Jan. 30, 2005
Final Stats
Today the University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team did something they hadn't been able to do very often in the program's history. The Panthers defeated the Drake Bulldogs 68-54 at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa marking only the second win at Drake in the history of the program. UNI is now 2-26 all time against Drake in games played in Des Moines. The win also marked the first loss for Drake in conference play at home since Creighton defeated the Bulldogs, 70-56, Feb. 23, 2003.
The Panthers put together an impressive 18-4 run in the final five minutes 21 seconds of the first half, breaking away from a 16-16 tie to take a 34-20 halftime advantage. UNI then opened the second half by making nine of their first 10 shots taking a 53-32 lead at the 13:30 mark.
Drake trimmed the margin to 12 on three different occasions and a three-pointer by Lindsay Whorton at the 1:13 mark cut the deficit to 63-53, but the Bulldogs would get no closer.
But the main difference in the game was shooting percentages. UNI finished the game shooting 59.1 percent (26-44), including 69.6 percent (16-23) in the second half. The Panthers also knocked down five-of-11 three pointers (45.5 percent). The Bulldogs struggled to make baskets, firing a dismal 33.3 percent (20-60) from the floor and a mere 8.3 percent from behind the arc (1-12).
The Bulldogs, who were out rebounded 37-25, forced the Panthers into 22 turnovers and scored 21 points on the UNI miscues. Drake committed just nine turnovers.
Alex Cook turned in her third straight double-double putting up 20 points andcollecting 12 rebounds while Cassie Hager followed with 17 points, 10 boards and four blocked shots. Jessie Biggs went two-of-three from downtown and finished with a dozen points while Amanda Faas scored nine points and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds.
With the win UNI improves to 12-8 overall, and 6-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference while Drake drops to 9-9 and 4-5 in league play. The Panthers return to the West Gym for a three-game home stand starting with Bradley on Saturday Feb. 5 at 4:05 p.m. Southern Illinois and Evansville will face UNI on Feb. 10 and Feb. 12, respectively.
