MOLINE, Ill. – The top-seeded Drake University women's basketball team rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Wichita State, 86-68, on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at iWireless Center.
No. 19/20 Drake (27-4) outscored Wichita State (15-16), 59-35, in the final two quarters to advance to the MVC Championship game for the 12
th time and make its first appearance since 2014. Drake will play either No. 2 UNI or No. 6 Evansville on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the tournament title. The winner of the championship game earns the Valley's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Senior
Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) recorded her 16
th career points/assists double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 assists. Ingle's big game made her Drake's all-time assists leader with 772 career dimes. She moved past Connie Newlin (1978-82), who had 767.
Senior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.), the 2017 Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year, poured in a season-high 34 points, including 23 second-half points, to lead all scorers. Wendell's great performance moved her to third all-time at Drake in career points with 2,521.
Sophomore
Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) added 14 points with 12 coming after halftime. Freshman
Becca Hittner (Urbandale, Iowa) scored 11 points. Hittner and Wendell each pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while Bachrodt chipped in four assists.
Drake, who trailed 33-27 at halftime and shot just 30.4 percent from the floor in the first half, including not making a single three-pointer (0-of-7) in the half for the first time all season, slowly chipped away at Wichita State.
The team traded baskets in the first six minutes before a pair of and-ones by Wendell and Hittner fueled the Bulldogs to a 22-7 scoring run to close the quarter as Drake held a 64-52 lead going into the final quarter. Bachrodt and Wendell scored 11 and eight points, respectively, in the run to help Drake rally from its largest halftime deficit to a Valley opponent this year. It was the largest halftime deficit since the Green Bay game on Dec. 3.
The Bulldogs are seeking to win their sixth MVC Tournament title and first since 2007 on Sunday. Drake owns a 41-23 all-time record at the MVC Tournament and is 5-6 all-time in MVC title games.
Sunday's championship will be broadcast online on The Valley on ESPN3 and on the radio at 1350 ESPN Des Moines.
