DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's basketball team followed up a New Year's Day rout at Bradley with an even more impressive performance, rolling past Missouri Valley Conference newcomer Belmont 94-63 at the Knapp Center on Friday night.
 
Sarah Beth Gueldner's career-high 23 points, buoyed by a career-best seven three-pointers, led the Bulldogs as they swept past a team that has played in the last six NCAA tournaments. It was the most points anyone has scored this season on Belmont, which has faced the likes of power-conference opponents Iowa, Louisville, Georgia and Villanova.
 
Courtney Becker also delivered a career-best effort, knocking down 7-of-8 shots in scoring 16 points. She added to her stat line with three steals and eight rebounds as the Bulldogs (7-4, 2-1) built an overwhelming 55-25 edge on the boards.
 
The Bulldogs grabbed 18 of those rebounds on the offensive end, helping them outscore the Bruins 27-0 in second-chance points.
 
Grace Berg led with nine rebounds and scored 15 points to go with three assists and two steals. Anna Miller added 11 points, five rebounds and five blocks, while Taylor McAulay contributed 10 points and seven rebounds. McAulay was moved into the starting lineup after Megan Meyer was lost for the season with knee injury.
 
Katie Dinnebier handed out a team-leading eight assists – matching her career high -- to go with six points and numerous hustle plays. The Bulldogs, who are second nationally in assists, finished with assists on 29 of their 35 baskets. The 29 assists are a season high.
Destinee Wells, the MVC Preseason Player of the Year, led Belmont (6-8, 2-1), which had won three-straight, with 14 points. The Bulldogs held her to one basket after she torched them for 12 points in the first quarter. Kilyn McGuff added 13 points for the Bruins, who had dominated the Ohio Valley Conference and were selected as the 2022-23 preseason favorites in the MVC.
 
Belmont made 10-of-14 shots in taking a 25-23 lead after a frenetic opening quarter in which the lead changed hands eight times. The Bulldogs tightened their defense after that and held the Bruins to 6-for-30 shooting in the middle two quarters while taking control of the game.
 
Belmont stretched its lead to 28-23 early in the second quarter and then the Bulldogs struck, rattling off 10 straight points to go up 33-28, Dinnebier capping the run with a breakaway layup. Drake never trailed again.
 
Gueldner buried two straight 3s at the end of the quarter for a 45-33 halftime lead. As it turned out, the Bulldogs were just getting warmed up.
Maggie Bair fed Berg for a layup to start the second half and Berg returned the favor 27 seconds later. That launched a 19-2 run that Drake finished with 15 straight points to open a 63-36 lead. Five different players scored during that run, Becker capping it with two straight buckets inside.
 
Dinnebier fed Bair for a corner 3 that put Drake up 71-42 heading into the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs went on to lead by as many as 38 – 90-52 on Gueldner's final 3 of the night. Bair finished with seven points, seven rebounds and a season-high four assists.
 
All 11 Drake players got into the game and nine scored.
 
"It was fun…it was electric in [the Knapp Center]…this game is so much fun," Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman said after the victory. "If you were in our huddle tonight you saw some very, very focused women. They were 100% dialed in. We knew it was going to be a battle, this is a very good Belmont team. For us to chip away and grow our lead and our confidence, in every statistical category, our team was ready to go tonight."
 
Drake will be back in the Knapp Center on Sunday, Jan. 8 to conclude Des Moines' Hometown Team Weekend. The Bulldogs will host Murray State, another MVC newcomer in the two teams' first-ever meeting.
 
TEAM NOTES
• Drake improved its record to 7-4, including a 2-1 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The Bulldogs won their fourth straight Missouri Valley Conference home game dating back to last season.
• Drake recorded season highs in three-point baskets (14), offensive rebounds (36) assists (29) and steals (10).
• This was Drake's widest margin of victory in an MVC game since being Illinois State, 104-62, Feb. 25, 2022, in Des Moines.
• Drake improved to 8-1 when scoring 80 or more points this season
• It marked the seventh time this season Drake had recorded 20-plus assists in a game.
• The 94 points were the most Belmont allowed an opponent this season, bettering 87 points scored by Troy on Dec. 20. 
• The 45 points scored by Drake in the first half, were the second most points scored by a Belmont opponent this year, trailing only 53 scored by then No. 23 ranked Villanova Nov. 25
• After missing eight of its previous nine shots, to fall behind, 28-23 Drake made four of its next five shots to grab a 33-28 lead following a basket by Katie Dinneibier, 
• The Bulldogs closed out the first hall with a 12-2 run to turn a 33-31 lead into a 45-33 advantage with Sarah Beth Guilderscored the last six points on back-to-back treys.
• Owning a 33-31 lead with 3:07 left in the second quarter, Drake went on a 31-5 run during the next 10 minutes nine seconds to enjoy a 63-36 lead following a basket by Courtney Becker with 2:58 left
   in the third quarter.
• Drake also is 1-2 in Friday games this season.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
• Senior guard Sara Beth Gueldner scored a career-high 23 points, including 12 in the first half, to lead Drake. Gueldner's previous career high was 21 against Southern Illinois Feb. 12, 2021.
• Gueldner also made a career-high seven three-point baskets, bettering her previous best of six against DePaul March 20, 2021.
• Guildner surpassed her combined total of four three-point baskets made in her previous three games.
• Junior forward Courtney Becker collected a career-high 16 points, including 12 in the second half.  Becker also tied a season high with eight rebounds.
• Sophomore forward Anna Miller scored 11 points, while tying a career high with five blocked shots.
• Redshirt senior forward Grace Berg also tallied 11 points, while leading Drake with nine rebounds.
• Junior redshirt guard Taylor McAulay scored 10 points, eclipsing her the six points she scored in her previous combined three games.
• Sophomore guard Katie Dinnebier tied a career high with eight assists.
• Freshman guard Ava Hawthorne dished out a career high six assists.
• Maggie Bair had a season-high four assists. 
• Anna Miller made two free throws, extending her string to 11 straight free throws made.
 
THE SERIES
• This was the first meeting between the schools.