DES MOINES, Iowa – Grace Berg's spin and Anna Miller's hustle helped the Drake women's basketball team take sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
Berg spun her way down the lane for a layup to put the Bulldogs ahead with 1:30 left. Miller then sped along the baseline to grab the ball after Courtney Becker's shot was blocked and dropped in a layup, giving the Bulldogs the edge they needed to hold on for a 69-65 victory over Belmont at the Knapp Center on Friday night.
 
Drake (13-4, 6-0) rallied time after time to grind out a win over the league's best defensive team and start the program's Hometown Team Weekend on a high note and run its winning streak to seven, the longest in the three-year tenure of Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman.
 
Belmont fell to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in league play and, with Murray State's 95-75 loss at Northern Iowa, the Bulldogs remain as the only unbeaten left in league play. Murray State visits the Knapp Center on Sunday for a 2 p.m. Alumni Day game.
 
The Bulldogs pulled it out despite Katie Dinnebier, The Valley's leading scorer, being held in check by Belmont's aggressive defense. Dinnebier finished with five points, her low this season, but contributed in other ways with nine assists, seven rebounds, and a steal.
 
Several Drake teammates were there to pick up the slack. Taylor McAulay led the Bulldogs with 17 points, her best game since scoring 27 against Iowa State back on Nov. 12. She also grabbed five rebounds, made three steals and handed out two assists.
 
Berg and Courtney Becker added 16 points each, with Berg scoring 10 in the fourth quarter and Becker matching her career high. Becker went 6-for-10 from the field, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, and pulled down nine rebounds. The four triples were a career best. She had made just eight treys this season coming in.
 
Miller contributed nine points – none more important than the game's final basket – and tacked on seven rebounds three assists, a steal and two blocks.
 
The Bulldogs struggled to get clean looks for most of the first two quarters and Belmont built a 30-20 lead with 3:40 left in the half. But Drake scored the final 11 points of the half, a burst that Miller capped with another heady play, tapping the ball to Brooklyn Dailey after Ava Hawthorne missed from deep and Dailey made the layup for a 31-30 lead at the break.
 
Drake scratched out a one-point halftime lead after trailing by as many as 10, then pulled ahead 34-30 when Becker buried a three just 11 seconds into the third quarter. But the Bruins came right back and led 52-46 going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Bulldogs still trailed by five with under six minutes to play but finally tied it up at 62 when Berg scored inside, then knocked down a three from the right wing. Belmont's Kilyn McGuff broke the tie when she banked in a three-pointer with 4:21 remaining, but Drake held Belmont scoreless the rest of the way and the Bruins missed their final eight shots.
 
Drake took advantage. McAulay scored on a putback and then Berg spun around her defender driving down the lane and banked in a layup for 66-65 lead with 1:30 to play. The Bulldogs got the ball back after Belmont missed two threes and, with a chance to extend the lead, Becker had her shot blocked under the basket. Miller ran down the loose ball and dropped in a layup, making it 68-65 with 38 seconds remaining.
 
Belmont missed another three-point shot and the ball went out of bounds. After some tense moments while officials reviewed the play, they signaled Drake ball and Dinnebier sank a free throw with 15.7 seconds to go to wrap it up.
 
Kendal Cheesman's 18 points led Belmont, which went just 4-for-18 from the field in the fourth quarter after shooting 49 percent over the first three quarters. Drake's 69 points were the most Belmont has allowed in a conference game this season. Drake outrebounded the Burins 47-33, a figured bolstered by 17 offensive rebounds.
 
"There were a lot of ebbs and flows," Pohlman said after the final buzzer had sounded. "As a student-athlete, you can choose to be frustrated [in games like tonight], or you can choose to ride to the occasion…our team did just that. We did a nice job of getting stops [when we needed them] and scoring on timely possessions. We're looking forward to Sunday and another opportunity to defend our home floor."
 
Drake will close out Des Moines' Hometown Team Weekend on Sunday, Jan. 21 with a visit from the league's best offense in Murray State.
 
 
NOTES
 

• Drake won its seventh-straight game – the most during the Allison Pohlman coaching era – to push its record to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the MVC.
• The Bulldogs earned their third-straight home win and are now 8-2 at home this season.
• The 69 points by Drake were the most allowed by Belmont in a conference game this season. The Bruins entered the game leading the league in scoring defense with just 59.8 points allowed per game.
• Drake held Belmont without any points the last 4:20 of the game as the Bruins closed out the game missing their last eight shots.
• There were seven lead changes and four ties in the game.
• Drake, which led 31-30 at half, improved to 12-1 when leading at halftime this season. The Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run to close out the first half after trailing 30-20.
• Drake outrebounded Belmont, 47-33, moving to 10-3 when outrebounding opponents this season.
• Drake is 4-0 when playing on Friday this season.
• This marked Belmont's first loss in 11 games this season when leading at the end of the first quarter (17-13).
• It also marked the first time Belmont has lost a game when making 10 or more threes. The Bruins are 5-1 when that feat occurs.
• Taylor McAulay led Drake with 17 points, including eight in the third quarter.
• Grace Berg had 16 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
• Courtney Becker tied a career high with 16 points, while making a career high four three-point baskets. She led Drake with nine rebounds.
• Katie Dinnebier dished out a game-high nine assists, pushing her career total to 401, while becoming the ninth player in Drake history to collect 400 or more assists. She collected her 400th assist with 5:44 in the third quarter on a feed to Taylor McAulay. 
• Dinneiber finished with a season-low five points but did grab a season-high seven rebounds and collect two steals. That snapped a streak of scoring in double figures in every game (16) this season. Her previous season low was 11 points at UIC.
• Dinnebier also had a streak of 14 straight made free throws come to an end in the fourth quarter. She has made 23 of her last 25 free throws.
• McAulay had three steals -- her fifth game this season with three or more steals.