DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake Bulldogs overpowered the Dubuque Spartans, 98-59, in its lone exhibition contest in front of 1,829 fans at the Knapp Center on Friday night.
Every Bulldog played double-figure minutes and scored at least two points as senior forward Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) scored a game-high 17 points. Junior Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) added 16 points, while three others scored double digits. Senior Mary Pat Specht (Shawnee, Kan.) poured in 10 points off the bench in just 12 minutes of action.
“Offensively you look at the balanced scoring tonight and we got to do a lot of different things on defense,” said head coach Jennie Baranczyk. “I was proud of our team being able to communicate and adjust as we were able to work with many different lineups and combinations tonight.”
As a team, Drake finished at 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from the field, while holding a 53-35 advantage on the boards over Dubuque. The Bulldogs held the Spartans to just 30.8 percent shooting (20-of-65).
In the opening half, Drake shot a blistering 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the floor, including 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from the three-point line, while limiting the Spartans to just 11-of-36 (30.6 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs went into the halftime break with a 47-29 lead as Reid and Clark paced the Bulldogs with 10 and nine points, respectively.
Redshirt junior Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) had 12 points, while knocking down a game-high four three-pointers for Drake. Sophomore Emma Donahue (Naperville, Ill.) added 12 points off the bench and along with Grenfell and Specht helped the Bulldogs' bench outscore the Spartans', 53-12.
“We were good tonight about going inside and then kicking it back outside and vice versa, said Baranczyk. “There were some areas that we need to improve, but overall I was pleased with how tonight went and there were a lot of good things.”
Freshmen Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) and Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) played well in their first action finishing with nine points and seven points, respectively. Ingle dished out four assists and grabbed three rebounds, while Wendell had five boards and blocked two shots.
Drake opens regular season action one week from tonight when former MVC-rival Creighton visits the Knapp Center on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:05 p.m. Call 515-271-DOGS (3647) or visit here to buy tickets.
