Box Score

CHICAGO - Visiting Drake shot just under 50% from the field in the first half, building a sizable lead in the process, as it eased past Loyola, 86-60, in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams tonight at Gentile Arena. The Bulldogs move back to the .500 mark overall at 6-6 (1-0 Missouri Valley) with the victory, while Loyola slides to 2-10 (0-1 Missouri Valley).

After a Becca Jonas layup opened up the scoring, baskets from Taylor Manuel and Sam Lambrigtsen gave Loyola a slim 4-2 lead with 17:28 to play in the first half. Lizzy Wendell, who came into the evening as the Valley's leading scorer, buried a three to quickly put the Bulldogs back in front (5-4) on Drake's next possession, igniting a 17-0 run that had Drake up by 15 (19-4) with just under eight minutes gone.

Lambrigtsen's only three-point basket of the evening ended a Rambler scoring drought that lasted 5:39, chipping the deficit back down to 12 (19-7). Consecutive scores from Manuel pulled the Ramblers to within 11 (24-13) with 9:21 to play but Drake took off on an 11-2 spurt to stretch its lead to 20 (35-15). The visitors from Des Moines, Iowa kept their feet on the gas pedal, racing into the halftime break with a 47-23 lead.

Manuel finished with a team-high nine points in the opening stanza as the Ramblers were held to an even 36% from the field (9-of-25). Loyola also struggled from the free throw line, hitting on only 3-of-8 (38%) attempts, while the Bulldogs knocked down 10-of-12 (83%). Bailey Farley, making her first start of the 2014-15 season, collected five boards, also a team-best mark. Wendell (18 points) and Maddy Dean (14 points) led the way for the Bulldogs.

Loyola came out firing when it returned from the locker room as it looked to find a way back into the game. Courtney Lindfors rattled off eight of the Ramblers' first ten points after being held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes. Her layup at the 15:39 mark cut the margin down to 19 (54-35). Manuel put back the rebound off her own miss just over a minute later to pull the Maroon & Gold to within 16 (56-40).

A Jonas layup followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Wendell pushed the Bulldog advantage back over the 20-point plateau but the Ramblers did not go away, rattling off five unanswered points to make it a 61-46 game at the under 12-minute media timeout (11:53). Despite its best efforts, that would be as close as Loyola could claw. Drake used a 10-0 run, capped off by a Liza Heap three, to extend its lead to 26 (74-48) with 6:42 remaining, erasing any hope for a Loyola comeback.

Manuel led three Ramblers to finish in double figures in scoring with 20 points. The redshirt sophomore out of St. Louis, Mo. also came away with 10 rebounds to record her second double-double of the season. Lambrigtsen, making only her second start of the season, poured in a career-high 15 points. Lindfors added 12 points of her own. Wendell spearheaded the Bulldog attack with a game-high 27 points, while Maddy Dean also finished with a double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds).

Loyola returns to action on Sunday afternoon when it wraps up a brief two-game homestand by hosting Northern Iowa. Tip-off against the Panthers is scheduled for 2 p.m. from inside Gentile Arena.