in the second half, those two really stepped up."

The Bulldogs parlayed SIU's 17 team fouls into 17 points and outscored the Salukis 17-6 from the free throw line. Drake also turned a nine-rebound advantage on the offensive glass (18-9) into 22 second-chance points.

The Bulldogs host Evansville in a 2:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday.