SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – After winning its first two Missouri Valley Conference contests at home, the
Drake University women's basketball team visits Missouri State and Southern Illinois this weekend. Drake (7-7, 2-0 MVC) plays at Missouri State (6-7, 2-0 MVC) Friday evening and will close the weekend Sunday at SIU (7-6, 2-0 MVC). Tipoff with the Bears is set for 7 p.m. and for 2 p.m. against the Salukis. Both games will be broadcast on
The Valley on ESPN3.
The game in Springfield features the preseason league favorite, Drake and Missouri State, which was picked to finish second in the poll. If the Bulldogs are able to win Friday, they will set the new league-record for the longest conference win streak at 25. Drake, which hasn't lost a Valley game since Feb. 19, 2016, is currently tied with Missouri State, which won 24 straight in the MVC from Jan. 5, 1999-Feb. 5, 2000.
Drake's bench was instrumental in its opening weekend wins over Valparaiso and Loyola. In the win over the Crusaders, the Bulldogs' reserves led by junior
Nicole Miller's (Walker, Iowa) career-high 18 points, scored an impressive 56 points as they outscored the entire Valparaiso team (56-50). In the next victory over Loyola, the bench scored 31 points
Missouri State opened its league slate with victories over Evansville and Indiana State. The MVC Preseason Player of the Year and senior Liza Fruendt ranks second in the MVC in scoring at 16.1 points per game. The Bears are third in team scoring at 69.2 points per game. Drake and Missouri State are locked at 41-41 in the all-time series.
Drake, the top scoring offense in the MVC at 82.4 ppg, features two of the other top scoring threats in the MVC in redshirt junior
Sara Rhine (Eldon, Mo.) at 15.9 ppg (3
rd) and sophomore
Becca Hittner (Urbandale, Iowa) at 14.8 ppg (5
th). Rhine has scored double figures in 10 of the 12 games played this season while Hittner has scored eight or more points in every game.
SIU will host UNI (6-7, 2-0 MVC), the other 2-0 team in the standings, Friday night before welcoming the Bulldogs Sunday. The Salukis are paced in scoring by senior Kylie Giebelhausen at 12.5 points per game.
