DES MOINES, IOWA -- A tenacious defense held Quincy to 28.1 percent shooting, while forcing 24 turnovers as the Drake women's basketball team won its final exhibition tune-up with a 69-47 romp Friday night at the Drake Knapp Center.
Senior guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo.) scored a game-high 17 points to pace a balanced attack for Drake, which will open its regular season Nov. 13 traveling to UMKC.
Plummer added five steals for the Bulldogs, who had 13 thefts in the game and scored 26 points off Quincy miscues.
"We really set the tone out the gates," said head coach Amy Stephens. "Overall, though we got better defensively in the second half. I was really pleased with their effort tonight."
The Bulldogs went on a 13-2 run during a 6 minute 50 second span early in the first half to turn a 7-7 tie into a 22-9 advantage. Plummer scored five points to fuel the surge.
Drake started the second half sluggish, missing its first six shots before Amber Wollschlager (Milbank, S.D.) broke the dry spell with a jumper from the right wing with 15:28 remaining to give the Bulldogs a 36-25 lead.
Wollschlager and senior Monique' Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo.) added nine points apiece.
Drake outrebounded Quincy, 42-40, with Jones grabbing a team-high six rebounds.
Wollschlager and sophomore forward Rachael Hackbarth (Colgate, Wis.) added five rebounds apiece.
A basket by freshman guard Kayla Person (O'Fallon, Neb.) gave Drake its biggest lead of the game at 69-45 with 50 seconds left.
Drake shot just 38.7 percent from the floor, making 24 of 62 shots.
"We had some good looks that just didn't go in," Stephens added. "We're going to make those shots."
Forward Courtney Shuman had 10 points for Quincy, which posted a 27-5 record en route to advancing to the 2009 NCAA Division II Tournament.
