DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team rallied past Valparaiso, 71-66, in overtime Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale at the Knapp Center.
Drake (15-10, 13-5 MVC) erased a five-point deficit with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force its first overtime game this season.
Sarah Beth Gueldner drilled her third three-pointer with 39 seconds left and after a Valpo (11-12, 7-9 MVC) turnover,
Maggie Bair made the game-tying layup with six seconds in regulation. After forcing a Valpo miss, Drake had two chances with less than one second but came up short as the game went to overtime.
Bair won the tip at the start of overtime for the Bulldogs, then made one of two free throws, for a brief lead before Carrie White made Valpo's only field goal in overtime to lead 64-63. Drake quickly took the lead back for good as
Kierra Collier converted a layup and
Maddie Monahan made two free throws. White made two free throws for Valpo's final points that pulled them within one. But Collier made another layup and
Grace Berg made one too. The Bulldogs forced two more turnovers as their defense limited Valpo to just 1-of-7 from the field in overtime.
Bair recorded her third-straight double-double with a career-high 17 points and career-best 15 rebounds. Monahan drilled five three-pointers and also had 17 points. Rounding out the double-figure scorers were Berg (11) and Gueldner (10) points. Berg equaled her career-best in assists with six.
Drake overcame a season-high 26 turnovers that led to 25 Valpo points. The Bulldogs shoot 51.9 percent from the floor and helped nullify a 9-of-18 performance from the free throw line.
Drake rallied from a five-point halftime deficit, 30-25, to tie the game at 45-45 at the end of the third quarter. The Bulldogs built a six-point lead early in the fourth before Valpo responded with a 15-1 run to take a 60-55 lead before Monahan's jumper stopped it.
The win was the 900th in program history as Drake is the 36th Division I team to reach 900 victories.
Drake secured the No. 2 seed for next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in Moline, Ill. The Bulldogs will play Friday, March 12 at 5 p.m. against the winner of the No. 7 and No. 10 game Thursday night at the TaxSlayer Center.
