NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Drake women’s basketball team earned a stranglehold of the top spot in the The Valley with a hard-fought road win at Belmont on Saturday. The Bulldogs overcame a deficit in the first half to put away the Bruins and win their fifth-consecutive matchup.

It took nearly two full minutes before either team was able to put a tally in the scorebook as Anna Miller banked in the first basket on a strong step-through post move. Grace Berg did the same on Drake’s next possession after a Belmont foul. Miller added to her hot start with another layup plus a penalty shot to give Drake (20-5, 13-1) an early 7-0 advantage.

The Bulldog defense then forced an over-and-back violation on Belmont before Berg crossed up on Belmont’s Kilyn McGuff and sprinted home for another deuce.

McGuff eventually scored the Bruins’ first basket on a three from the top of the key. Katie Dinnebier answered McGuff’s three with one of her own for the star guard’s first score. The Bulldogs led 12-6 at the first media timeout.

The host Bruins (18-7, 11-3) got things turned around after the first break, ripping off a 9-0 run over 2:35. Courtney Becker then traded three-pointers just before the buzzer as the score remained tied at 22-all after the first period.

Midway through the second, a pair of Belmont treys, one from Schoenwald on a deep runner to beat the shot clock and another from Kendal Cheesman in the corner, forced Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman to take a timeout.

Ashley Iiams later hit two three-pointers around a Belmont timeout to cap off a 14-0 Bulldog run. Kendal Cheesman halted the visitors’ spurt with a bunny to keep the difference at four. With just a second to play in the half, another Belmont three, their seventh of the first 20 minutes, trimmed the Drake advantage to just two as the Dogs led 42-40 at the break.

The Bulldogs opened a quick eight-point lead shortly into the third quarter as Ava Hawthorne went coast-to-coast for her first basket of the game. The third stanza continued in back-and-forth fashion as Tessa Miller got free down low for two after Tuti Jones buried a deep three.

The Bulldogs held on to a narrow 60-58 lead with just a quarter to play.

Anna Brown joined the Bulldogs’ party with just under seven minutes to play. The transfer hit a three from the left wing for her first score of the night and Drake’s sixth triple as a team.

Anna Miller added to her team-leading 17 points with an elbow jumper just before the five-minute mark as the Drake attack probed through Belmont’s zone defense. The Bruins then spent a timeout with 3:40 remaining as Drake led by five. Belmont’s Miller, Tessa, also took advantage of the Drake zone defense as the fourth quarter progressed. The Bruins’ leading scorer banked one in as with a foul as part of her 24-point afternoon but missed the extra attempt to make it a four-point contest.

The Bulldogs outlasted numerous replay reviews and hit some big free throws in the final few minutes as their lead grew to the eventual final score of 77-71.

Anna Miller and Katie Dinnebier each posted a double-double as Miller led the team with 17 points and added 11 rebounds. Dinnebier scored 15, along with Grace Berg, while dishing out 10 assists.

Courtney Becker rounded out Drake’s offensive leaders with 11 points and six boards. Ashley Iiams’ totaled eight to equal her career-high for the second-straight contest.

“What a road trip,” Pohlman said after the game. “Today says a lot about our squad…I’m so proud of our bounce and our tenacity and our spirit to play right now. We had a lot of people step up and do some great things. We have some amazing women on our team and our coaching staff. Today we got back to better rebounding…shoring those sorts of things are some of the details that we have to make matter, especially on the road against good teams.”

Drake will return home next weekend to tip off a four-game homestand. The Bulldogs will start the stint in Des Moines on Thursday, Feb. 22 against Missouri State.