SPRINGFIELD,
Mo. -
The Drake women's basketball team fell to Missouri State, 80-77, in a wild
finish Saturday afternoon at John Q. Hammons Arena. Kyndal Clark (Webb
City, Mo.) scored a career-high 26 points and the Bulldogs connected on a
season-high 11 three-pointers.
Mary
Pat Specht
(Shawnee, Kan.), making her second career start, scored a career-high 18 points
behind a career-best five three-pointers. Stephanie Running (Oak Creek,
Wis.) had 12 points off the bench for Drake (5-11, 0-5 MVC).
Missouri
State (9-7, 1-3 MVC) led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but ended
up having to rally from a six-point deficit for its first conference win of the
season. Whitney Edie led the Lady Bears with a 25-points and 10-rebound
double-double.
"Anytime
you go on someone else's floor its tough and this place especially," Drake head
coach Jennie Baranczyk said. "The
last time Missouri State lost her was the first game of the year to Oklahoma
State, who is a top-25 program. Credit Missouri State's players, who stepped up
and had some nice performances today."
Playing
just 71 miles from her hometown of Webb City, Mo., Clark made two free throws
to put Drake ahead, 77-76, with 30 seconds left in the contest. On Missouri
State's next possession, Edie was fouled and the senior missed both free
throws, but MSU's Bry Snow rebounded the miss and her putback put MSU ahead,
78-77, with 13 seconds to play.
Running,
who finished 5-of-6 from the floor, had a jumper that missed its mark on
Drake's next possession. Edie rebounded the ball and was immediately fouled by
Clark. Edie made both free throws this time to give Missouri State an 80-77
lead with 4.6 seconds left in the game. The Bulldogs had one last chance as
Clark drove the length of the floor but her three-point attempt was blocked by
Kenzie Williams who tightly contested the shot at the buzzer.
MSU
rallied back after Morgan Reid's (Kansas City, Mo.) jumper with 3:06
remaining gave Drake its largest lead of the game, 75-69. A 7-0 run by the Lady
Bears capped by Snow's jumper gave the Lady Bears the lead at 76-75 with 46
seconds left in the contest.
"Major
credit to Mary Pat Specht today who stepped up with some big three pointers and
those three free throws she made when she was fouled on another attempt,"
Baranczyk said. "She did a great job on the defensive end as well. Another game
changer was Kyndal Clark, who stepped in and played some very valuable minutes.
Credit Stephanie Running, who came off the bench today and was nearly perfect. I
know she wishes she had that last attempt at the end back but it was a tough
look."
The
game featured 14 lead changes and five ties. The Bulldogs were 27-of-59 (46
percent) from the floor and 11-of-20 (55 percent) from behind the arc.
Drake
travels to Wichita State Monday, Jan. 21 for its next contest. Tipoff is set
for 7:05 p.m. at Charles Koch Arena.