A fast start and sharpshooting propelled the Drake University women's basketball team to a 94-54 victory over Indiana State at the Knapp Center on Saturday, the Bulldogs' second straight weekend sweep in Missouri Valley Conference play.
   
Grace Berg led the scoring with 22 points and three teammates joined her in double figures as Drake improved to 5-1 in the Valley and 7-6 overall with its 10th straight victory over the Sycamores.
   
Berg made 9-of-12 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and put together a strong line overall with five assists, three rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Kierra Collier added 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting, Monica Burich hit 6-of-8 shots in scoring a season-high 14 points and Maggie Bair posted her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
   
Burich, who went 5-for-7 from the field, also had an impressive stat line, finishing with seven rebounds, a career-high seven assists, two steals and a block.
   
Drake played without starting guard Maddie Monahan, who was injured late in Friday night's 90-40 victory over the Sycamores. Junior Maggie Negaard made her first career start in Monahan's place and finished with six points on two 3-pointers.
   
The Bulldogs shot 58.5 percent, mainly because they got so many close-in shots, either from sharp passes into the low post or on drives to the basket. Twenty-three of their 38 baskets were layups or putbacks. Drake, which won twice at Evansville last weekend, finished with 27 assists and a 52-22 edge in points in the paint.
   
In Friday night's victory, Drake fell behind early and it was late in the first quarter before the offense got rolling.
   
That wasn't the case in this one.
   
Collier knocked down a corner 3 – she finished 3-for-4 from deep – for the game's first points and the Bulldogs never trailed. They led by 20 points seven minutes into the game and were up 33-13 at the end of the first quarter.
   
A 9-0 run that Berg finished with a free throw, a 3-pointer and a layup off a steal stretched the lead to 48-22. Later, Allie Wooldridge converted a three-point play off a baseline drive and Burich and Collier banked in consecutive layups for a 57-29 halftime lead. The Bulldogs shot 61 percent in the opening half (22-for-36) and knocked down seven 3-pointers.
   
They were even better in the third quarter, making 10-ofo14 shots in building an 80-46 lead. When Sarah Beth Gueldner hit a 3-pointer for a 92-52 lead, it marked the fourth time the Bulldogs hit 90 points this season.
   
Indiana State (4-7, 1-5) shot only 29.4 percent, the seventh straight game Drake has held an opponent below 46 percent. Adrian Folks, Marie Hunter and Jamyra McChristine each scored 12 points for the Sycamores.
   
Drake will return to action next Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22 and 23, at Missouri State. The Bulldogs' next home game is Wednesday, Jan. 27, against UNI.