Brady Sparks Women's Basketball Team In Season Opening Win

Nov. 14, 2008

DES MOINES, IOWA - Senior guard Ashleigh Brady came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points, powering the Drake women's basketball team to a season-opening 72-54 victory past Texas State Friday night.

Senior guard Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn.) enjoyed her first career double-double for Drake with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Junior forward Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and junior guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo.) added 10 points apiece for Drake.

Brady, a native of Lubbock,Texas, had scored a combined nine points in the last six games to close out the 2007-08 campaign.

"Ashleigh has embraced her role as our sixth man the last two seasons," said Drake head coach Amy Stephens. "She really stepped up for us tonight and shot the ball well."

Drake limited Texas State to just 32.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Bulldogs also scored 16 points off Texas State turnovers, while collecting nine steals.

Plummer, Dybing and sophomore Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa) had two thefts apiece for Drake. Junior guard Kaniesha Agee (Kansas City, Mo.) dished out a game-high five assists.

"We really saw Monique', Kaniesha and Ashleigh lead us with their hustle plays in the second half," Stephens added. "That really turned the game around."

A jumper by freshman Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D.) gave Drake a 31-16 lead.

But the Bulldogs would close out the first half, going scoreless for the final 5:29 while missing their last four shots allowing Texas State to pull within 31-23.

Texas State took advantage of cold shooting by Drake to open the second half. The Bobcats outscored Drake, 8-1, to come within 32-31 with 17:46 left in the game.

Brady then hit two straight jumpers to start a string of 12 unanswered points by Drake building the lead back up to 44-31 with 14:15 remaining.

Drake shot 45.7 percent from the floor, making 21 of 46 shots.