CARBONDALE, Ill. — Becca Hittner scored 10 of her 23 points in the fourth quarter and No. 23 Drake held off a second-half rally to beat Southern Illinois 71-64 on Friday night.

Maddy Dean had six of her 19 points in the final 2¢ minutes, including a deep 3-pointer from the wing that made it 66-59 with 47 seconds left. Dean finished 4 of 7 from 3-point range and Sammie Bachrodt added 14 points with two 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs (22-5, 14-1 Missouri Valley Conference) had their largest lead of the game late in the second quarter at 32-16. The Salukis (13-13, 6-9) outscored Drake 23-14 in the third quarter and got as close as 48-46 early in the fourth.

Southern Illinois never pushed in front, but four more times cut the deficit back to two, the last at 61-59 with 1:57 left.

Makenzie Silvey scored 15 points, Abby Brockmeyer had 12 points and eight rebounds, Kristen Nelson scored 10 and Nicole Martin had eight points and 11 rebounds for Southern Illinois.

No. 23 DRAKE 71, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 64

At Carbondale, Ill.

DRAKE (22-5) — Rhine 2-7 3-4 7, Bachrodt 5-9 2-2 14, Dean 6-9 3-4 19, Hittner 9-17 3-6 23, Monahan 1-4 2-2 4, Burich 0-0 0-0 0, Jonas 1-3 0-0 2, Wooldridge 0-0 0-0 0, Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-4 0-0 0, Rose 1-4 0-0 2. TOTALS 25-57 13-18 71.

S. ILLINOIS (13-13) — Martin 4-8 0-0 8, Hartman 3-4 0-0 8, Link 0-0 0-0 0, Patrick 1-5 0-0 3, Silvey 5-13 3-4 15, Brockmeyer 4-10 4-5 12, Pudlowski 2-3 0-0 4, VanHyfte 2-4 0-0 4, McCallister 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson 2-7 5-8 10. TOTALS 23-56 12-17 64.

Drake 15 17 14 25 — 71

S. Illinois 10 9 23 22 — 64

3-Point Goals–Drake 8-24 (Rhine 0-1, Bachrodt 2-4, Dean 4-7, Hittner 2-6, Monahan 0-1, Jonas 0-1, Miller 0-2, Rose 0-2), S. Illinois 6-24 (Hartman 2-3, Patrick 1-5, Silvey 2-8, Brockmeyer 0-1, McCallister 0-2, Nelson 1-5). Assists–Drake 15 (Bachrodt 4), S. Illinois 15 (Patrick 6). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Drake 34 (Hittner 7), S. Illinois 36 (Martin 11). Total Fouls–Drake 14, S. Illinois 20. Technical Fouls–Nelson. A–415.