DES MOINES, Iowa – The No. 22/22 Drake University women's basketball team defeated Missouri State, 98-91, in a Missouri Valley Conference shootout on Thursday evening at the Knapp Center. This is the Bulldogs' 18^th straight win as they move one win away from an undefeated MVC regular season record, a feat that has never been accomplished in league history.
 
Drake (24-4, 17-0 MVC) started the first quarter with strong offensive play with a 10-0 run setting up a 12-2 lead over Missouri State (16-12, 12-5 MVC) midway through the first quarter. Drake built a 22-point lead in the second quarter, but Missouri State was able to trim the Bulldogs' halftime lead to 48-38.
 
During the second half, the Bulldogs and Bears continued to battle, each basket from one team being answered with a basket from the opposing team. Through all the scoring, Drake never gave up the lead finally pulling away by making its final eight free throws over the final 58 seconds of play.
 
Freshman Becca Hittner (Urbandale, Iowa) led Drake with a new career-high of 22 points, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point arc. She also tied for a team-high of five rebounds with freshman Brenni Rose (Shawnee, Kan.). Senior Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) was next with 21 points and handed out a game-high eight assists.
 
Joining the duo in double-digit scoring was Rose, who had 16 points (one point off her career high), and sophomore Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) and senior Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) who each scored 11 points. Ingle added eight assists. Sophomore Nicole Miller (Walker, Iowa) followed with ten points, nine of those points coming from three three-pointers made three in a row, at the start of the fourth quarter to help hold off Missouri State.
 
As a team, Drake shot 52.3 percent from the field on 34-of-65 shooting and 46.4 percent from the three-point range on 13-of-28 shooting. The team also benefitted from a total of 28 points from the bench and had 11 steals. The Bulldogs registered a total of 26 assists, 16 of which came within the first two quarters of the game.
 
Liza Fruendt of Missouri State poured in a career-high 46 points in addition to her six rebounds and three assists. Audrey Holt had a game high of ten rebounds in addition to seven points.
 
The Bulldogs will close out their regular season on Saturday against Wichita State at 2 p.m. After the game against the Shockers, Drake will honor its three seniors, Ingle, Cortni Rush (Mason City, Iowa) and Wendell.