DES MOINES, IOWA -- The Drake University women's basketball team reached season highs across the board in rolling past Longwood 104-82 at the Knapp Center on Friday night, the Bulldogs' fourth straight victory.
 
Maggie Bair led five players in double figures with 22 points, her best of the season, and Megan Meyer followed with a career-high 19 that included 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Grace Berg scored 16 points, while freshmen Anna Miller and Katie Dinnebier each had 10.
 
It's the first time this season that five players have scored in double figures and the 104 points were the most by the Bulldogs (5-2) since they beat Evansville 108-44 on Jan. 19, 2020. Drake reached season highs in field goals (40), rebounds (49) and assists (29). In all, 13 players got into the game and 11 scored.
 
The Bulldogs outrebounded Longwood by 22 and piled up margins of 62-32 in points in the paint and 26-9 in second-chance points. Bair and Miller led with nine rebounds each, Miller hitting a season high and Bair matching her season best. Dinnebier matched her season high with eight assists and came up with a season-best four steals.
 
Drake shot 73.3 percent (11-for-15) in both the first and fourth quarters and wound up at 56.3 percent for the game, which went back-and-forth for a half before the Bulldogs broke it open in the third quarter.
 
The Bulldogs made their first seven shots but couldn't get away from the Lancers (3-4) because they also were shooting it well. Longwood led 25-20 late in the first quarter before a 10-4 run lifted Drake into a 30-29 lead at the break.
 
Longwood regained the lead early in the second quarter, but 3s by Meyer and Sarah Beth Gueldner keyed a 10-0 run that put the Bulldogs ahead to stay at 45-37. The Lancers kept at it, though, and drew to 49-48 late in the second quarter. They got no closer.
 
Four straight points put Drake up 53-48 at the half -- the most the Bulldogs have scored in the opening half this season -- and they pulled away steadily through the second half. They outscored Longwood 26-11 in the third quarter and led by as many as 29 down the stretch.
 
Longwood, in the midst of a six-game road trip that will take them to Iowa State on Sunday, kept pace early by making 12 of 18 shots in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs tightened up defensively and limited the Lancers to 22-for-52 shooting over the final three quarters.
 
Akila Smith led Longwood with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Next up for the Bulldogs is a Tuesday, Dec. 7 game against Simpson at the Knapp Center, starting at 6 p.m.



TEAM NOTES

• Drake, winning its fourth straight game, improved to 5-2 entering a Tuesday home game with Simpson College.
• The Bulldogs set season highs in scoring (104), field goals made (40), rebounds (48) and assists (29).
• Drake's 30 points in the first quarter were a season high.
• This marked the first game Drake had five players score in double figures.
• The last time Drake scored 100 points in a game was in a 100-91 WNIT victory past DePaul March 20, 2021
• It also was the most points since a 108-44 Missouri Valley Conference home win against Evansville Jan. 19, 2020

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Maggie Bair scored a season-high  11 points
• Megan Meyer drilled a career-high five three-point baskets en route to a career-high 19 points.
• Katie Dinnebier had a career-high four steals, while matching a career high with eight assists.
• Anna Miller grabbed a career-high nine rebounds

 
THE SERIES

•  This was the first meeting between the schools.