MOLINE, Ill. – The fourth-seeded Drake University women's basketball team opened postseason play with a 73-70 win over the No. 5 seed Missouri State Lady Bears (20-11, 14-6) in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals this afternoon. The Bulldogs (20-9, 14-6) fought back after trailing for most of the matchup to advance in the league tournament.
 
Maggie Bair and Grace Berg each scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs. Bair also snagged 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Katie Dinnebier added 19 points for Drake with four assists and a perfect 6-of-6 free throw showing.
 
Elsewhere, Anna Miller led the Bulldogs with six assists and three blocks to go along with seven points. Sarah Beth Gueldner also scored seven on 75% field goal shooting.
 
Both teams started with a deuce and a triple as Missouri State's star guard Aniya Thomas got the Lady Bears going early. Drake's experienced tandem of Bair and Berg started the Bulldogs' scoring efforts on the other end.
 
The Lady Bears exploited Drake's zone defense in the early stages of the game and led 12-7 at the first media timeout with 4:47 left in the opening period.
 
The Bulldogs used a 2:18 scoring drought by the Lady Bears to get back within three of Missouri State before MVC Freshman of the Year Jade Masogayo completed an old fashioned three-point play. Drake trailed 19-15 after the first quarter.
 
Missouri State outlasted a short Bulldog rally to start the second period. With 5:02 left in the half, Drake guard Ava Hawthorne was booked for a flagrant foul which added to the Lady Bears' advantage. Missouri State built a lead as large as 11 in the second quarter, but Drake bounced back with a 9-0 run to end the half. The Bulldogs trailed 35-33 at the break.
 
The Bulldogs picked up right where they left off at the start of the third quarter, tying the score at 37 apiece on a Grace Berg transition layup. A few possessions later, Drake took their first lead of the game at 39-38 with a Bair bucket.
 
Both teams traded blows until Katie Dinnebier scored on a dribble drive to even the score at 47 all after the third period.
 
Missouri State started the final quarter on a roll, outscoring the Bulldogs 8-0 over the first 2:49 of the period. The Lady Bears' run forced Drake to use a timeout.The Lady Bears got out to a lead as wide as eight points in the period before Drake started their rally.
 
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs raced back to tie the game at 63 behind a pair of threes from Katie Dinnebier and Sarah Beth Gueldner. The Bulldogs took a 65-65 lead with under a minute to play on a Maggie Bair up-and-under layup.
 
Anna Miller then stuffed Lady Bear forward Kennedy Taylor at the rim to set up two Bair free throws. Drake continued their clutch shooting from the charity stripe as Dinnebier sunk six-straight free throws with under a minute to play to seal the Bulldogs' 73-70 triumph, their first single-digit win of the season.
 
"Our game plan was to do what we did well against them the second time we played [this season], which was rebound." Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman said after the win. "We held them off the glass, and then were able to get some second chance opportunities on our end. It took us a little time to warm up and do that, but we made some great plays down the stretch.'
 
The Bulldogs will be back in action at Hoops in the Heartland tomorrow afternoon with a 1:30 p.m. tip-off against No. 1 seed Illinois State in the MVC Tournament semifinals.
 
 
TEAM NOTES

• Drake, winning its third-straight game, improved its record to 20-9 overall.
• The Bulldogs have won 20+ games in eight of the last nine seasons.
• Friday's win was the Bulldogs' first single-digit victory of the season.
• The Bulldogs are now 12-3 in Moline, the most wins the MVC Tournament play since the event has been hosted in the Quad Cities.
• The Bulldogs are now 2-4 as the No. 4 seed at Hoops in the Heartland and 23-8 in the quarterfinal round.
• Drake grabbed 29 defensive rebounds, supplementing their average of 31.9 per game, the highest average in the nation.
• Drake outrebounded Missouri State 35-30 and are now 19-6 when outrebounding their opponent.
• Drake shot 51.0 percent from the field (26-51), improving its record to 12-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the floor this season.
• Drake is now 3-0 in the month of March.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Maggie Bair has scored at least 20 points in four-straight games and made multiple threes in five-straight.
• She, along with Grace Berg, led Drake with 20 points vs. Missouri State.
• Bair also led the Bulldogs with 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.
• Katie Dinnebier poured in 19 for Drake including a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
• Anna Miller added seven points and a team-high six rebounds.

THE SERIES

• Missouri State leads the series with Drake 51-46 despite Drake winning the last two matchups.
• The Lady Bears also still leads the series in MVC Tournament play, 11-6.