DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's basketball team celebrated a return to the Knapp Center with an impressive performance, rolling past Southwest Baptist 96-40 in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon.
Playing at home for the first time in 17 days, the Bulldogs dominated their NCAA Division II opponent with sharp passing that led to numerous layups, accurate long-range shooting, and quick hands defensively.
Drake piled up 54 points in the paint, knocked down 11 of 24 3-point attempts and had assists on 28 of 38 baskets. The Bulldogs also came up with 18 steals and built a 40-25 rebounding advantage over a team coached by former Drake player Kelsey Keizer.
Four Drake players scored in double figures and the decisive victory allowed Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Polhman to substitute freely. Twelve players got into the game and eleven of them scored.
Grace Berg and
Megan Meyer led with 16 points each. Berg made 7-of-8 shots, including a 3-pointer, handed out four assists and made four steals. Meyer went 4-for-6 from 3-point range and contributed six assists. Sara Beth Gueldner also hit 4-of-6 3-point shots in scoring 14 points.
Katie Dinnebier made all six of her shots -- all of them layups -- in scoring 13 points in just 17 minutes of action. She dished out a team-best seven assists and made two steals.
Freshman
Taedyn Gray took advantage of her most extensive playing time of the season to score eight points and grab eight rebounds, sharing the team lead with
Maggie Bair.
Anna Miller also scored eight points, while
Courtney Becker had seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
Kelsey Blakemore led Southwest Baptist, located in Bolivar, Mo., with 11 points.
Dinnebier got the Bulldogs going early, scoring six points and handing out a couple of assists as Drake rocketed to a 22-6 lead. It only grew from there. Dinnebier's driving layup, her pass to Miller for a layup and Meyer's 3 from the left wing made it 38-18 midway through the second quarter and the Bulldogs lead 44-25 at halftime.
Meyer's 3-pointer from the top of the key capped a 12-0 run to start the second half. Later, an 11-0 burst that included a pair of 3s from Gueldner and one by Meyer stretched the lead to 71-29.
Drake opened the fourth quarter with 13 straight points to make it 82-31. The final 56-point margin matched the largest of the game.
"The second half we challenged the team in the locker room to close it out and pay closer attention to details," Suzie Glazer Burt head coach
Allison Pohlman expressed. "I'm really proud of our group today, I think we definitely got better today. Now we get to prepare for next amazing, amazing opportunity on Thursday. Bulldog Nation, come out and watch us at Hilton Coliseum."
The Bulldogs hit the road again for a Thursday night game at No. 14 Iowa State. Drake opens Missouri Valley Conference play at Bradley on Friday Dec. 30 and will finally come back home to face Belmont on Friday, Jan. 6.
