Drake women secure outright MVC crown
UNI 63, Bradley 50
DES MOINES — Thirty-eight and counting.
The Drake women’s basketball team ran its Missouri Valley Conference win streak to 38-straight while securing its second consecutive outright league title by beating Illinois State 80-64 on Sunday at the Knapp Center.
The Bulldogs (21-7, 16-0) claimed back-to-back outright MVC titles for the first time since 1996-97 and 1997-98. Drake had already secured the top seed in the MVC tournament but solidified it by winning its final home conference home game.
Sara Rhine scored a team-leading 19 points off the bench for the Bulldogs, who got a total of 36 points from reserves in the win. Drake jumped out to a 51-27 halftime lead and eased to the victory.
Becca Hittner added 14 points while six others scored at least six points. Brenni Rose finished with nine points and team-highs of seven assists and six rebounds.
Hannah Green scored a game-high 22 points to lead Illinois State (13-15, 7-10).
Drake closes the regular season Thursday at Loyola and Saturday at Valparaiso.
UNI 63, Bradley 50
CEDAR FALLS — The UNI women’s basketball team made more free throws than Bradley attempted, a deciding factor in the Panthers’ 63-50 win Sunday at the McLeod Center.
Both teams shot 34.5 percent from the field with just two 3-pointers apiece, but UNI went 23-for-32 at the free-throw line while Bradley was 12-for-22.
Northern Iowa outscored the Braves 21-10 in the fourth quarter.
Mikaela Morgan led the Panthers (15-12, 11-5) with 16 points, while Megan Maahs and Kennedy Kirkpatrick added 14 points apiece.
Bradley (12-16, 6-11) was led by Vanessa Markert’s 16 points.