DES MOINES, Iowa – Another Anna Miller double-double and a huge rebounding edge carried the Drake women's basketball team to a 79-77 victory over Northern Iowa at the Knapp Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Bulldogs built an early 10-point lead, fell behind by six in the third quarter, then clawed their way back to extend their winning streak to seven and beat the Panthers for the 16th time in their last 19 meetings.
 
Halfway through a four-game homestand, Drake (22-5, 15-1) maintained its two-game lead over second-place Belmont in the league race with four games to play.
 
Miller posted her fifth double-double in the last six games and 12th of the season with 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers, and a career-high 19 rebounds. The 19 rebounds, which included six on the offensive end to keep possessions alive, match the most by a Valley player this season. The 6-foot-3 junior also blocked three shots and handed out three assists.
 
Taylor McAulay added 13 points, including two critical free throws at the end, and Grace Berg scored 10. Katie Dinnebier had nine points and 11 assists, the fifth time she's dished at least 10 in a game.
 
Megan Meyer scored nine points on three treys, her best game since returning to the team in late January. Courtney Becker contributed seven points and grabbed 11 rebounds, none more important than the one she corralled in the game's closing seconds.
 
Drake was clinging to a 74-73 lead when Berg rebounded her own miss on a driving layup and was fouled going back up with 21.1 seconds left. She made the first free throw but missed the second. The ball was tipped out, Becker ran it down and got it to Dinnebier, who was fouled.
 
She made both for a 77-73 lead with 16.4 seconds remaining, but the Bulldogs still weren't out of danger. UNI's Kayla Laube buried a three with 10.9 seconds to go and it was a one-point game again.
 
This time, the Panthers sent McAulay to the line with a foul and she dropped in both for a 79-76 lead with 9.1 seconds left. Rachel Heittola made the second of two free throws for UNI with 1.1 on the clock and all the Bulldogs had to do then was get it inbounds after calling a timeout to advance the ball to their end of the court.
 
Drake piled up a 48-23 rebounding advantage, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to a 23-7 edge in second-chance points. The Bulldogs needed them all to offset their 20 turnovers, which UNI converted into 22 points, and counter a big game from Maya McDermott.
 
McDermott, who beat the Bulldogs twice a year ago with last-second shots, scored 16 of her 24 points in the second half and was especially effective in the third quarter, when she made all five of her shots to help the Panthers erase Drake's 39-33 halftime lead. But the Bulldogs held her to one field goal in the fourth quarter and kept her scoreless in the final 5:45.
 
Laube finished with 15 points, Grace Boffeli scored 12 before fouling out and Ryley Goebel added 10.
 
As they did in their Feb. 3 victory in Cedar Falls, the Bulldogs jumped ahead early. McAulay, Berg, Miller and Ava Hawthorne each hit a three-pointer to send Drake into a 12-3 lead. When Meyer knocked down her first triple, the lead was 21-11 with 2 minutes left in the opening quarter.
 
UNI drew to 21-16 by the end of the quarter and the two battled on equal terms until halftime. Miller scored seven of Drake's final nine points in the half for a 39-31 lead before Heittola scored to make it a six-point game at the break.
 
With McDermott scoring on a variety of moves to the basket, UNI pulled into a 55-49 lead when Heittola hit a 3 with 3:46 left in the quarter. But the Bulldogs charged right back.
 
Dinnebier found Meyer in the left corner for a three, Berg scored inside, and McAulay converted a three-point play off a short jumper, pulling the Bulldogs into a 57-55 lead. Five lead changes followed, the last one when McDermott swished two free throws to put the Panthers up 69-67.
 
Becker tied it with a long jumper along the left baseline and the Bulldogs went ahead for good when Miller buried a three from the right of the key for a 72-69 lead with 3:40 remaining. Miller scored again off an inbounds play to make it 74-71 and the Bulldogs did the rest with their free throws.
 
"I thought we stuck with it," Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman said. "The momentum could have completely shifted, but we stayed resilient. We are going to shoot and shoot next week. We were uncharacteristic from the three today and we will build our confidence back up because we can make the three. We figured out a way to get it done today."
 
The Bulldogs continue their homestand against UIC at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Valparaiso visits the Knapp Center for Senior Day at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, before Drake finishes the regular season with games at Evansville and Indiana State.
 
 
NOTES

• Drake improved to 22-5 overall while leading the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 15-1 league mark.
• Drake's first four made baskets of the game were all three-point baskets as Drake opened the game with a 14-3 run.
• The Bulldogs have won eight consecutive home games, improving their record inside the Knapp Center this season to 13-2.
• The Bulldogs outrebounded UNI 48-23 and outscored UNI in second chance points by a 23-7 margin. 
• Anna Miller hauled in a career-high 19 rebounds; her six offensive rebounds were more than UNI's team total five offensive rebounds (five).
• Miller's 19 boards matched the most in a single game in the MVC this season.
• Miller scored a team-high 21 points for her third 20-plus scoring output of the season.
• The double-double was Miller's 12^th of the season.
• Courtney Becker grabbed 11 rebounds (one shy of her career high) for her sixth double digit rebounding performance this season, two of which have occurred against UNI. 
• Five of Becker's 11 rebounds were on the offensive end.
• Katie Dinnebier dished out 11 assists to mark the fifth time this season that she has distributed 10 or more assists in a game.
• Taylor McAulay's 13 points marked the 15th time this season that she has had a double digit scoring game.
• Grace Berg's 10-point performance was her team-leading 25th time scoring in double figures this season.
• Megan Meyer delivered a season-high nine points off the bench and made a season-high three field goals (all from beyond the arc). 
• Allison Pohlman coached against her alma mater for the 36th time in her career and for the seventh time as a head coach (5-2 record).
• Drake improved its all-time series lead against UNI to 72-27.
• Drake is now 40-9 all-time against UNI at home. 
• The Bulldogs have won 16 of the last 19 program meetings against the Panthers.