Drake women’s basketball rallies past UNI to complete season sweep

CEDAR FALLS — Anna Miller’s three-point play with 1:48 remaining proved to be the difference in a back-and-forth battle that sent Drake past Northern Iowa, 73-68, at McLeod Center Saturday afternoon.

Among seven lead changes, Karli Rucker’s coast-to-coast layup put UNI (16-8, 9-4) ahead, 68-66, with 2:35 to play. The senior guard led the Panthers with a game-high 19 points, but poor defensive communication cost UNI as Miller’s three-point play on a dribble-drive past Grace Boffeli and Megan Meyer’s 3-pointer sealed the season sweep for the Bulldogs.

“Got to give (Drake) credit. For whatever reason we can’t beat them,” UNI Coach Tanya Warren said. “It’s a hard pill to swallow. We had some kids that didn’t show up to play today and that’s unfortunate. We’ve got to figure out how to be better in a short amount of time.”

Drake’s second-half comeback began with a 15-0 run when the Panthers went scoreless for more than five minutes. Warren pointed out communication and ball security issues as UNI’s regular rotation shrunk in the second half amid 17 turnovers.

“We’re up eight at half and they go on a 15-0 run to start the third, that’s inexcusable,” Warren said. “Thought we had some really bad mental errors with the game on the line and then they won every 50-50 ball with the game on the line.”

Meyer and Miller both scored a team-high 16 points for the Bulldogs while Grace Berg (15) joined the duo in double figures.

Bre Gunnels joined Rucker in double figures for the Panthers with 13 points and a career-high six blocks, and without second-leading scorer Kam Finley (ankle), Kayba Laube played nearly 23 minutes and scored nine.

“That communication part of it got us on some really big plays there, especially in the second half,” Rucker said. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re communicating on every single possession because it can bite you. We need to get excited and get back rolling next week at practice.”

The Panthers built an eight point advantage at halftime courtesy of a 14-2 run and built their biggest lead of 11 with 4:55 remaining in the second quarter.

UNI’s loss extends its losing streak to three games after having won six in a row. With only four games remaining before the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, Gunnels said “winning time” is fast approaching. UNI hosts Bradley (4-19, 1-13) next Friday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).

“At this point it’s coming up on March and that’s winning time so I guess we’ve got to figure it out somehow,” Gunnels said. “I think we’ve just got to stay confident and then the days we do get to rest, really, really rest and then when it’s time to come back, do our best to be 100 percent come gametime.”