Saturday, January 14, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake University women's basketball team dropped Evansville, 67-53, in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup Saturday at the Knapp Center. The win put Drake at 9-7 overall, including 3-2 in the MVC.
Senior Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led all scorers with 21 points and tied a game-high with 14 rebounds to pace Drake. Redshirt junior Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) tallied 12 points for her third-straight game in double-figures. The effort put McSparron's scoring average at 9.5 points per game - good for second on the team behind Hackbarth.
Sophomore Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo./North) tallied nine points and nine rebounds to end an impressive weekend on the floor. Reid tallied 15 points and six rebounds against Southern Illinois Thursday night."
"What a great effort by Morgan Reid," said head coach Amy Stephens. "She had a great weekend of basketball. I'm really proud of her performance."
Evansville used a 12-2 run to capture a 14-7 lead midway through the first half. The Aces extended their lead to a game-high 11 points, 24-13, over the next five minutes.
"We got down early in the first few minutes because our shots weren't falling," Stephens said. "Missed shots led to poor defense, which led to the 11-point deficit."
Beginning at the 6:22 mark of the first half, Drake embarked on a game-defining 24-4 run that spanned more than nine minutes over both halves and left the Bulldogs with a seven-point, 37-30 lead with 16:12 left in the game.
Drake expanded the run to 35-10 to grab a 48-34 lead with 12 minutes remaining and held its advantage to claim the 67-53 victory.
"It's tough to come out of an 11-point hole," Stephens added. "I'm proud of the team's resiliency."
Freshman Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo./Webb City) scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting to log her first double-figure scoring effort since she totaled 16 at Creighton.
"It was great to see Kyndal [Clark] knock down a three," Stephens added. "She didn't settle for bad shots. I thought she was terrific today."
The Bulldogs finished 16-of-23 from the free throw line compared to Evansville's 3-of-7 mark. Drake totaled just 12 turnovers - the team's fewest since also totaling 12 against North Dakota State on Dec. 8.
Drake heads to Normal, Ill. to take on Illinois State Friday at 7:05 p.m.
