DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team closes its two-game homestand Sunday evening when it hosts Southern Illinois. Tipoff at the Knapp Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast online via
The Valley on ESPN3.
Drake defeated Evansville, 82-65, Friday evening in the Knapp Center in the team's Missouri Valley Conference home opener. The Bulldogs improved to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the MVC with the comeback win.
Senior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) led Drake with a game-high of 23 points. It is the 63
rd time in her career Wendell has scored 20 or more points in a game.
Redshirt sophomore
Becca Jonas (Independence, Mo.) and freshman
Becca Hittner (Urbandale, Iowa) each pulled down a game-high of eight rebounds. Freshman
Mya Mertz (Overland Park, Kan.) recorded a new career-high with nine points. Sophomore
Nicole Miller (Walker, Iowa) joined Mertz off the bench and finished with 10 points. The Bulldogs' bench was a big spark for the team scoring 32 points.
Drake and Evansville traded 13 lead changes and had six ties. The Bulldogs led at the half, 34-33, but lost the lead at the beginning of the third quarter as the Purple Aces rallied to stake a six-point lead midway through the period.
The Bulldogs gained the lead back in the fourth quarter. After Wendell tied the contest at 57-all late in the third quarter with a three-point play, Drake ripped off eight-straight points to start the fourth quarter. The run featured six points from Miller and was capped by a layup made by junior
Paige Greiner (Williamsburg, Iowa) in the deciding run that ultimately helped pull out the comeback win.
Southern Illinois (7-7, 1-2 MVC) dropped its road game at UNI Friday night by a score of 79-49. The Salukis trailed by just six points at halftime, but a big third-quarter propelled the Panthers to the win. Senior Rishonda Napier is SIU's leading scorer at 12.6 points per game and ranks second in the conference in assists at 4.6. Drake and SIU split the two games last season with the road team winning each game.
Drake returns to the road on Jan. 13 at Bradley with a 7 p.m. tipoff in Peoria, Ill. The contest will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3 and on the radio on ESPN Des Moines 1350-AM.
