DES MOINES, Iowa – Stinging from two straight losses on the road, the Drake University women's basketball team bounced back in impressive fashion, beating Northern Iowa 96-78 at the Knapp Center on Tuesday night.
 
The Bulldogs clamped down on the Panthers with outstanding first-half defense, shot 56.3 percent for the game and got a lift from the return of senior guard Maddie Monahan in beating UNI for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings.
 
Grace Berg led the offense with 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Kierra Collier added 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Freshman Courtney Becker made all three of her 3-point shots and finished 5-for-7 overall in scoring a career-high 13 points and senior Mya Mertz gave the Bulldogs a big lift off the bench.
 
With 6-foot-3 Maggie Bair sidelined by an injury, Mertz played 15 valuable minutes in the post. She made all four of her shots in scoring eight points, one short of her career high.
 
Monahan, who had missed the three previous games because of an injury, made her first shot -- a 3-pointer from the left wing -- and finished with eight points while providing a steady presence with her veteran leadership, helping the Bulldogs square their season record at 8-8 and improve to 6-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
Drake's Allie Wooldridge scored the first points of the game on a layup and the Bulldogs never trailed.
 
They raced to an early 11-2 lead, then took control after Megan Maahs scored to draw the Panthers to 20-16 early in the second quarter. Drake rattled off 14 straight points to start a 19-4 run that stretched the lead 39-18. The Bulldogs held UNI without a field goal in the stretch -- a span that covered 6 minutes, 43 seconds.
  
Berg scored six points and Becker knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to key the burst. Drake led 43-24 at halftime after holding UNI to 26.5 percent shooting and forcing 12 turnovers.
  
UNI shot much better in the second half, but the Bulldogs continued to shoot it well and stayed safely ahead. Two 3-pointers from Sarah Beth Gueldner took the lead to 63-42 before a mini-rally drew the Panthers to 67-53 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
  
They got no closer.
  
Collier swished two 3s from the top of the key, Monahan made one from the same spot and Becker hit her final 3 to restore the lead to 21. The Bulldogs led by as many as 25 and cruised from there, a solid recovery after dropping two games at Missouri State last weekend.
  
Cynthia Wolf led the Panthers (8-8, 5-4 MVC) with 18 points, freshman Maya McDermott scored 15 and Maahs had 12. The Panthers shot 44.3 percent for the game and finished 8-for-30 from 3-point range after going 1-for-13 in the first half.
  
The Bulldogs held UNI's leading scorer, Karli Rucker, to two points on 1-for-7 shooting. Rucker came in sixth in the league in scoring (14.5 points) and fifth in field goal percentage (.433).
  
Drake now gets a break before returning to action at Loyola on Feb. 5 and 6.