Miller helps Drake sink Iowa State

DES MOINES - Recent history hadn't favored Drake women's basketball when it saw Iowa State walk onto the floor.

Losses in 10 of the last 11 meetings qualified the matchup as anything but an in-state rivalry. Under coach Jennie Baranczyk, the Bulldogs have tried to follow the Cyclones model of recruiting in-state talent to buck the trend of losing to the top Division I teams in Iowa.

That decision paid off in spades when freshman Nicole Miller sank four free throws in the final 24 seconds to push Drake to its first win in the series since 2009.

'(I was) just staying calm and when I got to the free throw line, I just thought about being in the gym,” Miller, a North-Linn grad and Gazette Athlete of the Year, said. ‘I've talked a lot with Coach Jacqui (Kalin) just about staying and blocking out everything and shooting the free throw. We do it all the time.”

Drake's 74-70 win Sunday validated the Bulldogs' (1-0) efforts in the offseason, but left the Cyclones (1-1) with a bad taste in their mouths. Iowa State scored in spurts - including a 20-4 run to take a 41-36 lead in the third quarter - but struggled in the post, shooting 1-of-7.

Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly broke down the performance in its simplest form.

'When you miss 52 shots and you get zero out of your post game, you're not going to win. I don't care who we play,” Fennelly said. 'We got beat by a better team.”

Shots weren't falling on the perimeter either as the Cyclones went 8-of-23 from beyond the arc, including four from senior Kidd Blaskowsky who finished with 12 points and four rebounds.

'We need to get back in the gym more,” Blaskowsky said. 'I think that goes for a lot of us. Mainly just sticking together. This game is over, so we've got to focus on the next one.”

Iowa State got double-doubles from junior Seanna Johnson (16 points and 16 rebounds) and freshman Bridget Carleton (11 points and 12 rebounds) while sophomore Jadda Buckley led all scorers with 18 points and six assists. The 33.3 percent shooting from the field is inexplicable, but it's also a grounding mechanism for the ISU offense.

Although the Cyclones outrebounded the Bulldogs 49-42, arrant passes at inopportune times leading to 12 turnovers stalled any rhythm that might have been building.

'We want to make shots, that's how you win a game and put more points on the board,” Buckley said. 'But I just think it's a matter of turning around. We have a lot of season left and a lot of games to play so it's just a matter of what you take from this game and run with it.”

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