CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Drake University women’s basketball team righted the ship with a hard-fought 79-71 win at rival UNI this evening. The Bulldogs used a staunch defensive display and benefitted from Katie Dinnebier’s first-career triple-double to down UNI (7-12, 6-4) in Cedar Falls.

The Bulldogs (16-5, 9-1) won the tip and promptly put the first points on the board as Grace Berg collected a Courtney Becker dish and banked one in. UNI answered on the other end with a deuce from MVC Preseason Player of the Year Grace Boffeli.

The Drake offense continued to click early on as Becker finished a back-cut score to cap off a quick 7-0 run and force a Panther timeout. The Bulldogs extended their lead into double figures for the first time after the pause as Becker sprinted the floor for another bucket and Katie Dinnebier sank a pair of free throws.

Dinnebier made more history during her junior season with a 17-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, just the second in program history and the first of her career. Her 11 boards were also a career high.

Grace Berg led Drake’s scoring effort with 20 points, her sixth game of the year with at least 20 points.

Anna Miller and Courtney Becker also reached double figures on the glass with 10 rebounds and 12 rebounds, respectively. Miller added five blocks to lead all players and climb into sole possession of second on Drake’s all-time blocks list.

“This is a very, very good UNI team and we knew we had to be ready from the start,” Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman said. “I was proud of our team to be able to get scores and stops right away. We’re halfway through the conference schedule so I just wanted to see a fiery group coming in…and our team was so fired up and we got better. Every game we play is a big one and it’s special coming back [to Cedar Falls] and playing as well as we did.”

The Bulldogs will return home after their recent three-game road stretch for a pair of MVC matchups. Drake is set to conclude two season series as Bradley (Feb. 8) and Illinois State (Feb. 10) come to town.