LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Bulldog women’s basketball team visited one of the most historic venues in basketball on Friday morning for a non-conference matchup. Drake took on Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and gave the Jayhawks a scare in the first half, but could not hang with KU for the entire game in a 74-49 result.
Mylea Monahan tracked down the opening tip after the ball got batted all the way in front of the Drake bench. The Bulldogs scored on their first trip as Allie Myers put one up and in. The Jayhawks answered, though, taking advantage of a Drake scoring drought that lasted over four minutes of game time.
Kansas native Anna Becker eventually ended the Jayhawks’ streak of 14 unanswered points with an old fashioned 3-point play in transition.
Drake’s offensive struggles made it difficult to keep up with Kansas’ pace, but the Jayhawks cooled off on their end with the difference hovering around the 10-point mark. Quinn Vice recorded her third block of the day with around two minutes remaining in the first period, which led to a Monahan dribble-drive deuce, cutting the Kansas lead back to single digits.
Drake had the last try in the first quarter after an errant KU pass, but a Monahan triple fell short and the Bulldogs failed to capitalize on an offensive rebound. The opening stanza ended with Kansas on top, 19-11.
Grace Knutson finally broke the seal from deal to start the second quarter scoring for Drake as she splashed the Bulldogs first trey on a pull-up jumper. Drake continued to chip away at the KU lead, which was slashed to just three as Mya Crawford tracked down a loose ball and fed Quinn Vice for a three from the wing. Vice’s long ball prompted Kansas to burn a timeout.
Despite the scoring spurt, Drake found itself on the wrong end of another dry spell midway through the second as a single Karis Finley free throw marked Drake’s only score for over three minutes. Kansas took advantage and expanded its lead back into double figures. Brittany Harshaw and Libby Fandel connected on back-to-back corner threes, forcing a timeout from Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman.
Drake could not get back on track after the pause in action as KU continued to roll until halftime. The Jayhawks ended the first half on a 10-0 run to lead 42-24 at the break.
Vice buried another three, this time from the top of the key, for Drake’s first bucket of the second half, but the margin was still favorable for the Jayhawks. Monahan was able to swish a triple of her own, however KU led by 17 at the third period media timeout.
The Dogs continued to fight through the rest of the third despite the deficit. Brooklin Dailey, who was battling foul trouble all day, finally got into the scoring column after Maggie Taylor collected a rebound while sitting after getting bumped over. Taylor found a cutting Dailey for an easy bunny. Dailey added a couple more scores on another driving lay-in and a transition three.
But Kansas had an answer every step of the way as they led 59-40 after three.
Drake was able to empty its bench down the stretch as Kansas’ lead became insurmountable. Drake went scoreless again over the final three minutes as the Bulldogs slipped up by a 74-49 tally.
“We fought and scrapped, but there weren’t too many positives today,” Pohlman said. “We took hurried shots, turned the ball over too much, and your margin of error against a team like this is so small. There are a lot of things we have to navigate and figure out, especially our physicality. Need to be more assertive and confident in the paint and on the defensive end. Still proud of our group, but collectively as a team we need to embrace that part of our game more.”
Brooklin Dailey played just 15 minutes but led Drake in scoring with 12. She added two rebounds. Quinn Vice scored eight points and notched a career best five blocks. The Bulldogs’ other native Kansas, Taedyn Gray, checked in and snared four rebounds, made one block, and swiped one steal. Vice, Gray, Mya Crawford, and Allie Myers tied atop the rebounding list with four.
After taking on the Jayhawks’ in KU’s annual kids’ game, the Bulldogs will return home for their yearly Character Counts! Day on Nov. 10. Drake is set to host Cleveland State on Tuesday at 11 a.m. inside the Knapp Center.
