Abbie Aalsma

CORALVILLE — The Drake women’s basketball team pulled away in the second quarter and never looked back in defeating Valparaiso 81-55 in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Thursday night at Xtream Arena.

Drake (12-19) turned a one-point lead after the first quarter into a comfortable halftime advantage by outscoring Valparaiso 27-12 in the second. The Bulldogs continued to build the margin in the second half, leading by as many as 32 points before closing out the win.

Abbie Aalsma led Drake with 16 points, hitting three 3-pointers and going 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. Grace Knutson added 12 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers, while Brooklin Dailey scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Quinn Vice also finished with 11 points as Drake’s bench contributed 32 points.

Valparaiso (0-32) was led by Fiona Connolly with 14 points and Milana Nenadic with 11. The Beacons struggled offensively, shooting 32.8% from the field and 7 of 31 from 3-point range.

Drake will face No. 3 seed Illinois State (19-12) in Friday’s 8:30 p.m. semifinal.