University of Northern Iowa
Drake
Drake Tops UNI in MVC Quarterfinal, 68-57
3/13/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 13, 2009
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team ended up on the short end of a back-and-forth game against in-state rival Drake, falling to the Bulldogs 68-57 in the quarterfinal of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Friday night at Family Arena. Kim Wypiszynski led UNI with 16 points, and Lizzie Boeck finished with 10 points for the Panthers. Jordann Plummer led all scorers with 21 points, 17 of them scored in the second half. Amber Wollschlager finished with 18 points, and Kristin Turk added 12. K.K. Armstrong scored on back to back possessions to give the Panthers a 10-7 advantage with 13 minutes left in the half. The Panther lead fluctuated between one and three points until Wollschlager knocked down a three from the top of the key to put Drake in front, 14-12 with 8:02 on the clock. Indy Uhlenhopp found Erin Brocka with a cross-court pass, and her three from the left baseline put UNI back in the lead, 15-14. Wollschlager returned the lead to Drake, however, connecting on a turn-around jumper at 5:28 that brought the score to 16-15. Brocka put UNI back in front when she drove the right side of the lane for a layup at 4:15. Nicole Clausen hit a three at 3:32 to make it a two-possession game, 20-16. Wollschlager and Wypiszynski traded baskets to keep UNI's advantage at four, 22-18. Wypiszynski scored at 1:30 to stretch the UNI advantage to six, 24-18. Kristin Turk banked in a jump shot for Drake, but Armstrong hit a pair of free throws to return the Panther lead to six. Boeck found Clausen on a backdoor cut to the basket, and her layup stretched the UNI lead to 28-20 with 29 seconds left in the half. Monique Jones made a pair of free throws with three seconds on the clock to bring the halftime score to 28-22 in favor of the Panthers. Drake scored the first four points of the second half to trim the UNI lead to a pair, but Armstrong scored on a layup and Clausen hit a three from the left baseline to stretch the UNI lead to seven, 33-26 with 17:16 to play. Wollschlager hit her third three of the game to end UNI's run. Jones made the first of two free throws, and DU came up with the offensive rebound when she missed the second try. Jordann Plummer scored on the second chance, pulling Drake within one, 33-32 with 14:37 on the clock. Plummer took a steal coast-to-coast, and she was fouled as she hit the layup. The free throw capped a 9-0 run by the Bulldogs that put Drake in the lead, 35-33. Boeck scored to tie the game at 35, and Plummer and Rachel Madrigal traded baskets to tie the game at 37 with 13:33 to play. Uhlenhopp put UNI back in the lead with a three, but Plummer connected from long range to tie the game. Wollschlager's fourth three of the game put DU in the lead, 43-40 at the 11-minute mark. Armstrong made one of two free throws, and Wypiszynski scored to tie the game, but Turk answered with a short jumper on the ensuing possession to return the lead to Drake, 45-43. Boeck scored on the Panthers' next trip, tying the game for the fifth time. Teams knotted the game at 47 and 49, and Plummer broke the game's seventh tie with a jumper that gave Drake a 51-49 edge. Rachel Hackbarth hit a mid-range jump shot to make it a two-possession game, 53-49, and Plummer scored from just inside the three-point line to stretch the DU lead to 55-49 with five minutes to play. Plummer scored again to cap a 10-0 Drake run that put the Bulldogs in front 57-49 at 4:20. Boeck scored for the Panthers to end the DU run, but Turk answered for the Bulldogs and Plummer made a pair of free throws at 2:29 to give the Bulldogs a double-digit lead, 61-51. Wypiszynski knocked down a long jump shot at 1:07 to cut UNI's deficit to eight. UNI was never able to get any closer, however, on the way to the 11-point loss. UNI shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor, including 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers made 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) of their free-throw attempts. The Bulldogs finished 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from the floor, including 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Bulldogs were 17-of-20 (85 percent) from the free-throw line. The Panthers end their season with an 11-19 overall mark.
