DES MOINES — With a team built around talented players from the state of Iowa, the Drake women’s basketball team ended a long losing streak against Iowa on Sunday.
Led by two native Iowans, the Bulldogs grabbed an early lead and kept the Hawkeyes at arm’s length the entire game during an 81-76 home victory in front of 3,307 fans at the Knapp Center. It was Drake’s first win over Iowa since the 2001-02 season.
“Today was a big win for us,” said Drake coach Jennie Baranczyk, who played at Iowa for current Hawkeye coach Lisa Bluder. “And I think it’s a big win because one, it’s taken a long time to get here. But the second piece is that it was a complete and total team effort.”
It was the first victory for Baranczyk over her former coach and alma mater. She was a three-time captain for the Hawkeyes under Bluder and played on three NCAA Tournament teams.
Iowa had won 14 consecutive games in the series. The Bulldogs prevented the Hawkeyes from the season sweep of instate teams. The Hawkeyes already had wins over Northern Iowa (88-39) and Iowa State (88-76). Iowa State defeated Drake in Ames earlier this season.
"I think you saw a young team from Iowa come in here and kind of get its tail whipped," Bluder said. "That's exactly what happened."
Former Southeast Polk standout Caitlin Ingle, now a senior at Drake, led the Bulldogs with a season-high 20 points and seven assists. Former Dowling Catholic standout and freshman Becca Hittner added 14 points and 10 rebounds as four Bulldogs reached double-figures in the win.
Senior Lizzy Wendell chipped in 15 points and four assists, and sophomore Becca Jonas collected 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Sammie Bachrodt added seven points and nine boards for Drake, which improved to 6-3 on the season.
“I think we’re both really good teams,” Baranczyk said. “We have a lot of respect for each other. I think this game means more than a coach playing against a former player. This is about Drake, and it’s about Iowa.”
The Hawkeyes, whose tough non-conference schedule also included losses to No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 9 UCLA, dropped to 8-4 on the season.
There were three lead changes in the game, but once Drake took a 10-9 lead with 5:03 left in the first quarter, the Bulldogs never trailed again. They led by as many as 10 points in the first half and went up 13 with 4:28 to go in the fourth quarter.
Iowa rallied with a 12-2 run late in the fourth and trimmed the home team’s lead to 77-74 with 31 seconds to go. Bachrodt and Ingle both went 1-of-2 from the line before Hittner put the game away with two free throws with 8 seconds on the clock.
The Bulldogs led 24-17 after one quarter, held a 38-33 advantage at halftime and took a 59-52 lead into the fourth.
Iowa won the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough on the road against the Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorites.
Disterhoft is another one of those standouts from the state of Iowa. One of the best players in Hawkeye women’s basketball history, the former Linn-Mar prep hit four 3-pointers and also led the team with four assists.
Sophomore Megan Gustafson battled foul trouble in the second half but still finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. It was the 16th double-double of her young career.
Disterhoft and Gustafson combined to make 18-of-29 shots from the field.
The rest of the team was 10-of-36.
“We couldn’t get it going in the first quarter,” Bluder said. “They just took it to us. After that it was pretty fair game.”