Box Score Box Score
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Cold shooting and foul trouble was not enough to hold back the #1 ranked Lady Panthers today as they claimed their 21st win in a row in convincing fashion. DU defeated rival Aquinas 84-59 and will now take on their other GR-rival #14 Cornerstone next Wednesday.
Kallie Benike (Campbellsport, Wis.) posted a game high 24 points to go along with 8 rebounds while
Kristi Boehm (Kent City, Mich.),
Karli Harris (Fishers, Ind.) and
Leah Sevcik (Kewaunee, Wis.) all finished in double-figures to lead Davenport to a school-record tying 21st straight win.
The game started out in the host Saints' favor as they used a slower tempo and many missed shots from the Lady Panthers to take a 12-3 lead. The margin grew to as many as seven at 17-10 but the pace started to pick up thanks to the deep bench and play of
Kallie Benike (Campbellsport, Wis.).
Davenport scored 14 of the next 20 points to take a 24-23 lead and they would never trail again increasing the margin to 10 at the break 39-29. DU managed to shoot just 31% in the opening twenty minutes but stayed in control thanks to a 10/13 performance from the charity stripe.
During the run that got DU back into the game and eventually into the lead,
Kallie Benike (Campbellsport, Wis.) had four straight points that both came off steals from the inbounds play for the Saints.
Opening the second half, DU used more stifling defense and used a 5-0 run to increase the lead to 15 (44-29) and the margin would never dip below 11 for the remainder of the game. Davenport held their largest lead at 29 points on numerous occasions and the final outcome was 84-59.
Kallie Benike hit 9 of her 14 shots from the field including 4 of 7 from behind the arc. All together, Davenport nailed 13 of their 36 long range attempts. Although the shooting percentage did not get much better in the closing half, it was the defense once again that lifted DU as they forced the Saints into 28 turnovers and limited them to only 35% shooting as well.
The remaining four starters other than Benike combined to shoot just 3-24 from the field.
#1 Davenport will now host #14 Cornerstone on Wednesday, January 19 at 6:00pm. The game will be aired live on the internet and live audio and stat will be provided as well.
