Drake vs. Saint Mary's - Nov. 27, 9 p.m. Central
Drake vs. Arkansas-Little Rock - Nov. 28, 8 p.m. Central

ABOUT DRAKE
The Bulldogs are coming off a 78-75 home victory over No. 24 Iowa State last Sunday, the first Drake victory over a ranked opponent since a 73-67 win over No. 23 Missouri State during the 2003-04 season.
Sophomore Rachael Hackbarth  turned in a career night against the Cyclones, scoring a career-best 20 points and tallying career-high numbers in assists (5), field goals (8) and minutes played (29).
Fellow sophomore Amber Wollschlager put up 16 points, and made a pair of three-pointers. The sophomore went six-for-six from the line, including four-for-four in the game's final 27 seconds.

ABOUT SAINT MARY'S
The Gaels are 2-2 on the season with losses to Fresno State (81-94, Nov. 22) and No. 13 California  (65-68, Nov. 17) and wins over Nevada (65-52, Nov. 20) and Idaho State (76-69, Nov. 13).
SMC touts three starters that are averaging double figure scoring marks, including junior Louella Tomlinson, who has recorded an incredible 28 blocks in four games and is averaging 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds on the season.
Forward Ashlee Smith is averaging 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds, while senior Jontelle Smith averages 10.5 points and 2.0 rebounds.
The Gaels are coached by Paul Thomas.

ABOUT ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK
The Trojans are 3-1 on the season with their sole loss coming by way of a 58-67 decision with Oklahoma State in the Preseason NIT (Nov. 13). UALR boasts wins over Northern Colorado  (55-43, Nov. 20), UTEP (64-40, Nov. 21) and Rice (73-54, Nov. 24) and currently is riding a three-game winning streak.
UALR is led by junior forward Chastity Reed, who is averaging 24.0 points and 10.3 rebounds.
The Trojans are coached by Joe Foley.

AMBER ALERT
    Against Iowa State, sophomore forward Amber Wollschlager extended her track record of rising to the occasion when called upon for extended minutes. Wollschlager averages 10.7 points and 3.8 rebounds when playing 25 minutes or more over the course of her career, including 16 points and four rebounds in 28 minutes last Sunday against Iowa State. Conversely, the sophomore shoots somewhat better from the line when playing less than 25 minutes.

WOLLSCHLAGER'S STATISTICS WHEN PLAYING 25+ MINUTES
POINTS    REB.    FT %    3PT %
10.7          3.8      75.0      31.5

WOLLSCHLAGER'S STATISTICS WHEN PLAYING LESS THAN 25 MINUTES
POINTS    REB     FT%     3PT %
2.9            1.6      81.8      28.5

RANK GUESTS
Drake's 78-75 victory over No. 24 Iowa State was the first time the Bulldogs had defeated a ranked opponent since topping No. 23 Missouri State 73-67 at the Knapp Center on Feb. 13 of 2004 Drake has earned six home victories over ranked teams in the 35 year history of Bulldog women's basketball.   

    HOME WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS
DATE        OPPONENT           SCORE
11/22/09    #24 Iowa State           78-75
02/13/04    #23 Missouri State     73-67
12/21/01    #21 Tulane                 67-58
12/08/99    #9 Iowa State             90-86
12/21/96    #21 Iowa                    80-59
12/09/78    #16 Kansas               69-66

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN:
The Hilton Concord Tournament marks the first appearance by the Drake women's basketball team in the state of California since dropping a 52-39 setback at UC Riverside Dec. 10, 2006.
The Bulldogs have made seven trips to play 12 games in California during their 35-year history, sporting a record of 6-6. But Drake has lost its last three games played in California: Southern Cal (86-71), 1998; UC Santa Barbara (96-78), 1998; and UC Riverside (52-39), 2006.

TOURNAMENT TESTED:
This marks the first of two consecutive weekends that Drake will be playing in regular-season tournament with the Bulldogs venturing to the Air Force Academy Dec. 4 and 5 to play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Air Force. The last time Drake played in two regular season tournaments in the same season occurred back in 1990-91 when the Bulldogs opened the season playing  three games at the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine Classic and two game in the Days Inn Phoenix Classic in Green Bay, Wis., two weeks later.

A WIN OVER SAINT MARY'S...
    •    Would be Drake's first-ever victory against Saint Mary's.
    •    Would put the Bulldogs at 3-1, their best start since the 2006-07 team went 4-0.
    •    Would give Amy Stephens her second 3-1 team, the other being the 2004-05 squad.

NOW BOARDING
Drake has outrebounded opponents 107-95 this season, topping opponents by an average of four per game. The Bulldogs are averaging 35.7 boards per game, compared to 31.7 by opponents. Senior forward Monique' Jones, Senior guard Jordann Plummer and sophomore center Rachael Hackbarth lead the Bulldogs with 24, 16 and 13 rebounds, respectively.

IN LINE FOR THE CLUB
    Senior guard Jordann Plummer is just 12 points away from cracking Drake's 1,000-point club. Plummer would be the 20th member of the exclusive club that boasts all-time scoring leader Lorri Bauman (1980-84, 3,115 pts.), second leading scorer Wanda Ford (1982-86, 2,636 pts.), Lindsay Whorton (2004-08, 1,564 pts.) and current assistant coach Linda Sayavongchanh (2002-06, 1,129 pts).

FASTBREAK LUNCHEONS
Drake will once again provide a unique glimpse into Bulldog women's basketball with the monthly Fastbreak Luncheons. The events will be held at All-Play in downtown Des Moines from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 1, Jan. 5 and Feb. 2.

LAST TIME OUT - DRAKE 78, No. 24 Iowa State 75    Nov. 22, 2009
DES MOINES, Iowa - A career night from sophomore center Rachael Hackbarth  propelled Drake to a thrilling 78-75 victory over No. 24 Iowa State. Hackbarth scored a career-high 20 points, including 13 in the second half, to lead the Bulldogs.

Hackbarth hit eight of her 13 shots on the night and helped the Bulldogs to a .464 shooting percentage. The sophomore also collected a career-high five assists and tied a career-high with two steals. Sophomore Amber Wollschlager tallied 16 points and shot a perfect six-for-six from the line on the night. All of Wollschlager's free throws came with under three minutes remaining in the second half. Senior Jordann Plummer added 12 points and six assists.
   
The Bulldogs trailed, 48-41, at the 15 minute mark of the second half, but a Wollschlager three-pointer sparked an 11-2 Bulldog run highlighted by five points from Hackbarth and a three from junior Kristin Turk that gave Drake a 52-50 lead.

After the game's fifth tie at the 11-minute mark, freshman Katie Schechinger's first career three-pointer gave Drake a lead it would not relinquish despite a relentless Iowa State attack.

"During the first half, we had some breakdowns, some miscommunications," head coach Amy Stephens said. "It was early in the game though, and we bounced back."

The Bulldogs shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the second half compared to a 39.3 percent mark in the opening half. Drake also shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half, compared to a 5-for-8 tally in the first half.

"Our team has a lot of fight," Stephens added. "I have a lot of confidence in us to not get rattled."

Drake improved its record to 5-4 all-time against Iowa State in the Knapp Center.

"We've got great kids who are incredibly smart. It's a big win, but it's not the end-all. There's such a bigger picture at Drake than just beating a Big 12 team. We're looking to play for and win championships."