Drake women's basketball routs Indiana State to start MVC Tournament, will face UNI next

MOLINE, Ill. — Beginning the conference tournament against the opponent you ended the regular season with creates an odd scheduling quirk full of familiarity. Drake women's basketball found itself in that exact situation to start the postseason.

For the second time in less than a week, the Bulldogs handled Indiana State with ease.

The top-seeded Bulldogs cruised from the jump en route to a 79-57 win over the No. 9 seed Sycamores in Friday's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Vibrant Arena. Drake (27-5) advances to Saturday's 1:30 p.m. semifinal against No. 4 seed Northern Iowa.

"It's March, great time of year," sixth-year forward Grace Berg said. "We were ready."

A look at the regular-season results indicated another Drake rout was coming, but it had to materialize first. The Bulldogs rolled to a 96-64 win last Saturday at Indiana State (11-21) to go with their 77-47 win in the Knapp Center on Jan. 4. Wacky things happen, though, when the calendar flips to March. Avoiding a huge postseason casualty would require Drake to look past both blowouts.

The Bulldogs made it clear early there would be no peeking ahead. Drake constructed a double-digit advantage before the first quarter concluded and ballooned its cushion to 16 at first half's end.

"Anytime you're in the postseason and have an opportunity to play deep into March, it just feels very, very good at the end to advance," Drake coach Allison Pohlman said. "The quick starts are really great for us to be able to get off on the right foot. I think our team does a great job staying really in-tune with what the game plan is."

As has been the case for much of this year, Berg and Katie Dinnebier again led the Drake offensive surge. Those two combined for the Bulldogs' final 14 points of the first half, then spearheaded Drake's 8-0 run early in the third quarter that removed all drama.

Dinnebier poured in 15 points with three treys. Berg added 18 more on 6-for-10 shooting. An emphatic showing from Anna Miller (15 points, 12 rebounds) marked her seventh double-double in Drake's last eight games.

"It's always nice to come and start really well," Miller said. "I think it just gives a lot of people confidence right out of the gates. And I think it was really helpful for us down the stretch."

It's pushing seven weeks since the Bulldogs last stumbled, a winning streak Drake hopes to add two more victories to while at Hoops in the Heartland. Friday got the weekend off to a strong start.

No. 4 seed UNI 79, No. 5 seed Illinois State 75

After splitting with the Redbirds in the regular season, UNI picked up the season series win over Illinois State when it mattered most.

Maya McDermott led the Panthers with 20 points and got double-digit assistance from Kayba Laube (17 points) and Cailyn Morgan (13 points). Despite a tough shooting afternoon in going 4-for-10 with eight points, Grace Boffeli pulled down 11 huge rebounds to help the UNI cause.

The Panthers had a double-digit lead for most of the first half before Illinois State made a mild push to end the third quarter. However, the Redbirds never got within one possession in the fourth.

UNI will now get a third crack at Drake after falling in Cedar Falls on Feb. 3 (79-71) and in Des Moines on Feb. 25 (79-77). Expect another tight battle Saturday afternoon.

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard. 

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake Bulldogs rout Indiana State again to open Hoops in the Heartland