The Bulldogs split a pair of down-to-the-wire games last weekend at the Saint Mary’s Hilton Concord Tournament, including a 66-65 victory over University of Arkansas-Little Rock sealed by a game-winning runner with two seconds left by senior guard Jordann Plummer.
The shot served as redemption for Friday’s 76-73 defeat against tournament host Saint Mary’s, in which Plummer was called for traveling just before making what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer.
The Bulldogs are now 3-2 on their young season that also features an impressive victory over No. 24 Iowa State.
“Our overall performance was very good on the offensive end during the Saint Mary’s tournament,” Head Coach Amy Stephens said. “We continue to make really positive strides offensively, but our improvement on the defensive end still needs to be better, and our rotations and rebounding must improve.”
On Friday, the Bulldogs played a strong first half and seemed to be in control with a 45-34 lead. Junior guard Kristin Turk came off the bench and led the charge for Drake, scoring 12 points in a five-minute period and 14 total in the half.
As a team, the Bulldogs shot 43 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the first half.
The second half, however, belonged to Saint Mary’s. Led by Louella Tomlinson, the Gaels shot 63 percent from the field en route to a 42-point half.
The 6-foot-4-inch Tomlinson was nearly unstoppable, going 13-for-17 for 26 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked seven Bulldog shots.
“Louella was tough to guard because she could score from the outside, off the dribble or with her back to the basket, and she is an excellent free throw shooter,” Stephens said. “She is a very intelligent basketball player as well.”
With 37 seconds left and the Bulldogs down by four, sophomore guard Amber Wollschlager hit her third 3-pointer of the game to bring Drake within a point. Saint Mary’s sealed the game, however, with a layup by Jasmine Smith with 13 seconds left.
Wollschlager scored nine points on the game and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Senior forward Monique’ Jones added 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds.
The next day, Drake was in the opposite scenario.
Against Arkansas-Little Rock, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start, making just 9-of-20 shots and scoring only 24 points.
The second half was a whole different story, however, as Drake shot a record 16-for-20 (a school record) and 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs were down seven with 12 minutes left when Jordann Plummer took control of the game. The senior scored four points and had two steals that propelled the team to a 6-0 run and pulled the score within one.
The score remained close for the rest of the game until Plummer ultimately gave the Bulldogs the lead with her last-second heroics.
Plummer finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting while dishing eight assists.
Jones and Turk also had efficient games, both shooting 5-for-7 and scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively. Jones also controlled the boards, pulling in six rebounds.
“We hope to build off our defense in the second half of the Arkansas-Little Rock game,” Stephens said. “We also had a key defensive stop at the end of the game which we can build on.”
The Bulldogs will carry the momentum of the last-second win into next weekend’s Air Force Tournament in Colorado.
