DES MOINES, Iowa – A 14-0 scoring run to start the third quarter helped the Drake University women's basketball defeat the Indiana State Sycamores, 80-55, on Friday night at the Knapp Center in front of 2,153 fans.
Drake (11-5, 4-1 MVC) rebounded from poor shooting (34.4 percent) in the first two quarters to shoot 54.8 percent in the final two while making six three-pointers and a perfect 11-of-11 free throws. For the game, the Bulldogs totaled a 44.4 (28-of-63) percent shooting mark from the field, 36.4 (8-of-22) percent from 3-point range and a stellar 88.9 (16-of-18) percent total from the free throw line.
Drake was lead in scoring by junior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo) who tallied a game-high 20 points along with pulling down 10 rebounds, handing out six assists and nabbing two steals. Sophomore
Maddy Dean (Jordan, Minn.) added 14 points and was followed by freshman
Nicole Miller (Walker, Iowa) and junior
Cortni Rush (Mason City, Iowa) with 11 points each. Rush's point total is a season-high, which included shooting 3-of-5 from three-point range and hitting 4-of-6 field goals.
Indiana State (6-9, 2-2 MVC) was led by Rhagen Smith and Cierra Ceazer who totaled 12 and 10 points, respectively. Kelsey Dirks added 10 rebounds for the Sycamores who after making 42.3 percent of their shots in the first two quarters ended the night at just 32.8 percent from the floor.
Drake, who led just 29-27 at halftime, ripped off 14 unanswered points out of halftime and total 33 points in the entire quarter as the Bulldogs recorded more points in third then both the first and second periods combined. Later Drake would lead by as many as 24 points as the Bulldogs cruised to their fourth straight win.
"After halftime I think everyone on the team knew we needed to regroup and come out with a lot of energy," said Wendell. "We wanted to push the tempo and get back to our style of play."
Wendell opened the game with a deep three to give Drake an early 3-0 lead. However, the Bulldogs missed their next eight shots with several attempts rolling out of the rim. Indiana State capitalized on Drake's tough luck as the Sycamores led by as many as seven points. The Bulldogs battled back to claim a 29-27 halftime lead after making five of their final six shots.
Drake will close the weekend on Sunday, Jan. 17 at the Knapp Center against Illinois State. The contest will begin at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on
The Valley on ESPN3.
