DES MOINES, Iowa – Abbie Aalsma found her shooting touch just in time for a Drake women's basketball team that needed a jolt.
 
Alasma splashed three huge 3-point shots in the closing minutes of the game, and the Bulldogs completed a comeback from 15 down to beat Valparaiso 79-68 on a snowy Thursday night at the Knapp Center.
 
Down 65-58 with a little more than five minutes left, Drake finished on a 21-3 run to fashion its second two-game winning streak of the season. It was the largest comeback of the year for the Bulldogs, who improved to 8-17 overall and 7-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference. All seven league victories have come by double-figure margins.
 
Aalsma scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half to lead five Drake players in double figures. The senior guard went 4-for-7 from deep and 6-for-12 overall while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Freshman Anna Becker posted the first double-double of her career with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Ava Hawthorne and Brooklin Dailey each scored 12 points, with Hawthorne tacking on eight assists to match her career best, and Maggie Taylor added 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs finally pulled away from Valpo (0-27, 0-16) by shooting 54.5 percent in the fourth quarter and cashing in on 11 of 12 free throws. After struggling at the line for much of the game, Drake made 10 straight in the final 3:50.
 
Drake trailed 41-26 late in the first half and was down 46-34 at halftime. A Valpo triple early in the second half hiked the lead back to 15 before the Bulldogs finally started to chip away.
 
Hawthorne drove for a bucket and Grace Knutson followed with a transition three-ball to cut the lead to 51-48. After a Valpo trey, Knutson knocked down another triple to pull the Bulldogs to within three points again and they trailed 56-53 heading into the fourth quarter after Taylor dropped in two free throws.
 
Less than two minutes into the quarter, Drake finally had the lead. Becker hit a 10-footer in the lane and Dailey scoring on a hard-charging drive to the hoop to make it 57-56. It was the first Drake lead since 17-16 midway through the first quarter.
 
A 9-1 Valpo run took the Beacons' lead back to seven and then Aalsma went to work. She swished a 3 from the top of the key at the 5:08 mark and buried another from the same spot 37 seconds later. Becker's two foul shots put Drake ahead to stay at 66-65 and then Aalsma delivered again, burying yet another triple – this one from the left corner – to make it 69-65 with 2:09 play.
 
The Bulldogs were far from finished. Hawthorne rebounded a Valpo miss and fired a pass to Aalsma racing to the rim for a layup and a 71-65 edge. Drake wrapped it up with eight free throws as the Beacons missed 10 straight shots before finally connecting with the game out of reach, a stark contrast to their sizzling start.
 
As the snow fell outside, Valpo's shots fell with the same intensity. Looking nothing like a team that has not won a game, the Beacons lit it up from every spot on the floor, knocking down six of their first seven 3-point shots and nine of their first 10 overall. They made seven straight shots in a 21-7 run that erased Drake's early 12-5 lead and led 28-21 at the quarter break.
 
"I give Valpo so much credit, we just couldn't guard them," Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman said. "We had to score to just keep it close but eventually got to the pace we wanted to later in the second half. Did a nice job of taking advantage down the stretch. Tonight was one of those situations where it was not beneficial to go into the locker room at half and yell and scream. Just had to reinforce what we know we can do, and we finally got back into that groove when it mattered."
 
Valparaiso shot 71.4 percent in the opening quarter (10-for-14) and finished 6-for-9 from deep. This after shooting 19.4 percent in its previous game, a 77-37 loss at Belmont. But the Beacons cooled off and though it took a while, the Bulldogs eventually put together the run they needed to win it.
 
Drake outscored Valpo 45-22 in the second half and held the Beacons to 21.9 percent shooting (7-for-32) over the final two quarters. Valparaiso finished the game at 36.4 percent and 10-for-33 from distance.  Drake shot 43.3 percent, had assists on 19 of its 26 field goals and outrebounded the Beacons 45-36.
 
The Bulldogs swept the season series with Valpo after winning the road game 66-56 on Jan. 18. Drake has won seven of its last eight with the Beacons and leads the series 20-3.
 
Senior Day is next up for Drake. That comes Sunday when UIC visits the Knapp Center for a 2 p.m. game.