Grace Knutson scored 24 points and Abbie Aalsma added 22 in Drake women’s basketball’s 80-74 loss to Western Illinois on Dec. 7 at the Knapp Center.The Bulldogs (1-7) cut a 22-point deficit to four late in the game but came up short. Aalsma scored 18 of her points in the second half; Knutson tallied 16 after halftime.Drake’s Maggie Taylor notched her second double-double with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 10 rebounds.Drake outscored the Leathernecks 48-34 in the second half after a slow start.“Really proud of our second half and how we handled some of those end-of-game situations,” Drake coach Allison Pohlman said. “We do wish we were on the other side of that, but it takes guts to step up and knock down some of those shots we did. Had a couple huge momentum shifts in that third quarter run, but certainly some positives and steps in the right direction to get where we need to go.”The Bulldogs have lost seven straight games.Drake sports information contributed this report.This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake women’s basketball loses at home vs. Western Illinois