MURRAY, Ky. – The Drake University women's basketball team began their final road trip of the 2022-23 regular season with bang, beating the Murray State Racers 97-71 to improve to 17-8 overall and 12-5 in MVC play. Drake's win was their sixth road victory and extended their winning streak to three games.
 
The Bulldog offense was clicking on all cylinders with season highs in made field goals (37), field goal percentage (.587), made three-pointers (16), and three-point percentage (.571). Drake also matched their best scoring output of the year with 97 points.
 
Maggie Bair led all scorers with 28 points, a new career-high, on 12-of-15 shooting and another career best performance with four made threes in five attempts. Bair also collected five rebounds, dished out two assists, and blocked two shots.
 
Four other Bulldogs scored in double-digits including 15 from Sarah Beth Gueldner on 5-of-7 three-point shooting while spreading out a career-high seven assists. Grace Berg added 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Katie Dinnebier poured in 12 points with nine assists. Anna Miller, starting her second game of the year and fourth of her career, scored 11 points and grabbed seven boards.
 
Grace Berg collected a Bair assist and finished in the lane for the game's first points. The Bulldogs and Racers went back-and-forth in opening stages with a pair of lead changes. Murray State was able to snag their first lead of the game on a deep three by Briley Pena.
 
The Bulldogs regained the lead on a Sarah Beth Gueldner three-ball to go up 8-5 and snap a scoring drought of 3:08. Gueldner delivered again later in the first quarter with another lead-taking triple, this time to go up 16-15.
 
Drake worked through an up-and-down first quarter to lead 19-15 after the first 10 minutes of action.
 
Gueldner continued her red-hot shooting in the second quarter with another three-pointer to reach double figures. Drake built a lead as large as nine points before the host Racers clawed back into it. Murray State rattled off seven unanswered points over 1:24 to knot the score at 31.
 
Katie Dinnebier ended the half with back-to-back steals that resulted in a fast break layup and another freebie from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs led 43-35 at the half.
 
Drake got out to a timid start in the second half with a 2:23 scoreless streak. Maggie Bair eventually sunk her second three-pointer of the game to end the lull and banked in a deuce to extend the Bulldog lead back out to eight points.
 
Bair added to her excellent effort with her third made three-pointer of the night, tying her career-best in that category. Bair's third three gave Drake an 11-point lead, their largest of the game to that point, with just under two minutes to play in the third period.
 
After a brief threat from the Racers, Dinnebier provided the final blow of the third quarter with a deep three from the right wing to give Drake a 64-53 advantage with just one period to play.
 
Drake finally put away the pesky Murray State squad with a dominant fourth quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Racers 33-18 over the final 10 minutes including a perfect 6-of-6 showing from behind the three-point arc. Drake used their streaking offense to secure the 97-71 win.
 
The Racers were led by four-time MVC Player of the Week Katelyn Young with 19 points. Young holds the mark for best single-game scoring effort in the MVC this season with 43 points against the Bulldogs in the last meeting between Drake and Murray State.
 
"That was absolutely, positively fantastic…a lot of fun," Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman stated after the win. I think the start was slow, we were playing more at their pace but once we made some adjustments, things were rolling, and we looked stellar. We got a lot of really good looks and a lot of fantastic passes to set up those great looks. Our staff has done such a great job…it's such a fun thing to spend so much time with these fantastic women."
 
Drake will conclude their final road trip of the 2022-23 regular season this weekend when they visit Belmont on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in Nashville, Tenn.
 
TEAM NOTES

• Drake, winning its third-straight game, improved its record to 17-8 including an 12-5 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Drake has won all 12 of its MVC games by at least 12 points.
• The Bulldogs matched their season-high with 97 points (vs. Howard, 11/27)
• Drake also set new season-highs with 37 made field goals, 16 made threes, a .587 field goal percentage, and a .571 three-point percentage.
• Drake shot 57.1 percent from the field (37-63), improving its record to 9-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the floor this season.
• Drake out rebounded Illinois State, 33-29, improving to 16-5 when out rebounding opponents this season.
• The Bulldogs improved to 15-2 when scoring 80 or more points.
• Drake collected 28 assists, tying their second-best distribution total, and marking the 13th time the Bulldogs have collected 20 or more assists in a game this season.
• Drake improved its record to 16-4 when leading at halftime this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• All five Bulldog starters scored in double figures for the second time this season.
• Maggie Bair led all scorers with a career-high 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting, also a career high in made field goals, to go along with five rebounds.
• Bair's 28 points included a new career high four made threes.
• Sarah Beth Gueldner was hot from three-point range, going 5-of-7 from deep for 15 points.
• Gueldner also dished out a career-best seven assists.
• Grace Berg netted 13 points on 60% field goal shooting.
• Katie Dinnebier scored 12 points with nine assists.
• Sophomore forward Anna Miller was in the starting lineup for the second-straight game and fourth time in her career.
• Miller rounded out the Bulldogs' five double-digit scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds.
• Ava Hawthorne matches her career-high offensive output with six points on 2-of-2 three-point shooting.
• Hannah Nilges' fourth-quarter three-pointer gave her a new career high in scoring with three points. 

THE SERIES

• Drake has now won both meetings between the Bulldogs and Murray State with one win in Des Moines and Murray.