DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's basketball team gave Allison Pohlman a decisive victory in her 50^th game as the Bulldogs' coach, shaking off a sluggish start to beat Valparaiso 84-51 at the Knapp Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Pohlman, coaching her 50th total game in her second season as the Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach, improved to 31-19 as Drake (11-5, 6-2 Missouri Valley Conference) won for the sixth time in seven games with balanced scoring and some aggressive defense.
 
Sophomore Katie Dinnebier led with 18 points on near-perfect shooting. She went 4-for-5 from the field, sank all nine of her free throws to run her overall streak to 26 straight and grabbed a season-high three steals. The Bulldogs finished with 13 steals in all, matching their season best.
 
Anna Miller, playing aggressively and with confidence, scored 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds. The 6-foot-3 sophomore made 7-of-8 shots, blocked three shots and made two steals in one of her best efforts of the season.
 
Sarah Beth Gueldner regained her touch and went 4-for-5 from 3-point range in scoring 14 points. She had gone just 4-for-27 from distance in the three previous games.
 
Maggie Bair chipped in with eight points, Taylor McAulay had seven points, four steals, three assists and three rebounds and Grace Berg added six points and three assists.
 
The Bulldogs shot 54 percent, outrebounded Valparaiso 37-26 and held the Beacons (3-13, 1-7) to 14 field goals and 29.8 percent shooting.
 
Olivia Brown led Valpo with 16 points and Maya Dunson scored eight.
 
Valparaiso swept the season series with Drake last year and the opened an 11-7 lead in this one as the Bulldogs turned it over five times in the first five minutes. But they straightened out quickly after the first media timeout, finishing the quarter with a 14-3 run to take a 21-14 lead at the break.
 
Dinnebier scored the final six points of the quarter, making four free throws and flipping in a reverse layup on a baseline drive just before the buzzer.
 
An 8-0 run that Gueldner capped with a 3-pointer made it 29-17 and the Bulldogs led 42-31 at halftime when Miller beat the buzzer with a layup. The Bulldogs then put it out of reach by running off the first 11 points of the second half.
 
Berg drove for a basket and followed that with another on the low block, Dinnebier stole the ball and took it in for a layup and Gueldner fed Miller for a layup before splashing a 3 for a 53-31 lead.
 
Another Miller layup and consecutive 3s by Ava Hawthorne and Gueldner made it 76-45 and Taedyn Gray's basket down low gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead, 82-46. Polhman used 11 players in the game and 10 of them scored.
 
Drake improved to 14-2 in the series with Valparaiso and earned its second victory by 30-plus points in Valley play, following a 94-63 victory over Belmont on Jan. 6.
 
Next up for the Bulldogs is a Thursday night game at Southern Illinois (6 p.m. start), the first of three-straight on the road. They won't return to the Knapp Center until hosting Evansville on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.
 
 
TEAM NOTES

• Drake, winning its third straight game, improved its record to 11-5 including a 6-2 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• It marked Drake's second 30-plus MVC victory after beating Belmont, 94-63.
• Drake shot 54% from the field (27-50), improving its record to 6-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the floor this season.
• Drake out rebounded Valparaiso, 37-26, improving to 10-4 when out rebounding opponents this season.
• The Bulldogs have scored at least 80 points in 10 of their 11 victories this season.
• Drake tied a season high with 13 steals, marking the fourth game this season the Bulldogs had collected 10 or more steals.
• Drake, which leads the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game at 33.9, had 28 defensive rebounds.
• Drake's 42-31 halftime lead marked the fifth time Drake has scored 40-plus points in the first half this season
• Drake improved its record to 10-3 when leading at halftime this season

 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Sophomore Katie Dinnebier led Drake with 18 points along with a season-high three steals and two assists.
• Sophomore Anna Miller added 17 points and nine rebounds, while blocking a game-high three shots.
• Saturday's game marked the sixth time this season Miller has blocked three or more shots in a game.
• Dinnebier also made a career-high nine free throws, extending her streak to 26 straight made free throws over the last six games.
• Guard Sarah Beth Gueldner broke out of a shooting slump by making four of five shots beyond the three-point arc to finish with 14 points— more than doubling her total of five points in previous two games combined.
• Gueldner entered the game, making just two of her last 22 three-point attempts over the last three games including an 0-for-5 effort Friday against Illinois-Chicago.

 
THE SERIES

• Drake, snapping a two-game losing streak to Valparaiso, improved its record in the series to 14-2, including a 7-1 mark in games played in Des Moines.