Katie Dinnebier

DES MOINES — Katie Dinnebier scored a career-high 27 points and the Drake women’s basketball team overtook Louisiana Tech 77-66 in the opening game of the Vibrant Thanksgiving Classic on Friday at the Knapp Center.

Dinnebier sparked a pair of critical runs for the Bulldogs (4-1), who trailed by as many as 12 points before making their charge in the second half. The Lady Techsters (2-2) took a 46-39 lead on a 3-pointer by Jianna Morris with 5:39 left in the third quarter, but that’s when Drake made its run.

Dinnebier scored six points in a row to give the Bulldogs the lead for good with a 12-0 run. Louisiana Tech didn’t score for a span of 5:16, going 0-for-7 from the field, and never got back within three points the rest of the game.

Grace Berg added 21 points and Anna Miller had 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for the Bulldogs, who assisted on 17 of the team’s 28 field goals.

Silvia Nativi led Louisiana Tech with 17 points, but played just 28 minutes before fouling out. Robyn Lee and Anna Larr Roberson had 14 points apiece.

Panthers can’t catch up with Syracuse

LAS VEGAS — The Northern Iowa women’s basketball team fell behind and never caught up as Syracuse defeated the Panthers 71-54 in Friday’s opener of the South Point Shootout.

The Orange (4-1) scored the game’s first seven points and didn’t led the Panthers get on the board for the first 3 minutes, 15 seconds. Iowa transfer Shateah Wetering provided UNI with its first points and a coast-to-coast layup by Maya McDermott got the Panthers (1-3) to within three, but that’s as close as they’d get the rest of the way.

Georgia Woolley led Syracuse with 22 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Alaina Rice added 17 points. The Orange got 65 of their 71 points from their starting lineup.

Cailyn Morgan made four 3-pointers and led Northern Iowa with 12 points. Emerson Greene got nine points and Grace Boffeli had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Unbeaten Vanderbilt wards off Cyclone women

LAS VEGAS — Vanderbilt withstood Iowa State’s frantic third-quarter comeback to beat the Cyclone women’s basketball team 68-53 on Friday in the first game of the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout.

Iowa State (2-2) fell behind by 12 at halftime, 28-16, and 15 in the third quarter before rallying back. The Cyclones outscored the Commodores 24-15 in the third period and got as close as one, 41-40, on a three-point play by Addy Brown with 1:01 left.

Vanderbilt scored 11 of the first 14 points of the fourth quarter to put the Cyclones away, winning the period 25-13 to improve to 6-0 for the season.

Iyana Moore scored a game-high 21 points to lead Vanderbilt. Jordyn Cambridge had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Audi Crooks led Iowa State off the bench with 14 points, while Brown finished with 11 points. Nyamer Diew added 10 points and two blocked shots before fouling out.

Iowa State faces Syracuse at 1 p.m. on Saturday.