NORMAL, Ill. – Three players recorded double-doubles for the Drake women's basketball team in a 70-47 win over Illinois State on Sunday (Feb. 8) afternoon at Redbird Arena.
The road win improved Drake's record to 15-7 and 10-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and is the first victory for the Bulldogs in Normal, Ill. since Feb. 1, 2003.
Sophomore Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) scored 14 points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds for her third career double-double and first this season. Sophomore Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) had 10 points and 10 rebounds while senior Cara Lutes (Maple Grove, Minn.) added 10 points and a career-high 10 rebounds off the bench for her first career double-double.
Maddy Dean (Jordan, Minn.) scored a career-high 27 points and just missed finishing with her own double-double as she pulled down nine rebounds.
Illinois State (1-21, 1-10 MVC) was led by Octavia Crump's 14 points while Mary Sims chipped in 10 points.
Drake struggled shooting the ball in the first half at 34.4 percent (11-of-32), but bounced back in the second half at 52 percent (13-of-25) to finish the game at 42.1 percent (24-of-57). Dean and Wendell each made six free throws as the team went 19-of-24 from the charity stripe in the game. Drake matched a season-low with just three three-pointers as Dean connected for all three.
The Bulldogs outrebounded the Redbirds, 53-35, and scored 36 second chance points. Drake held Illinois State to just 25 percent (16-of-64) from the field.
After a slow start to the second half that saw Illinois State pull within five points at 35-30, Drake ripped of a 10-0 scoring run to stretch the lead back to 45-30.
Later the Redbirds cut their deficit to nine points on a three from Sims, but Dean answered with a three to push the Bulldogs' margin back to double figures. Drake closed the contest with a 20-5 scoring run over the final seven minutes to pull away for the win.
The Bulldogs overcame poor shooting in the opening half with a dominant performance on the glass with a 31-18 advantage and in the paint with 18 points. Drake made just one three-pointer in the half while committing nine turnovers, including three in each of its last three possessions. Still the Bulldogs had a 29-18 halftime lead.
Dean paced Drake with 11 first-half points and seven rebounds while Lutes added six points and five rebounds. Wendell scored 10 second-half points to keep her double-figure points streak alive as she is now at 36 straight games with 10 or more points.
Drake returns to the Knapp Center on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. to host UNI in its annual “Hoops 4 Hope” game. The game will be show online on ESPN3.com.
