SAN JUAN, P.R. – Drake women's basketball tipped off their weekend at the San Juan Shootout on Thursday afternoon against the Cowgirls of Wyoming. The Bulldogs could not overcome a sluggish start in Puerto Rico as Wyoming (3-3) earned a 71-57 win.
 
Thursday's game started with a couple lapses from both sides as neither team could crack the scoreboard in the first two minutes of action. Katie Dinnebier eventually tallied the game's first two points after a strip and sprint for a score. Wyoming's Malene Pedersen answered with a short-corner two.
 
The Bulldogs (2-4) got two more steals on the next two possessions, the second resulting in a traditional three-point play in transition from reserve forward Taedyn Gray. The Cowgirls then went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 9-5 lead. Dinnebier again halted that unbalanced spurt with a lay-in, but Payton Muma buried a high-arching triple on the next Wyoming trip, extending Drake's deficit back to five points at the first media timeout.
 
Wyoming controlled the pace in the first quarter but a late Drake charge cut into the difference. The Cowgirls led 20-15 after the first quarter.
 
Drake's sluggish start bled into the second quarter as Wyoming maintained their edge, matching their widest margin of the half at seven. After an 0-4 start from three, Shannon Fornshell and Anna Miller finally popped the top from deep on back-to-back trips. A quick triple from Emily Mellema set a new largest lead mark for the Cowgirls at eight points before Grace Knutson connected from deep to continue the run from range.
 
After forcing a Wyoming turnover with roughly seven seconds remaining in the half, Courtney Becker fielded an inbounds pass and promptly fired cross-court to Ava Hawthorne. The junior guard then bounced in a trey to make it 36-35 in favor of Wyoming heading into the break.
 
The Cowgirls picked up right where they left off to start the third quarter, scrambling the Bulldogs on both ends and scoring twice in the paint to force Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman to spend a timeout. An offensive foul on Drake's Gray plus four straight buckets by Wyoming kept their momentum after the short hiatus. A pair of Mellema freebies and a McKinley Dickerson deuce gave Wyoming an 11-point lead, the first double-digit difference of the day.
 
Anna Miller finally snapped a scoring drought of over five minutes as the third quarter clock wound to a close. Miller entered double figures on her own, but a Pedersen triple got Wyoming back on track as the Cowgirls led 58-40 after three. The Bulldogs scored just five points in the third period, marking their lowest scoring quarter since tallying the same amount in the second overtime period of last year's loss at Minnesota.
 
Wyoming's lead ballooned over 20 points shortly after the fourth quarter started. Drake was able to trim back into the deficit a bit on threes from Ava Hawthorne and Brooklin Dailey as part of a 10-0 Bulldog run.
 
The Dogs could not sustain their mid-fourth quarter mojo and failed to draw closer than 14 points down the stretch. The final horn sounded with Wyoming on top, 71-57.
 
"We have a lot of growing to do and [too often] get wrapped up in perfectionism a little bit." Pohlman said. "[Wyoming] were able to score and score and score, and we just got a little deflated. Wyoming definitely threw the first punch, and we weren't able to bounce back all that well. We had opportunities and missed too many layups. Just need a little bit more from everybody."
 
Brooklin Dailey led Drake's scoring effort with 11 points followed by 10 from Anna Miller. Freshman Maggie Taylor paced Drake's rebounding totals with eight while Courtney Becker added seven. Katie Dinnebier was held to just five points but dished out a team high six assists.
 
Drake's losing skid has reached four games as they have a short turnaround before tomorrow's contest. The Bulldogs are set for a matchup with Green Bay, coached by former Drake assistant Kayla Karius, at 10 a.m. CT.
 
 
NOTES

• Drake, suffering its third straight loss, fell to 2-4.
• Drake went 7-of-13 from the free throw line for a .538 percentage in the Thanksgiving Day game, its lowest total tries and percentage on the year.
• The Bulldogs also grabbed nine offensive rebounds and 35 total rebounds, two more single-game lows this season.
• Drake's 5-point third quarter was its lowest single-period scoring effort since tallying the same amount in the second overtime of last year's matchup at Minnesota (Dec. 2, 2023).
• The Bulldogs valued the ball on Thursday, only turning it over 12 times, the fewest in a single game this year.
• Drake's 57 points marked another single game worst since scoring 52 in a loss at UIC during the 2022-23 season.
• Brooklin Dailey led Drake with a career high 11 points. It was her first career double-digit scoring effort and first time she led Drake in scoring in a game in her tenure.
• Anna Miller added 10 points while both Shannon Fornshell and Ava Hawthorne scored seven.
• Freshman Maggie Taylor paced Drake's rebounding totals with eight while Courtney Becker added seven.
• Katie Dinnebier was held to just five points but dished out a team high six assists.
• Wyoming now holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series with Drake.
• Drake plays Green Bay, coached by former Drake assistant Kayla Karius, at 10 a.m. CT tomorrow.