Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - In its second overtime game in the past two weeks, the Drake women's basketball team fell to the UNI Panthers 82-77 at the Knapp Center on Sunday.

Drake drops to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in league play with the setback, while the Panthers improved their ledger to 13-7, including 6-3 in the MVC.

This marks only the second home loss of the season for the Bulldogs, as both home defeats have come at the hands of in-state rivals.

Senior Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis.) scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to earn her 13th double-double of the season, but fouled out with 56 seconds left in regulation.

Freshman Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) added 15 points for the Bulldogs, while Amber Wollschlager (Milbanks, S.D.) scored 10 points and had 4 assists on the afternoon.

Drake shot 47.6 percent (30-63) from the field and 30.8 percent (4-13) from three-point land. UNI connected on 40.3 percent (27-67) of its attempts from the floor and only 24.2 percent (8-33) from beyond the arc. However, the Bulldogs turned the ball over 22 times compared to UNI's 11 and the Panthers took advantage scoring 22 points off those Drake miscues.

"We got outhustled, we made multiple mistakes that gave UNI a lot of opportunities," commented Bulldog head coach Amy Stephens.

Drake fell behind in the first half trailing by six after one period and by 11 early on in the second stanza.

The Bulldogs rallied with a 30-14 run to take a five-point lead, 57-52, with 5:58 remaining in the second half.

Drake took a six-point advantage, 64-58, with 1:09 on the clock thanks to a Wollschlager three, but a three-point play by Rachel Madrigal sent Hackbarth to the bench with her fifth foul and made it a three-point contest.

With six seconds left in the game Madrigal knocked down a trey after K.K. Armstrong hauled down an offensive rebound, to send the game into the extra period.

In overtime, Drake never led as Madrigal scored the first five points for the Panthers, who never looked back.

Madrigal paced all scorers with 26 points for UNI.

Up next for Drake is an affair with the Missouri State Bears on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at the Knapp Center.