Drake women's basketball holds on to beat Northern Iowa in memorable showdown

When the women’s basketball season started, Sunday’s showdown between Drake and Northern Iowa was supposed to be a big battle between the top two teams in the Missouri Valley Conference fighting for first place.

While Drake is right where it's supposed to be, injuries have severely hampered Northern Iowa this season. But that didn't stop a memorable matchup from still unfolding.

Drake's Taylor McAulay connected on two free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining and the Bulldogs held on to beat the Panthers 79-77 at the Knapp Center on Sunday afternoon.

"This rivalry, as everybody calls it, is always, always entertaining," said Drake coach Allison Pohlman. "I'm really, really excited that we were able to navigate and figure out a way down the stretch to make plays."

The Bulldogs made just enough plays to win their seventh straight game and improve to 22-5 overall including 15-1 in the MVC. Their latest win pushed them closer to a regular-season conference crown with four games left.

Despite leading in the fourth quarter, Northern Iowa fell to 11-14 and 10-6 in league play. Still, the team gave Drake everything it had in a close call.

Five players scored in double figures for Northern Iowa, including Maya McDermott, who finished with 24 points. Anna Miller had a team-high 21 points and 19 rebounds for Drake.

The Bulldogs weren't able to put the game away until late in the fourth quarter when Drake's Courtney Becker grabbed a key offensive rebound off a Grace Berg missed free throw.

Drake's Katie Dinnebier hit two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 77-73 lead. Northern Iowa cut the lead to one on a 3-pointer by Kayba Laube. Northern Iowa was then forced to foul and sent McAulay to the line. She promptly hit her two big free throws.

"To be able to knock those down, it's game changers, especially in games like this that are close," Dinnebier said.

It was just the type of matchup fans hoped to see this season. Northern Iowa was expected to do big things, but the Panthers, who were picked to finish first in the MVC, haven't been able to live up to the high hopes due to injuries.

Forward Grace Boffeli missed time with an injury, while guard Emerson Green is out for the remainder of the season after getting hurt in the first meeting between these two teams.

Drake led for the entire first half and went into halftime with a 39-33 lead. But the Panthers eventually got going. Northern Iowa went on a 6-0 run and tied the game 46-46 on a layup by Ryley Goebel.

The Panthers, who shot 57.1% (12-for-21) from the field in the quarter, made eight shots in a row at one point. One of those shots, a 3-pointer by Rachael Heittola, capped a 9-0 run and gave Northern Iowa a 55-49 lead.

"We just talked about one possession at a time and we needed to get more ball movement on the offensive end," said Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren. "The ball was sticking in that first quarter on the same side."

UNI forced Drake to find a way to get back into the game. The Bulldogs quickly responded, though. Megan Meyer jumpstarted an 8-0 run that ended with Drake taking a 57-55 lead on a basket and free throw from McAulay.

Northern Iowa reclaimed the lead on a pair of free throws by McDermott that put the Panthers up 61-59 in the fourth quarter. That was far from the end, though. A back-and-forth battle ensued, with the two teams trading the lead eight times throughout the afternoon. The game was also tied eight times.

Northern Iowa struggled down the stretch, making just two of its last nine field-goal attempts, including a late 3-pointer by Cailyn Morgan.

"I thought it was a typical UNI-Drake women's basketball game," Warren said. "It was a battle. It was a great game."

Drake can now close out the league title

Sunday's game may have been the toughest game remaining on Drake's schedule. The Bulldogs still have home games against UIC and Valparaiso and at Evansville and Indiana State. Only UIC has a winning record. Drake, which sits in first place in the MVC standings, can control its own destiny for a regular-season conference crown. But the Bulldogs first had to take care of business against a tough UNI team.

"Completely overjoyed," Pohlman said.

The Northern Iowa game tends to bring out the best in Maya McDermott

The former Johnston High School star has come up with huge basket after huge basket in the series. McDermott hit a pair of game-winning floaters against the Bulldogs last season. She was great again Sunday, connecting on 9-of-17 shots from the field while also handing out four assists.

“I’ve played with and against a lot of the Drake girls,” McDermott said. “We have a good relationship but I love playing against them.”

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake women's basketball vs. UNI: Bulldogs win memorable matchup