DES MOINES, Iowa – Six Drake women scored in double figures as the Bulldogs overcame a pressure-packed first half to roll over NCAA Division II foe Winona State in their second exhibition contest of the season. Their excellent defensive performance spurred Drake to a 94-60 victory.
 
Katie Dinnebier opened the scoring with a triple after collecting a missed Grace Berg bucket. Winona State outdid Drake's first score with a blazing opening period of their own. The Warriors led 14-6 at the first timeout with four three-point buckets, two of which came from Kaitlyn Schrimpf.
 
The Winona State lead promptly grew to 19-6 after the media break after back-to-back scores.
 
Berg eventually got the Bulldogs into double figures with an old fashioned three-point play, but the Warriors took a nine-point advantage into the quarter break after an Emma Carpenter trifecta with under a minute on the clock.
 
The Bulldogs defensive energy increased in the second quarter, eventually taking their first lead since the opening bucket on an Ashley Iiams three and Dinnebier swipe and score.
 
The Winona State attack continued to challenge Drake throughout the remainder of the half. Carpenter buried another turnaround jumper to keep the Bulldog advantage at just one point, 33-32.
 
The two teams traded jabs and leads down the stretch of the first half until a pair of Dinnebier free throws gave the Bulldogs a narrow 39-38 lead. The score held as Drake took their one-point advantage into the half.
 
Drake used a defensive blitz to expand their lead in the early stages of the second half. Anna Miller and Taylor McAulay scored two successive baskets before Naomi Breunig nipped the Bulldog run at 4-0 with a three. Shannon Fornshell answered with a trey of her own. The Bulldogs finally found some rhythm from behind the three-point arc as Anna Brown went back-to-back from deep and Fornshell struck again from the top of the key. Drake's lead sat at 60-47 midway through the third period.
 
The Bulldogs closed the third quarter on a 14-5 run to lead 68-52 after three.
 
Drake kept its foot on the gas as the final period started and all 11 active players saw some action. The Bulldogs maintained their momentum and rolled to a 94-60 win.
 
Berg led Drake's double-digit scorers with a game-high 23 points followed by Dinnebier's 16, Brown's 12, 11 from Miller and Iiams, and Shannon Fornshell's 10. Berg matched Courtney Becker with eight rebounds to lead the effort on the glass while Dinnebier dished out the same number of assists.
 
"We've just got to step of the floor and be a little bit better," Suzie Glazer Burt head coach Allison Pohlman said. "I give so much credit to Winona State for what they were able to do in the first half. Things [eventually] started to loosen up a little bit…we started to shoot it better and got going. I give our team a lot of credit for how they came out of the locker room in the third quarter, forcing them to take two consecutive timeouts. Being able to develop our chemistry with everyone getting to play with everyone is always nice."
 
The Bulldogs will kick off their 2023 regular season schedule on Monday, Nov. 6 with a home tilt against St. Thomas. Drake and the Tommies will tip off at 6 p.m. in the Knapp Center.