DES MOINES, Iowa – Abbie Aalsma regained her shooting touch, Maggie Taylor reached a career high, and the Drake women's basketball team celebrated a second straight victory.
 
Aalsma sparked a fast start and finished with 24 points, Taylor tacked on 22 with slick play around the basket and three others reached double figures as the Bulldogs rolled past Evansville 97-82 at the Knapp Center on Friday night, their 20th straight victory over the Purple Aces.
 
On a frigid evening outside, the Bulldogs kept things warm on the court, shooting 64.5 percent in the first half and 57.6 percent for the game – their best mark of the season -- in presenting Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman with her 99th victory. The 97 points matched Drake's high this season and resulted in the team's second win at home.
 
Brooklin Dailey got in on the fun with 16 points off the bench to match her career best, Anna Becker continued her strong January play with 14 points and Ava Hawthorne contributed 12, her best outing since scoring 14 against Northern Kentucky on Nov. 26.
 
The Bulldogs got their points in an efficient manner, logging 24 assists on 34 baskets with sharp passing into the post and to cutters going to the basket. They also cashed in at the free throw line, making 21 of 24 after a pedestrian 15-for-27 performance in last Sunday's victory at Valparaiso.
 
Drake (6-12, 5-3) outrebounded the Aces 34-30, guard Lexi Carlsen leading the way with seven and Taylor pulling down six. The Bulldogs amassed a 50-32 edge in points in the paint and scored 22 points off Evansville's 15 turnovers.
 
Aalsma, who scored only 24 points and shot just 22 percent in the previous three games, looked more like the player Drake fans have become accustomed to seeing, knocking down 3-pointers and driving to the basket with equal flair. She made her first five shots and finished 9-for-14, including 4-for-8 from distance.
 
Taylor, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, scored 12 points in the third quarter alone to help keep the Bulldogs in control, made 9 of 12 shots for the game and sank all four of her free throws. She also matched her career high with six assists.
 
Dailey put up her most impressive line of the season, going 5-for-6 from the field with a 3-pointer and 5-for-5 at the line, grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists. Becker shot 6-for-12 with a 3-pointer and is now averaging 14.2 points and shooting 56.3 percent since the calendar flipped to January.
 
Aalsma scored Drake's first seven points – which came in a span of just 63 seconds – and 12 of the first 16 as the Bulldogs quickly built a double-digit lead. They ran off 14 straight points after Evansville's BreAunna Ward scored the game's first basket and were up 25-12 heading into the second quarter.
 
The lead dropped below double figures only once after that.
 
Taylor's layup and Dailey's trey from the right wing boosted the lead to 44-24 late in the second quarter, and the lead bulged to 49-27 when Becker, who had made just three shots from distance all season, buried a three from the left wing with 1:26 left in the half.
 
Evansville came back with a quick five points, but Carlsen found Becker for a layup just before the halftime buzzer to make it 51-32.
 
Evansville made a run at the Bulldogs in the second half, hitting six straight shots to draw to 63-51 midway through third quarter. Taylor then returned the momentum to the Bulldogs, taking a bounce pass from Peyton McCabe for a layup, scoring again on a sweet pocket pass from Aalsma and finding Becker cutting down the lane for a layup with perhaps the slickest pass of the night.
 
That made it 69-53 and the Bulldogs took a 75-58 lead into the final quarter, only to find themselves fending off the Aces again.
 
Evansville hit three 3-pointers in a span of a little more than two minutes to draw to 84-75 with 6:07 left. The Aces got no closer and the Bulldogs were rewarded for their continued aggressive play by getting to the free throw line. They made eight of 10 to keep Evansville at bay, with Aalsma adding a trey to the mix and Dailey finishing things off with a strong drive to the hoop in the final minute.
 
"I'll give Evansville a ton of credit…they came out in the second half and were ready to go," Pohlman said. "They went on a run, but we responded with a couple answers. We had to start guarding a few of their players different, and did a nice job adjusting. Very pleasing to see that transition into success."
 
Evansville (4-15, 2-6), which hasn't defeated Drake since the 2015 MVC Tournament, got 17 points from Georgia Ferguson and 14 from Sydney Huber.
 
Pohlman, who is 99-54 in four-plus seasons with the Bulldogs, will try for victory No. 100 when league-leading Murray State visits the Knapp Center on Sunday. Tip-off time is 2 p.m.
 
 
Notes

• Drake improved to 6-12 overall this season and a 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• The Bulldogs are now 2-6 at home this season.
• Friday's win marked Allison Pohlman's 99th career victory as a head coach.
• Drake shot 57.6 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from 3-point range, and 87.5 percent from the free throw line.
• The Bulldogs outrebounded UE 34-30.
• Drake scored 22 points off 15 Purple Aces' turnovers.
• Abbie Aalsma led all scorers with 24 points including four made 3-pointers.
• Aalsma scored the Bulldogs' first seven points of the game in just 63 seconds.
• Maggie Taylor chipped in with a career best 22 points along with six boards and six assists.
• Brooklin Dailey matched her career high with 16 while grabbine five rebounds and dishing out five assists.
• Anna Becker and Ava Hawthorne rounded out the Bulldogs' double-digit scorers with 14 points and 12 points, respectively.
• Lexi Carlsen paced the Drake rebounding effort with seven.
• Drake is now 25-6 all-time at home against Evansville and 55-14 in the overall series with the Purple Aces.