DES MOINES — Four players scored in double figures as a fast start for the Drake women’s basketball team led to an 81-64 victory over Northern Iowa in Friday’s Missouri Valley Conference game inside the Knapp Center.

The host Bulldogs (12-7, 7-0) remained unbeaten and alone atop the Valley after jumping out to a 24-17 first-quarter advantage and a 40-24 lead at the half.

Drake came up just shy of season-high field-goal shooting percentage, finishing 27-for-49 (55.1 percent) from the field in what was nearly a wire-to-wire win.

Becca Hittner led the Bulldogs with 16 points, Maddy Dean got 12 off the bench, and starters Becca Jonas and Sammie Bachrodt both contributed 11 points. Drake led by as many as 22 points in the second half before a frantic UNI rally cut the deficit to seven with 4:22 left in the game.

Rose Simon-Ressler scored a game-high 18 points to pace the Panthers (8-10, 4-3), but it was a cold shooting night overall for UNI. The team went 13-for-34 from 3-point range while shooting 8-for-28 inside the arc in the conference loss.

Mikaela Morgan added 11 points and Ellie Howell had 10 more for UNI, which will get its shot at revenge on Feb. 16 in Cedar Falls.

Drake 81, Northern Iowa 64

At Des Moines

N. IOWA (8-10, 4-3) — Maahs 1-6 2-2 4, Howell 4-13 0-0 10, Simon-Ressler 7-13 0-0 18, Kirkpatrick 2-8 2-2 8, Morgan 3-9 2-4 11, Rucker 0-2 0-0 0, Kroeger 0-2 0-0 0, Garrison-Nickerson 0-0 0-0 0, Hillyard 1-2 2-2 4, Hagen 1-1 1-2 3, Gerrits 2-6 0-0 6. TOTALS 21-62 9-12 64.

DRAKE (12-7, 7-0) — Rose 3-3 1-2 8, Jonas 4-4 2-2 11, Monahan 2-5 0-0 4, Hittner 4-8 6-6 16, Bachrodt 4-9 1-2 11, Greiner 2-2 0-0 6, Dean 4-9 2-2 12, Fuller 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 3-4 0-0 6, Rhine 1-4 5-5 7. TOTALS 27-49 17-19 81.

UNI 17 7 19 21 — 64

DRAKE 24 16 19 22 — 81

3-Point Goals–UNI 13-34 (Simon-Ressler 4-8, Morgan 3-7, Gerrits 2-5, Howell 2-6, Kirkpatrick 2-7, Rucker 0-1), Drake 10-20 (Greiner 2-2, Hittner 2-3, Bachrodt 2-5, Dean 2-5, Rose 1-1, Jonas 1-1, Fuller 0-1, Miller 0-1, Rhine 0-1). Rebounds–UNI 35 (Maahs 15), Drake 32 (Jonas, Bachrodt 5). Assists–UNI 17 (Howell 4), Drake 23 (Jonas 6). Total Fouls–UNI 17, Drake 11. Fouled Out–none. A–3,331.