GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay rallied for a 69-61 season-opening victory over the Drake University women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center.
Drake (1-1) held a one-point lead at 51-50 over Green Bay (1-0) going into the final quarter. However, the Phoenix scored seven-straight points in the fourth and never relinquished the lead as the Bulldogs shooting went cold in the fourth. Caitlyn Hibner, who scored a game-high 22 points for the Phoenix, had the first five points of the final quarter.
Maddie Monahan paced Drake with 16 points, including 10 in the third quarter, when the Bulldogs erased a 10-point deficit.
Grace Berg and
Kierra Collier added 10 points each while
Monica Burich and
Allie Wooldridge each scored eight. Freshman
Courtney Becker, a Wisconsin native, scored five points and grabbed eight rebounds in her debut.
Overall, Drake shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the floor, including making just 6-of-38 (15.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs made just three field goals, including one three-pointer, in the fourth quarter as they trailed to rally.
In the first quarter, Wooldridge provided a spark off the bench with five-straight points as Green Bay held a slim lead, 10-9 at the first media timeout. The opening quarter went back-and-forth with the Phoenix holding a 2-point lead, 17-15, after one.
Six-straight points by the Bulldogs started the second quarter as they led 21-17 after Monahan scored a transition layup. Drake led by seven before Green Bay came back to lead 34-31 at halftime as Lyndsay Robson made a three-pointer with 54 seconds left.
Green Bay started the third quarter with a 7-0 scoring run before Becker stopped the run with her first career points. Later down by nine, Monahan knocked down a three to cut the deficit to six and start a 12-0 run that ended with a layup by the senior. However, Hibner scored just before the end of the quarter and the Bulldogs' offense cooled as they didn't score again until Burich's free throw at the 7:34 mark in the fourth. Berg's layup with 5:12 to go was the team's first field goal in the quarter.
Drake's bench outscored Green Bay's 17-8 and the Bulldogs outrebounded the Phoenix, 40-31.
Drake makes its home debut at the Knapp Center Wednesday night at 6 p.m. when Iowa visits. The game will be broadcast locally on Mediacom MC 22 and nationally on ESPN+.
