WICHITA, Kan. - The Drake women's basketball team travels to Wichita, Kan. in search of its first Missouri Valley Conference win when they take on Wichita State at Charles Koch Arena Monday night. You can listen to the action on KRNT-1350 with Ric Silvestrini and former Drake standout Kristin Turk and follow live stats at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.

DRAKE QUICKLY

-The Drake Bulldogs (5-11, 0-5 MVC) lost at Missouri State, 80-77, in a wild finish Saturday afternoon at JQH Arena.

-Sophomore Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) poured in a career-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds to go along with three steals and three assists. Clark's hometown of Webb City, Mo. is just 71 miles from Springfield.

-Junior Mary Pat Specht (Shawnee, Kan.), making her second career start, scored a career-high 18 points behind a career-best five three-pointers.

-The Bulldogs connected on a season-high 11 three-pointers and finished 11-of-20 (55 percent) against Missouri State and tied its highest scoring total of the season (80).

-Missouri State led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but ended up having to rally from a six-point deficit for its first conference win of the season.

-Clark leads the Bulldogs at 14.5 points per game while Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) averages 10.7 points per game to go along with a team-leading 8.1 rebounds per game. Clark now ranks fifth in the conference in scoring average.

-Clark is averaging 16.0 a game in MVC contests while Specht is averaging 7.7 points per game overall but the junior transfer has bumped that average to 10.8 points per game in conference action.

-The Bulldogs are trying to avoid its first 0-6 start to conference play since the 2006-07 season when they dropped their first seven conference games.

WICHITA STATE QUICKLY

-Wichita State (10-6, 4-0 MVC) cruised past Creighton, 67-45, Saturday night at home and now sits in sole place atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings.

-Sophomore Alex Harden scored a career-high 20 points and added four rebounds and four assists while Jasmine Jones scored a career-high 16 and Michelle Price had 14 points and grabbed eight boards off the bench.

-Senior Jessica Diamond, selected to the MVC preseason first-team, leads the Shockers at 13.8 points per game while Harden averages 8.3 points per game.

-Wichita State has won eight out of its last ten games after starting the season 2-4.

-The Shockers are one of the most experienced teams in the conference with one redshirt junior and six seniors. Two freshmen and two sophomores round out the roster.

-Wichita State holds opponents to just 52.2 points per game, which is narrowly behind the MVC's scoring defense leader, Indiana State, at 52.0 points per game.

-The Shockers shoot 41.3 percent from the field, which ranks second in the Valley and holds opponents to a conference-low 37.2 percent.

-Wichita State has only made 47-of-164 three-point attempts this season. The Shockers rank second to last in three-point percentage (29 percent) and last in total makes and three-pointers made per game (2.9)

DRAKE VS WICHITA STATE

Monday's contest will be the 69^th, in the all-time series between the Shockers and the Bulldogs in a series that started on Jan. 13, 1983 in Des Moines in a game Drake won, 89-78. The Shockers have a slight edge at home with a 16-15 record against the Bulldogs. Drake beat Wichita State, 56-52, last season in the MVC tournament semifinals in St. Charles, Mo, which snapped a five-game losing streak to Wichita State. Before that streak Drake had won 11 straight over the Shockers. The Bulldogs last win in Wichita, Kan. was Feb. 6, 2009 (65-60).

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bulldogs return home for games against Bradley on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:05 p.m. and against UNI on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 2:05 p.m. The women's basketball alumni game is scheduled to be played after the game against the Panthers.

BULLDOGS LOVE THE 60'S

Drake has scored 60 or more points in nine out of its last 10 games and in 14-of-16 games in 2012-13. The 49 points scored against Indiana State was the Bulldogs second lowest scoring output of the year and it snapped an eight-game streak of 60 or more points scored. Drake is averaging 65.1 points per game this season, which is up from 57.8 points per game at the same point last season.

KYNDALING PART TWO

Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.), a member of the 2012 MVC All-Freshmen team, is averaging a team-leading 14.1 points per game this season, which ranks fifth in the Valley. In addition, she is pulling down 5.0 rebounds per game and dishing out 3.1 assists per game with both marks second on the team. The sophomore has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, and along with Whitney Edie of Missouri State, they are the only players in the MVC to accomplish this feat. The sophomore was inserted into the starting lineup of last year's first game at Illinois of Chicago and has now started 50-straight games for the Bulldogs.

RISE AND FIRE

Redshirt sophomore Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) is burning up the nets this year shooting 42 percent from the floor and 40 percent from behind the three-point line, which ranks fifth in the Valley and 40th in the nation going into Saturday's game at Missouri State. Grenfell is averaging 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game and has knocked down a team-high 33 three-pointers. 

DEAD ON

Stephanie Running (Oak Creek, Wis.), the lone senior on the team, is shooting 51.9 percent (54-of-104) from the floor this season, which is second in the MVC narrowly behind Sarah Nelson of Creighton (52 percent). Running is averaging 7.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

IMPROVEMENT AT THE LINE

Junior forward Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) knocked down 10 free throws on 12 attempts, both career highs, in the loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Kansas City, Mo. native is 53-of-74 (71.6 percent) from the charity stripe this season and her makes and attempts lead the Bulldogs. She has improved her percentage from last season in which she shot 68 percent from the line.

STEPPING IN

Junior guard Alyssa Marschner (Plymouth, Minn.) is averaging 26.8 minutes per game after only playing 56 minutes all of last season. Marschner scored a career-high 16 points in the win at Milwaukee to go along with five rebounds and three assists.  She is averaging 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and a conference leading 4.7 assists per game.

CALL THE POLICE

The Drake Bulldogs average seven steals per game and had 12 in each of the games against Milwaukee and Southern Illinois. Clark and Reid each swiped a career-high six steals in the wins over North Dakota State and Milwaukee, respectively.

80's NIGHT

Drake scored a season-high 80 points in the win at Milwaukee. The Bulldogs connected on a season-high 33 field goals and finished a season-best 51.6 percent from the floor. Four Bulldogs scored in double figures with another finishing with nine points and another with eight points against the Panthers. Drake's 37 first half points against the Panthers equaled its highest first-half point total of the season, which occurred against South Dakota in the opener. Drake tied its season-high in the loss at Missouri State and its 44 second-half points against the Lady Bears were a season-high.

715!

The Bulldogs win over Saint Louis was the 715^th in school history. The Drake women's basketball program first started in 1974-75 finishing 10-10 under the direction of Carol Baumgarten. The 2013-14 season will be the 40^th anniversary of Drake women's basketball.

DOUBLING UP

In its win over Chicago State, Drake pulled down a season-high 58 rebounds. The total doubled Chicago State's 29 boards. Drake pulls down a league-high 30.6 defensive rebounds per game and its rebounding margin (2.9) is third in the league.

CAREER NIGHTS

Sophomore Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) played her best game against South Dakota in the season opener recording career-highs in points (12) and rebounds (5) in just 28 minutes. Her previous career-high was four points. Against Iowa State, fellow sophomore forward Cara Lutes (Maplewood, Minn.) scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in just 17 minutes. Lutes' previous career-high was four points.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Former University of Iowa standout and Des Moines native, Jennie Baranczyk is in her first season as head women's basketball coach at Drake University. Baranczyk is the sixth Drake women's basketball head coach in school history and comes to Drake after a two-year stint as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado. Baranczyk also served as an assistant coach at Kansas State and Marquette.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS

This is the first head coaching position for Baranczyk, but she brings an impressive postseason resume as a player and assistant coach, having reached postseason play every season. She also captured two Iowa high school state titles at Dowling Catholic. Baranczyk has coached in two NCAA tournaments and has won two WNIT championships as an assistant coach (Kansas State in 2006 and Marquette in 2008). At Iowa, she played in three NCAA tournaments and one WNIT and helped Iowa win the 2001 Big Ten Tournament.

ONLY ONE

With the loss to South Dakota in the opener, Carol Baumgartner, who was the program's first head coach, remains the only Drake head coach to win her debut. The Bulldogs beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, 78-65 on November 20, 1974 in the program's first ever game.

COACHING STAFF

Baranczyk's first hire as head coach was retaining veteran assistant coach Allison Pohlman. Pohlman has been an assistant at Drake since the 2007-08 season. Former Chipola College head coach and Iowa native David Lane was hired as an assistant coach. Courtney Graham who coached at Holy Cross for three seasons was the final assistant hired by Baranczyk. Former Iowa State standout Kelsey Bolte is the new coordinator of basketball operations for the Bulldogs.

HIGH SCORING STAFF

Baranczyk (Iowa), Bolte (Iowa State), Pohlman (Northern Iowa) and Graham (Mississippi St.) all played Division I basketball and the four scored 4,963 points combined. Baranczyk scored 1,762 career points followed by Bolte (1,639), Pohlman (1,463) and Graham (99).

REWIND

The Drake Bulldogs finished the 2011-12 season at 18-16, 9-9 MVC and lost in the first round of the WNIT to South Dakota. Drake won seven of its last eleven games to close the regular season and advanced to the postseason for the first time since the 2007-08 season. Drake won three games (Evansville, Illinois State, Wichita State) in three days to advance to the MVC tournament title game before falling to Creighton. The Bulldogs' 18 wins were the most since the 2008-09 season.

DRAKE IN SEASON-OPENERS

The loss to the Coyotes gives the Bulldogs a 23-16 overall record in 39 debut games, dating back to the program's first game on Nov. 20, 1974 - a 78-65 home victory over Iowa. Drake dropped its season opener last year at Illinois at Chicago, 61-48.

DEPARTED

The Bulldogs will have a large hole to fill in 2012-13 with the graduation of 2012 Jackie Stiles Player of the Year, Rachael Hackbarth. Hackbarth had one of the greatest seasons in school history. In addition to the conference player of the year award she was named Honorable Mention on the Associated Press All-America team and finished her career as the tenth all-time scorer in school history with 1,661 points. She also led the entire nation with 26 double-doubles.

BULLDOGS PICKED NINTH

The Drake women's basketball team was picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference's annual preseason poll, the conference announced Monday. Creighton received 26 of 40 first-place votes and 382 total points, out-distancing Wichita State (347). Illinois State (323), UNI (272) and Missouri State (265) followed the Bluejays to round out the top-five. Bradley (144), Indiana State (135), Southern Illinois (123), Drake (121) and Evansville (119) made up the lower half of the poll.

COACHES RADIO SHOW

The Drake Basketball Coaches' Radio Show with Jennie Baranczyk and Mark Phelps will be broadcast live from Rock Bottom, 4508 University Avenue in West Des Moines on Monday nights at 7:00 p.m. through March 4. There will be no show Monday, Jan. 21 due to the Drake at Wichita State women's basketball game that night at 7:05 p.m.

BULLDOG BREAKDOWN

This year, Drake Women's Basketball will hold a game day event, Bulldog Breakdown, prior to each home game. One of the assistant coaches will meet with Bulldog fans in the Paul F. Morrison Room before tip-off to break down the opponent, share the game plan for that day's game, and give an inside look at the team's preparation and keys to the game. Doors to the Morrison Room will open one hour before the game, and a member of the basketball staff will share his or her comments approximately 40 minutes before tip-off. Concessions will be available for purchase (cash only) just outside the Morrison Room. Fans may continue to enjoy the pre-game excitement after the Bulldog Breakdown and are asked to make their way to their seats with 10 minutes left on the pre-game warm-up clock to get ready to cheer on your team.

DRAKE BASKETBALL LUNCHEONS

The Drake Basketball Coaches' Luncheons have returned to Overtime, located at 4810 86th Street in Urbandale. The luncheon costs $12 per person and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the following dates: men's luncheons: January 22 and February 5 and women's basketball luncheons: February 19.

DRAKE HEAD COACH JENNIE BARANCZYK

Former University of Iowa standout and Des Moines native, Jennie (Lillis) Baranczyk (pronounced bah-rahn-check) was named the sixth head women's basketball coach at Drake University on April 17, 2012.

Baranczyk, 30, comes to Drake after a two-year stint as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Colorado, where she was on the staff of head coach Linda Lappe, a former Drake assistant coach. Prior to Colorado, Baranczyk was an assistant coach for four seasons at Marquette after two seasons as an assistant coach at Kansas State.

Baranczyk helped recruit and develop numerous all-conference student-athletes at all three schools and was instrumental in Colorado securing the No. 27^th-ranked 2012 recruiting class by ESPN HoopGurlz. At Colorado, she coached All-Big 12 first-team forward Brittney Spears and All-Pac-12 guard Chucky Jeffrey as well as Pac-12 all-freshman team members Lexy Kresl and Jen Reese. On the floor she has had a coaching emphasis in the development of the post player's at all three schools.

Baranczyk has reached postseason tournament play every season as a player and coach. She has coached in two NCAA tournaments and has won two WNIT championships as an assistant coach (Kansas State in 2006 and Marquette in 2008). At Iowa, she played in three NCAA tournaments and one WNIT and helped Iowa win the 2001 Big Ten Tournament.

A three-time captain at Iowa, Baranczyk, was a four-year letterwinner at forward from 2000-04 under Bluder. One of the best all-around players in Hawkeye basketball history, she was a three-time All-Big Ten Conference selection, earning first-team honors as a junior in 2003 and second-team honors as a sophomore in 2002 and as a senior in 2004.

She graduated as the only player in Iowa history in the top 10 of five major statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and is one of only two Hawkeye players to score more than 1,700 points and grab 800 rebounds.

Baranczyk graduated from Iowa in 2004 with her bachelor's degree in Communication Studies and from Kansas State with her master's degree in Counseling and Student Development in 2007. At Iowa, she was the recipient of the 2004 Big Ten Conference's Medal of Honor.  First awarded in 1914, the Big Ten's oldest award is given annually to a student in the graduating class of each university that demonstrated proficiency in scholarship and athletics. Baranczyk was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten pick, a WBCA Scholarship Award recipient, CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, and a Collegiate Basketball Award for Excellence semifinalist as a senior in 2004.

In her prep career, she helped Dowling Catholic in Des Moines win state championships in 1998 and 2000 and she is a member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame.

On the date of her hire, Baranczyk was the second youngest Division I head women's basketball coach.

Jennie's father, Terry played college baseball and basketball at Simpson College and her brother, Brian played college basketball at the University of Albany in New York.

Jennie and her husband, Scott Baranczyk, were married in May 2009 and have a son, Eli, who was born on May 8, 2012.