Drake's Career Night Leads IPFW to Win in Brookings

Saturday, January 22

Brookings, S.D.

6:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

12-5, 6-2Summit

South Dakota State

8-11, 4-4Summit

OT 1

IPFW

South Dakota State

Sophomore guard Kayla Drake picked up a school-record 10 steals in IPFW's win over South Dakota State

Drake's Career Night Leads IPFW to Win in Brookings

1/22/2011 8:40:28 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | POSTGAME NOTES (.pdf)

Brookings, SD - A career-night by IPFW sophomore Kayla Drake helped push the Mastodons to the program's first win over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits by a 70-67 final score in overtime, as head coach Chris Paul becomes the career wins leader for the women's basketball program.

The win improves IPFW's record to 12-5 on the season, the best start to a year since the 1995-96 team started the season 15-2, while upping the Mastodons' record to 6-2 in Summit League play.

Drake scored a career-high 27 points while picking up a school-record 10 steals and grabbing eight rebounds, nearly becoming the first player in program history to record a triple-double. Chelsey Jackson added 11 points while Stephanie Rosado scored eight and Jordan Zuppe seven.

Drake's 10 steals breaks the previous single-game school record of eight held by Lindy Jones, who had eight against UW-Parkside on January 25, 1996.

South Dakota State (8-11, 4-4 Summit League) jumped out quickly, opening a 7-2 lead through the first five minutes of the game, and would not trail through the entirety of the first 20 minutes. Trailing by five at 11-6, an Amanda Hyde three-pointer and Anne Boese jumper knotted the game at 11 apiece.

The 'Jacks proceeded to score the next eight points to lead by eight, and kept its eight-point lead with a pair of Kristin Rotert free throws with 5:20 left in the opening period. The 'Dons ended the half on a 13-5 run to knot the game at 30 apiece, including a three-pointer by Drake with 38 seconds left, giving IPFW the momentum heading into the locker room at halftime.

The Mastodons used the momentum gained going into the locker room to score the second period's first seven points on lay-ups by Sydney Weinert and Rosado, and another Drake three-point basket to push the 'Dons to a seven-point, 37-30 lead.

The lead caught again at seven with 12:24 after a Drake baseline jumper, and that basket would provide the high-water mark for the IPFW advantage in the game. Leading by three after a Jackson lay-in, SDSU scored eight consecutive points on a banked-in three-point basket, a pair of Rotert free throws, and a three-pointer by Jill Young to give the Jackrabbits the lead, and the momentum, with 3:21 to play.

The feisty IPFW squad would not back down, scoring the next seven points on a pair of Rosado free throws, a Rosado lay-up, and a Jackson three-pointer, the latter coming with 36.5 seconds remaining, and gave IPFW a two-point advantage.

South Dakota State would not back away, and got a lay-up from Jennie Sunnarborg with 10.2 seconds left, as IPFW's attempt at the buzzer went awry, sending the Mastodons to its second overtime game of the 2010-11 season.

IPFW never trailed in the extra period, reaching the scoreboard first on a pair of Jordan Zuppe free throws, and six straight points on a Jackson jumper, a Zuppe lay-up, and a pair of Drake free throws with 26.4 seconds remaining put IPFW ahead by two possessions at 67-63.

The teams traded a pair of free throws over the next ten seconds, before another two Drake free throws gave IPFW a lead it would not give up for the remainder of the game. A Zuppe free throw with 7.9 seconds left iced the game for the Mastodons in the crucial Summit League game.

Rotert and Macie Michelson each scored a team-high 15 points, while Sunnarborg added 14 in the losing effort.

The Mastodons remain in the Dakotas for a Monday, January 24 match-up with the North Dakota State Bison, with a 8:00 PM EST tip-off in the Bison Sports Arena.

~Dons~