ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Drake University women's basketball team closed the 2020-21 season with a 78-68 win over Bowling Green Monday in the WNIT Rockford, Ill. Regional Consolation Championship game.
Drake (18-12) and Bowling Green (21-8) played for the first-ever time.
Monica Burich and
Mya Mertz each concluded their great careers. Burich scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out two assists while Mertz checked in late in the win.
The Bulldogs were led by
Grace Berg, who recorded her second career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Maggie Bair nearly recorded a triple-double with 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-tying six blocks.
Maddie Monahan added 10 points and six assists.
Sarah Beth Gueldner scored eight points and nabbed a career-high five steals.
Drake won the opening tip and Monahan scored the first points with a driving layup. Each team had big runs in the first quarter but Drake led 23-19 after one quarter. Seven Bulldogs scored as Bair and Berg each scored five early points.
After the Falcons briefly led early in the second quarter, Drake closed the half strong with a 6-0 run to lead 40-33 at halftime, holding Bowling Green scoreless for nearly the final three minutes. The Bulldogs didn't commit a turnover in the second quarter and nine players scored led by Berg's game-high 11 points.
Allie Wooldridge scored the first points of the second half with her second three-pointer and later Drake extended its lead to 11 points. But, Bowling Green used a 6-0 run to only trail by five, 50-45, at the media timeout. The Bulldogs countered with their own run to lead by eight after three quarters.
The momentum carried into the fourth as a 6-0 run, capped be a three-pointer by
Courtney Becker, gave Drake its largest lead of the game at 13 points (66-53) with 6:09 left. The Bulldogs never let up as they pulled out to the win to end 2020-21 on a high note.
Bair's six blocks gave her 45 on the season, the ninth most blocks in a single season by a Bulldog. Monahan has 450 career assists, which ranks seventh all-time at Drake, as she will return for the 2021-22 season.
