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Drake buries UNI under fourth-quarter surge

CEDAR FALLS — Sara Rhine scored a season-high 26 points and the Drake women’s basketball team pulled away from Northern Iowa for an 88-64 victory in Friday’s Missouri Valley Conference showdown between in-state rivals at the McLeod Center.

The Bulldogs (13-4, 5-0) carried a slim lead into the fourth quarter before taking command with a 23-5 run. Colorado transfer Monica Burich closed the third quarter with the effort play that sparked Drake into the homestretch, succeeding on a second putback attempt to make it a five-point game going into the fourth before the Bulldogs broke loose.

Rhine had a career-high five steals in addition to her game-high 26 points to lead three Drake players in double figures. Becca Hittner finished with 19 points and Maddy Dean had 13 more, while Burich and fellow reserve Nicole Miller added nine points apiece. Burich also tallied team-highs of nine rebounds and five assists.

Ellie Howell had 15 points to lead Northern Iowa (10-7, 3-2), though only two after halftime. Mikaela Morgan finished with 13 points while Karli Rucker and Abby Gerrits had 10 points apiece for the Panthers, who couldn’t overcome a whopping 26 turnovers.

Both teams go back out on the road in MVC play next Friday, as Drake visits Indiana State while UNI travels to Evansville.

Drake 88, UNI 64

At Cedar Falls

DRAKE (13-4, 5-0) — Monahan 2-4 0-0 5, Hittner 7-17 2-4 19, Dean 4-7 2-2 13, Bachrodt 1-6 0-0 3, Rhine 9-18 6-6 26, Rose 2-5 0-0 4, Wooldridge 0-0 0-0 0, Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Negaard 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 3-7 2-3 9, Burich 4-5 1-2 9, Mertz 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 32-69 13-17 88.

N. IOWA (10-7, 3-2) — Rucker 3-9 3-4 10, Howell 5-9 4-4 15, Gunnels 1-3 0-0 2, Morgan 5-8 0-0 13, Hagen 1-1 2-4 4, Kroeger 0-1 0-0 0, Finley 1-4 0-0 2, Wolf 0-1 2-4 2, Hillyard 2-5 2-2 6, Gerrits 4-8 0-0 10. TOTALS 22-49 13-18 64.

DRAKE 26 18 15 29 — 88

N. IOWA 16 19 19 10 — 64

3-Point Goals–Drake 11-30 (Dean 3-6, Hittner 3-7, Rhine 2-6, Monahan 1-3, Bachrodt 1-3, Miller 1-3, Rose 0-2), UNI 7-23 (Morgan 3-4, Gerrits 2-6, Rucker 1-4, Howell 1-4, Gunnels 0-1, Kroeger 0-1, Hillyard 0-1, Finley 0-2). Rebounds–Drake 31 (Burich 9), UNI 36 (Hillyard 8). Assists–Drake 18 (Burich 5), UNI 15 (Rucker, Howell 4). Total Fouls–Drake 18, UNI 17. Fouled Out–none. A–1,458.

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