DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball raced past Western Illinois, 94-75, Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center.
Becca Hittner recorded her second-straight double-double with a season-high 25 points and career-best 12 rebounds.
Sara Rhine added 15 points and six rebounds.
Maddie Monahan matched her career-high of 14 points and filled the stat sheet with eight assists and four steals. Monahan's assists total was one shy of her career-high.
Drake (4-1) won the tip and Rhine scored on the game's first possession, a fade away jumper from the left block, for a 2-0 Drake lead. Western Illinois (3-4) made a three-pointer on its first possession and on the next knocked down a jumper to lead 5-3. It would be its last lead as the Bulldogs later went on a 7-0 closing run for a 25-17 lead after one quarter.
In the second period, Drake hit back-to-back three-pointers by Hittner and Monahan. Monahan's three gave Drake its largest lead of 20 points. The Leathernecks made a late three-pointer before the halftime break, but the Bulldogs held a 49-34 advantage. Hittner paced all scorers with 14 points while
Kierra Collier, Monahan and Rhine each had eight points.
Western pulled within 12 points late in the third before Drake closed on a 6-0 run, the last points on a buzzer-beating layup by Monahan that extended score to 69-51. In the final quarter, Western Illinois cut the lead to nine with 5:31 left in the game. Monahan, Rhine and
Brenni Rose each hit a field goal in a 6-0 spurt that pushed the Bulldogs' lead back to double-digits. Later, another scoring run, this is a 7-0 run, that included five-straight points from freshman
Sarah Beth Gueldner helped Drake cruise to the victory.
Olivia Kaufmann led Western Illinois with 20 points. Muscatine native Annabel Graettinger was the other Leatherneck in double-digits with 10 points.
Following Sunday's home game, Drake heads to Estero, Fla. for the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Bulldogs play Purdue Nov. 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the first of the three scheduled game at the three-day Sunshine State eight-team tournament. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and the Boilermakers.
