Alexander returns; Hawkeyes rally past Drake

IOWA CITY - Tired? Sore?

"All of the above," said Kachine Alexander.

Tired. Sore. And victorious.

Alexander made a triumphant return, Jaime Printy scored a career-high 22 points and Morgan Johnson dominated the paint in Iowa's 73-61 women's basketball win over Drake in front of 4,312 Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The Hawkeyes (6-5) broke a three-game losing streak and defeated Drake for the eighth straight time.

"I'm really pleased with our second half," said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. "We played very well, we shot extremely well and we rebounded extremely well."

Drake (6-3) owned a 30-25 halftime advantage and extended the margin to eight early in the second half. But the Hawkeyes rallied, then pulled away.

Printy hit a pair of 3-pointers and Hannah Draxten added another in a 15-2 run put the Hawkeyes in front, 60-52. The margin never wavered below five points again.

A freshman from Marion, Printy was 8 for 12 from the field, 4 of 5 from long range.

"She has the green light," Bluder said. "She has the range. Why not do it?"

Another freshman, Johnson decisively won the battle in the pivot against Drake's Rachael Hackbarth.

Johnson was 8 of 10 from the floor in a 16-point outing, and held Hackbarth to 2-of-13 shooting and blocked four shots.

"I knew she was a driver, so I anticipated the drive a little more," Johnson said. "I focused on not jumping out of my stance."

Alexander had missed the previous seven games with a stress fracture in her lower leg. She logged 15 effective minutes off the bench, posting eight points and six rebounds.

Iowa outrebounded the Bulldogs, 24-10, in the second half.

"I love it when we win the war on the boards," Bluder said.

"(Iowa was) by far the more aggressive team in the second half," said Drake Coach Amy Stephens, whose team did not shoot a free throw all game. "Obviously, it's very disappointing. We felt we could come here and compete. We felt we could come in here and win."

Three surges defined the first half. Drake went up, 10-3. Iowa responded for a 20-14 lead, then the Bulldogs scored 11 points in the final 2 minutes and took a 30-25 lead into the locker room.

Amber Wollschlager hit five 3-pointers and led Drake with 19 points.