DES MOINES, Iowa—The Drake University women’s basketball team used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to seize control of the contest and go on to a 69-48 victory over the visiting University of Evansville Purple Aces at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

After an Amy Gallagher lay-up with 12:55 to play in the first half trimmed a Drake lead to 11-10, the Bulldogs exploded for 13-straight points over a span of just 2:56 to build a 24-10 lead. The Bulldogs were aided by three Evansville turnovers in the run which led to six of the 13 points. Drake would eventually take a 37-19 lead into the halftime locker room, as the Bulldogs turned 12 first-half turnovers by UE into 14 points.

 

The Bulldogs lead would grow to 20 points, 41-21, just two minutes into the second half, before Evansville would answer back. The Purple Aces used a 19-7 run over the next 6:29 to cut the 20-point lead back to eight points, 48-40, on freshman forward Meagan Collins’ three-pointer with 11:56 to play. UE’s freshmen were front and center in the run, as rookies Collins, Amber Boyd, Samantha Heck and Kaylan Martin combined for 16 of UE’s 19 points in the run.

 

That would be as close as Evansville would come though, as Drake would hold Evansville to just three points over the next seven minutes to rebuild a 21-point lead, 64-43, on an Amber Wollschlager lay-up with 4:46 to play. UE would get no closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

 

“Give credit to Drake,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “They came out fired up and hungry for a victory tonight and they did what it took to get one. We, meanwhile, did not come out ready to play and did not match their intensity until that run midway through the second half, which was disappointing. 

 

“I do want to credit our players for battling back at the start of the second half. They fought hard, especially our freshmen, and that is a positive sign. But, to win on the road, you have to fight and scrap and claw like that for 40 minutes.”

 

Boyd and Heck tied for team-high scoring honors with 10 points each, while Collins and Martin chipped in nine points each. Overall, UE’s freshmen combined for 38 of the Purple Aces’ 48 points on the night.

 

Kristin Turk led four Drake players in double-figures with 17 points and seven rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. Monique Jones (12 points), Rachael Hackbarth (11 points, nine rebounds), and Wollschlager (11 points) also reached double-digits for Drake.

 

With the victory, Drake snapped a season-long five-game losing streak to improve to 12-10 overall and 5-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference.   Evansville, meanwhile, slips to 4-19 overall and 1-11 in the MVC. The Purple Aces will now travel to Omaha, Nebraska to take on the Creighton University Bluejays (13-7 overall, 8-3 MVC) on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.