DES MOINES, Iowa – Northern Illinois University senior Cassidy Glenn scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to record her third career double-double, but the NIU Huskies were unable to shut down Drake in a 95-86 loss to the Bulldogs Wednesday night at the Knapp Center. 
 
Courtney Woods tied Glenn as NIU's high scorer with 22 points while Ally Lehman added 17 points and nine rebounds despite playing just 31 minutes as she picked up three first-half fouls. Glenn's 22-point total was one off her career best of 23 while her five threes marked her career best from outside the arc.
 
Drake (3-2) shot 50.7 percent from the field and made 11 of their first 15 field goals to take a 29-24 lead after the first period. The remaining three quarters were tight with Drake outscoring NIU by two in the second period, one point in the third and one in the fourth. The Bulldogs scored 58 points in the paint and led for all but 3:20 of the contest with NIU's lead coming in the first few minutes of the game.  NIU falls to 4-2 with the loss.
 
"This game had a 'MAC feel' to it," said NIU Head Coach Lisa Carlsen.  "Anytime you can come to a place and be in the game up to the final minute, it's a good experience. We didn't play our best basketball.  Drake has a good team.  They have players that are not just good, they are smart and they took advantage of some situations on screens to score inside. I think we'll look at the game and see some missed opportunities, we definitely missed some easy baskets."
 
Trailing 50-43 at half and by nine points early in the third quarter at 54-45, NIU got a layup from Mikayla Voigt and a three-pointer from Glenn to close the gap to just four, 54-50, with 8:18 on the clock.  It was as close as the Huskies would get as Drake scored the next seven points to extend the lead to 11, 61-50, with 7:03 left. 
 
Two more Glenn threes in the quarter helped cut the lead down to six and then five points midway through the quarter, at 63-58 at 5:44 before a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs extended the lead to 12 with 3:36 to play in the period.  The closest NIU would get after that point was seven points. 
 
The Huskies shot 41.8 percent from the field in the game on 33-of-79 shooting, while Drake went 37-of-73 on field goals for a 50.7 percent rate. The Bulldogs recorded 25 assists on their 37 made shots and outrebounded NIU, 46-39.
 
Four players were in double figures for Drake, led by Lizzy Wendell who scored 30 points, and Sara Rhine, with 19.
 
The Huskies next travel to Peoria, where they will take on Bradley Friday at 7 p.m. (CT).
 
-- NIU --