PEORIA, ILL. – Sparked by a game-high 18 points from junior Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), Drake collected a 77-63 triumph at Bradley on Thursday (Feb. 21).

The Bulldogs improved to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in the MVC with the victory, while the Braves dropped to 9-16 on the campaign, including 3-11 in league action.

Drake connected on eight of its first nine shots in the game but found itself in a tightly contested battle, as Bradley didn’t allow the Blue and White to extend the margin to beyond four points in the game’s first 13 minutes.

The Bulldogs then began to pull away as they took a 31-24 advantage with 6:44 remaining. The Braves had an answer off their own going on a 10-0 run to retake the lead, 34-31. It took a lay-up from freshman Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) to end the rally and start an 8-2 run to complete the half.

Drake finished the first stanza shooting 64 percent from the floor and was paced by 10 points from Dybing. Bradley connected on 53.1 percent of its first-half attempts and was led by 10 points from Kelly Krumwiede.

Skye Johnson netted the Braves’ first basket of the final 20 minutes to cut Drake’s lead to one, 39-38, before the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to extend the margin to 46-38. Fueling the surge was baskets from senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) and sophomores Monique’ Jones (Lee’s Summit, Mo./Lee’s Summit North) and Kaniesha Agee (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill).

Bradley remained within striking distance before the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run to capture as 12-point lead on a lay-up by Turk with 5:33 remaining.

The margin swelled to as many as 16 points before Drake exited with a 77-63 victory.

The Bulldogs shot a season-best 57.7 percent from the floor, while limiting the Braves to a 41.3 percent shooting mark.

Dybing led five Drake players with double-figures with 18, while Martin, Turk, Jones and sophomore Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo./Cardinal Ritter) added 12, 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively. Sonya Harris directed Bradley with a 15-point effort and was joined in double-figures by Johnson and Krumwiede with 14 points apiece.

In spite on nine rebounds from Martin, the Bulldogs were outrebounded in the affair, 34-32.

Drake returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 24) as it travels to face in-state rival Northern Iowa at 3:05 p.m. in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State senior guard Angela Phillips connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch for the Sycamores as they overcame as much as a 13-point deficit to down the visiting Missouri State Lady Bears in overtime, 86-77, in front of 2,900 fans at Hulman Center.

ISU improves to 11-12, 5-8 MVC, while the Lady Bears fell to 9-16, 7-7 MVC.

The game was delayed for one hour as MSU experienced travel difficulties on game day and arrived in Terre Haute less than three hours before the re-scheduled tip-off time of 8:05 p.m. (EST).

Missouri State didn’t play like a team that had been on a charter bus all day out of the gate as the Lady Bears raced to a 24-11 lead with 10:20 left before halftime on a jumper by Marisa Brown. She would finish the game with a Lady Bear-high 26 points.

The Sycamores began to chip away at the Lady Bear advantage with a 3-pointer by Leah Phillips on the next possession to make it 10-point game. After a turnover by Balerio, the Sycamores went inside as Laura Rudolphi connected on a fade-away jumper to make it 24-16.

The Lady Bears’ Tiffany Coppage put an end to a 5-0 Sycamore spurt with one of her four triples in the game to put MSU up 27-16 with 9:30 to go. That would be the only points for Missouri State during what would turn out to be a 16-3 Indiana State run which was capped by another Rudolphi score to knot the game at 27 with 6:51 on the clock.

In a game that was tied four times in the first 13 minutes of action, the Sycamores took their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Kelsey Luna to march ahead 30-27. A trey by MSU’s Maggie Dwyer even the score at 30 with 6:15 to play, but ISU scored each of the game’s next four points to take a 34-30 lead with 4:40 left on a lay-up by Rudolphi.

Rudolphi finished the first half with 16 points as the Sycamores owned a 41-36 halftime edge.

The contest became tied for the eighth time at 45-45 in the second half on a pair of free throws by freshman Kelsie Colley with 16:29 left as ISU went on a 6-0 run to take a 49-45 advantage with 16 minutes left in regulation.

The Lady Bears actually surged ahead briefly on a 3-pointer by Marisha Brown for a 50-49 lead, but Kara Schilli answered with a lay-up to take a 51-50 advantage.

The heavyweight fight continued between the two clubs on a 3-pointer by Tiffany Coppage to make it 53-51 and then MSU stretched the lead back out to 55-51 on a put-back by Coppage with 10:33 left.

ISU scored the game’s next 11 points over a nearly four minute span to stake themselves to a 62-55 lead with 5:43 left. Rudolphi converted a traditional 3-point play, and Luna added a pair of free throws while Angela Phillips capped the run with a lay-up.

MSU scored each of its next five points on free throws to inch within 62-60 as the clock ticked towards four minutes and the Lady Bears eventually knotted the score at 64 all with 1:33 left on a pair of free throws from Brown.

After Rudolphi connected on a jumper with just over a minute left, the lead was brief as the scored was knotted for the 11th time on a jumper by Tiff Terwelp at 66 with 40 seconds showing.

A pair of free throws by Brown with 12 seconds left made it 68-66 MSU, but Brown came right down and fouled Angela Phillips with seven seconds left, sending her to the line for the first time on the evening.

Angela Phillips calmly drained both free throws to tie the score at 68 and a last-second heave by Tahnee Balerio was off the front of the iron at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

MSU’s Dwyer scored the first points of the extra stanza, and then Rudolphi answered a minute in to knot the score at 70. It would be the 13th and final time the score proved to be even in the game.

After Brown hit 1-of-2 free throws to give the Lady Bear their final lead of the night, it was Rudolphi again with a jumper in the paint to put the Sycamores ahead 72-71. The Lady Bears got as close at 74-72 with 3:05 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Angela Phillips gave ISU a 77-72 cushions, and then a Rudolphi score in the paint put the Sycamores ahead 79-72 with 2:05 remaining.

Angela and Leah Phillips were solid down the stretch from the free throw line and ended up winning going away in the final minute, 86-77.

The Sycamores improved to a perfect 3-0 on the season in overtime games, all of those at Hulman Center. Rudolphi paced the Sycamores with a career-high 27 points, hitting 12-of-18 shots from the field as well as a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line. She now has scored 1,091 career points to place her 17th all-time on the ISU scoring chart. Her two blocked shots gave Rudolphi 145 for her career, to improve to 11th on the all-time MVC list. It also gives her 43 blocked shots on the season, just one off of Kiwanna Battle’s single-season school record.

Rudolphi was joined in double figures scoring by Luna with 15 points, Angela Phillips with 12 while Leah Phillips and Kara Schilli each scored 10 as well. It was the first time all season that Indiana State had five different players in double figures scoring in one game.

The Sycamores’ 86 points were the most since posting 89 on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the season opening game. Indiana State has won two MVC games this season in overtime for the first time in school history. The three overtime victories this season is a school record topping the two overtime contests the program won during the 1991-92 season.

ISU shot 46.3% from the field while limiting MSU to just 36.0%. The Sycamores out-scored the Lady Bears by an 18-9 margin in overtime, hitting 4-of-5 shots from the field and connecting on 9-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe in the victory.

MSU owned a 47-43 advantage on the glass, even though Rudolphi paced ISU with seven rebounds and Schilli added six. Brown paced MSU with 26 points and was one of three different Lady Bears (Coppage and Terwelp the others) to pull down nine rebounds.

Turnovers were plentiful both ways as the Sycamores committed 16 miscues and the Lady Bears converted them into 25 points, while ISU forced 17 MSU turnovers and converted them into 25 points. ISU held down a 42-28 advantage in the paint in large part to Rudolphi’s career night.

Indiana State has to get right back into action on Saturday,  23 when they host Wichita State at Hulman Center. Tip-off is slated for 2:05 p.m. (EST).