Katie Dinnebier

DES MOINES — Drake led by as many as 10 points in the second half but couldn’t finish off Marquette, falling 74-69 in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on Thursday at the Knapp Center.

The host Bulldogs (22-12) didn’t make a field goal over the final two minutes as Marquette (21-10) finished off the comeback win to advance. Drake went ahead 43-33 on a 3-pointer by Courtney Becker with nine minutes left in the third quarter, but the Golden Eagles outscored the Bulldogs 44-29 in the second half for the win.

Jaidynn Mason’s jumper with 50 seconds left put Marquette in front for good.

Skylar Forbes and Halle Vice scored 18 points apiece to lead the Golden Eagles, and Mason finished with 16.

Katie Dinnebier closed her collegiate career with a game-high 25 points for Drake, but she finished 7-of-21 from the field. Abbie Aalsma made four 3-pointers on her way to 16 points, while Becker and Anna Miller added 11 points each.

Miller had a game-high 11 rebounds as Drake won the battle on the boards, 39-33, but the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome 22 turnovers in the season-ending defeat.

Florida 83, UNI 71

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida stole the show in the second half.

The third-seeded Gators outscored Northern Iowa 45-33 after halftime to collect an 83-71 victory in the opening round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament on Thursday night at Exactech Arena.

Jeriah Warren scored a game-high 28 points to power Florida (17-17), which trailed by three points late in the first half before breaking free from there. The two teams were tied at halftime, 38-all, but the Gators used a 7-0 run shortly after the intermission to take the lead for good.

UNI’s Shateah Wetering scored the first basket of the second half to put UNI (17-17) on top 40-38, but Florida eventually led 52-43. Three-pointers by Kayba Laube and Elise Jaeger bookended an 8-0 Panther surge that got the deficit down to one, 52-51, but that was as close as UNI would get the rest of the way.

Alexia Gassett chipped in 13 points for Florida, Ra Shaya Kyle had 12 and Laila Reynolds added 11.

Laube led Northern Iowa with 21 points and five rebounds. Maya McDermott and Ryley Goebel got 13 points and Wetering added 10 in the season-ending defeat.

Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament

(All times Eastern)

First Round

Thursday, March 20

Marquette 74, Drake 69

Virginia Tech 61, North Carolina A&T 45

Saint Joseph’s 69, Albany (NY) 40

Villanova 76, Boston College 70

James Madison 77, Davidson 50

Minnesota 65, Toledo 53

Florida 83, UNI 71

Seton Hall 57, Quinnipiac 40

Belmont 64, Middle Tennessee 51

Missouri St. 107, Oral Roberts 76

Texas Tech 65, Wyoming 48

Northern Arizona 71, Arizona 69

Colorado 73, Southeast Louisiana 41

Gonzaga 67, UTSA 51

UNLV 63, Hawaii 46

Portland 69, Stanford 68, OT

Marquette 74, Drake 69

MARQUETTE (21-10) — Volker 3-8 2-2 9, Mason 7-9 2-2 16, Forbes 7-19 4-4 18, Vice 5-10 6-6 18, Porter 1-6 2-4 4, Cracknell 0-1 0-0 0, Utberg 1-3 0-0 3, Bediako 2-2 0-0 4, Perkins 1-5 0-0 2. TOTALS 27-63 16-18 74.

DRAKE (22-12) — Aalsma 5-9 2-2 16, Dinnebier 7-21 8-9 25, Iiams 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 4-11 2-2 11, Becker 5-7 0-0 11, Fornshell 1-4 0-0 3, McCabe 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Hawthorne 0-0 0-0 0, Dailey 0-1 1-2 1, Gray 0-0 2-2 2. TOTALS 22-58 15-17 69.

MARQUETTE 20 10 25 19 — 74

DRAKE 16 24 16 13 — 69

3-Point Goals–Marquette 4-21 (Vice 2-2, Utberg 1-3, Volker 1-5, Cracknell 0-1, Perkins 0-1, Porter 0-4, Forbes 0-5), Drake 10-26 (Aalsma 4-6, Dinnebier 3-9, Fornshell 1-2, Miller 1-3, Becker 1-3, Iiams 0-1, McCabe 0-2). Rebounds–Marquette 33 (Porter 7), Drake 39 (Miller 11). Assists–Marquette 14 (Mason 6), Drake 16 (Dinnebier 5). Total Fouls–Marquette 18, Drake 13. Fouled Out–none. A–1,959.

Florida 83, UNI 71

N. IOWA (17-17) — McDermott 5-18 0-0 13, Green 1-5 0-2 2, Goebel 6-9 1-2 13, Wetering 5-8 0-0 10, Laube 7-13 4-5 21, Jaeger 1-3 0-0 3, Wharton 2-4 4-5 9, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Janes 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 27-62 9-14 71.

FLORIDA (17-17) — Dizeko 2-4 0-0 5, Reynolds 4-9 3-3 11, Warren 10-16 4-4 28, McGill 3-10 1-2 7, Kyle 5-8 2-3 12, Gassett 6-11 1-1 13, Salgues 0-3 0-0 0, O’Neal 2-4 2-2 7, Clausen 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 32-66 13-15 83.

N. IOWA 17 21 20 13 — 71

FLORIDA 24 14 23 22 — 83

3-Point Goals–UNI 8-25 (Laube 3-8, McDermott 3-11, Wharton 1-1, Jaeger 1-3, Green 0-1, Wetering 0-1), Florida 6-19 (Warren 4-8, O’Neal 1-1, Dizeko 1-2, Clausen 0-1, Salgues 0-2, McGill 0-5). Rebounds–UNI 30 (Wetering, Laube 5), Florida 40 (Kyle, O’Neal 7). Assists–UNI 12 (McDermott, Wetering 3), Florida 20 (McGill 6). Total Fouls–UNI 13, Florida 14. Fouled Out–none. A–405.