DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's basketball team could not hold on in a wild finish and Northern Iowa escaped with a 70-69 victory at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night, knocking the Bulldogs out of a tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
UNI's Maya McDermott dropped in a runner with 4 seconds left to give the Panthers their first victory in Des Moines since Jan. 24, 2016, ending Drake's five-game winning streak in the series. The Bulldogs got a timeout with eight-tenths of a second remaining and inbounded the ball to Katie Dinnebier, but Grace Boffeli blocked her shot at the buzzer.
 
Poor shooting dogged the Bulldogs (8-5, 3-2) from the start, but they managed to take a 57-50 lead into the final quarter because of sharp free throw shooting. But the Panthers (9-5, 4-1) clawed back and made two big shots at the end to win it as the lead changed hands four times in the last 22 seconds.
 
Dinnebier, Grace Berg and Taylor McAulay each scored 12 points for Drake, with Berg topping 1,000 points for her Bulldog career. She entered the game with 999 and became the 35^th Drake player to top 1,000 when she buried a 3-pointer at the 6:19 mark in the first quarter. Berg also led the Bulldogs with nine rebounds.
 
Sara Beth Gueldner added 11 points, while Maggie Bair, in foul trouble most the game, tacked on 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Courtney Becker grabbed eight rebounds to tie a season high, while Gueldner pulled six boards to match her career high.
 
Drake outrebounded UNI 53-36 in the physical game – 39 fouls were called – but shot just 35.3 percent, went 5-for-27 from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers. The Bulldogs compensated somewhat by draining 16-of-18 free throws, blocking nine shots, and coming up with eight steals. But it wasn't quite enough.
 
McDermott, held to three points in the first half, led the Panthers with 19 points and six assists. Boffeli had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Taryn Wharton scored 10 for the Panthers, who missed nine straight shots during one stretch early in the game and sank just 11-of-23 free throws but made the plays when they counted.
 
Drake led 63-57 when Bair cashed in on a layup after a sweet pass from Becker with 4:08 left, then went scoreless for almost 3 minutes. The Panthers took advantage by rattling off nine straight points, taking a 66-63 lead on Kayba Laube's 3-pointer with 1:20 to play.
 
Dinnebier drove for a bucket seven seconds later and Bair scored on a baseline drive for a 67-66 Drake lead with 22 seconds remaining. McDermott answered with a driving layup and Gueldner hit a 12-footer after Bair saved the ball from going out of bounds, putting the Bulldogs back on top, 69-68, with just 4 seconds left.
 
That proved to be just enough time for McDermott and the Panthers, who beat Drake for only the second time in the last 16 meetings. A timeout allowed them to advance the ball, the inbounds pass went to McDermott and the 5-foot-6 junior from Johnston hit the game winner. McDermott had made another big shot 2 minutes earlier, swishing a 3 from the top of the key to tie it at 63.
 
Neither team could make so much as a layup early. At the first media timeout, Drake led 5-4. The Bulldogs then began finding the range and hit six of their final 10 shots in the first quarter to build an 18-9 lead.
 
The Bulldogs stayed in front throughout the second quarter, led 35-30 at halftime and went up 38-30 when McAulay buried a 3 from the left corner at the start of the third quarter. McDermott then scored seven straight points to start a 9-0 UNI run and the Panthers got the lead up to 44-40, which would be their biggest of the game.
 
Drake responded with a 15-3 run that included 10-for-12 free throw shooting for a 55-47 lead with less than a minute left in the quarter. The Bulldogs held the lead until McDermott's tying 3 with 2:03 left.
 
"I felt really good going into the last five minutes of the game, then things just fell apart." Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman explained after the loss. "They threw their buzz defense at us, and I probably made a couple coaching errors that cost us. Unfortunately, they have great players, Maya McDermott made a big shot with a couple seconds left and we just came out on the wrong end of this one."
 
"We have a short turnaround until we play again on Saturday," Pohlman continued, "So we have to get fueled up and ready to go in Terre Haute (Ind.) this weekend."
 
The loss ended a three-game homestand for the Bulldogs, who return to action at Indiana State at noon on Saturday, Jan. 14.
 
 
TEAM NOTES

• Drake, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, falls to 8-5 including a 3-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Drake is 5-2 at home this season.
• The Bulldogs had a five-game straight Missouri Valley Conference home game winning streak dating back to last season, halted.
• This marked the second time in the last three games, Drake had five players score in double figures after accomplishing the feat last Friday against Belmont.
• Drake had nine blocked shots - second most in a game this season.
• Drake out rebounded UNI, 53-36, owning a 16-9 advantage in offensive rebounds.
• Drake is 0-1 in Wednesday games this season.

 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Grace Berg, Taylor McAulay, Katie Dinnebier led a balanced scoring attack with 12 points apiece.
• Sara Beth Gueldner and Maggie Bair scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. 
• Berg became the 35th player in Drake school history to join the 1,000-point career scoring list pushing her career totals to 1,011 points.
• Berg led Drake with nine rebounds.
• Courtney Becker tied a season-high eight rebounds, while Bair and Anna Miller had seven rebounds apiece.
• Sara Beth Gueldner tied a career-high six rebounds.
• Bair and Miller blocked three shots apiece. It marked the fifth time this season Miller has blocked three or more shots this season and it marked the third time this season Bair has blocked three or more shots in a game
• Katie Dinnebier tied a season high with two steals.

 
THE SERIES

• Drake, which had a five-game winning streak snapped against UNI, leads the series, 70-26.
• Drake had an eight-game home winning streak against UNI halted, while the Panthers earned their first victory at the Knapp Center since 2016.