EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The Drake women’s basketball team trailed for only 21 seconds of its conference opener, throttling Evansville 76-54 on Sunday at the Ford Center.

Camryn Runner’s 3-pointer put Evansville up 3-2 in the early stages of Sunday’s Missouri Valley Conference contest, but Drake’s Anna Miller regained the lead for the Bulldog moments later and her team never trailed again.

Drake’s 13-point lead in the second quarter was cut to two, 28-26, on a 3-pointer by Tamesha Dozier, but the Bulldogs (7-5, 1-0) scored the final 10 points of the first half and the first four points of the second half to take control.

“We started the third quarter with fireworks,” said Drake head coach Allison Pohlman. “We stepped on the floor ready [to go]. The first possession propelled us on both ends, but we did need to be a little more presice with our passing and decision making during a couple windows, but we’re finishing December on a high note and looking forward to continuing our MVC schedule.”

Drake’s lead ballooned to as high as 30 before the final horn.

Katie Dinnebier filled up the stat sheet with a game-high 32 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds. Abbie Aalsma added 11 points, Miller logged a double-double of 10 points and 12 boards, and Ava Hawthorne contributed 10 points off the bench for the Bulldogs.

It was Drake’s fifth-straight win to close out the calendar year.

Maggie Hartwig led Evansville (4-8, 0-1) with 19 points, while runner finished with 14 points.

Drake is back at home this week with home games against Illinois-Chicago on Thursday and Valparaiso on Saturday.

Panthers top Sycamores

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Northern Iowa women’s basketball team used a 10-0 run during the second quarter to take the lead for good, fighting off Indiana State for a 75-65 win in Sunday’s Missouri Valley Conference opener inside the Hulman Center.

The Panthers (6-6, 1-0) trailed 17-13 at the end of the first quarter before scoring the first 10 points of the period to take a 23-17 lead.

UNI’s lead climbed to as many as 10 points, 49-39, late in the third quarter before the Sycamores (2-10, 0-1) countered with an 11-2 surge to get within one. The Panthers answered by scoring the next nine points to pull away for good.

Kayba Laube scored a game-high 20 points to lead UNI, while Maya McDermott added 17 points and seven assists. Shateah Wetering added her first collegiate double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ryley Goebel added 11 points before fouling out.

Keslyn Secrist came away with 17 points to pace Indiana State, which couldn’t overcome 18 turnovers in suffering its sixth-straight loss.

The Panthers return home to host games this week against Valparaiso on Thursday and Illinois-Chicago on Saturday.