SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team concludes a three-game road trip with a game against South Dakota on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs look to snap a two-game losing skid when they take on the Coyotes at the recently opened Sanford Pentagon. Ric Silvestrini and Laura Leonard will have the call on KRNT 1350 and live stats will be available at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
FIRST-EVER
The cornerstone of the Sanford Sports Complex is the Sanford Pentagon, a five-sided facility featuring nine basketball courts. The contest between the Bulldogs and Coyotes will be the first-ever women's college basketball game played on the Heritage Court at the Pentagon. Heritage Court is a 1950s/1960s inspired venue that combines state of the art amenities with period-specific finishes that are a nod to the nostalgic days of basketball.
SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota (1-3) comes into Thursday's game on a three-game losing streak with losses at UC Irvine, at Iowa State and at North Dakota. The Coyotes lone win was the season opener at Cal State Fullerton, 66-57. With four-straight road contests to open the year and the Drake contest moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota has yet to play a home contest at its on-campus venue, the DakotaDome, located in Vermillion, S.D. Junior Nicole Seekamp is averaging a team-leading 15.3 points per game along with 4 rebounds and two assists per game. Amy Williams is in her second season as head coach and holds a 20-19 record at South Dakota.
HEAD TO HEAD
Drake owns a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series with South Dakota, however, it has dropped the last two contests. The Coyotes eliminated the Bulldogs in the opening round of the 2012 WNIT with a 61-53 home victory and won last season's matchup, 74-69, at the Knapp Center. The two teams first met on Nov. 23, 1979, in a game that Drake won 94-57.
PAY IT FORWARD
The Drake University women's basketball program will host its first-ever “Pay It Forward” presented by the West Des Moines Sheraton game Sunday, Nov. 24 when in-state rival No. 18 Iowa State visits the Knapp Center. Fans who bring three canned food items to the game will receive free admission to the team's Dec. 5 game. To read complete details on the “Pay It Forward” game visit the women's basketball page on www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. To purchase tickets call 515-271-DOGS (3647) or click here
UP NEXT
No. 18 Iowa State (2-0) travels to the Knapp Center with wins over South Dakota and North Dakota. The Cyclones are scheduled to play at Cincinnati Thursday night. The all-time series between Drake and Iowa State is tied at 26-26 but Drake has won just two out of the last 10 matchups. The Bulldogs will try to beat the Cyclones for the first-time since the 2009-10 campaign when they won 78-75 at the Knapp Center. Senior forward Hallie Christofferson, who was named to the John R. Wooden Award Women's Preseason Top 30 list prior to the season, is averaging a team-leading 28.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for the Cyclones.
SWEET HOMECOMING
Junior Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) poured in a career-high 18 points, including a career-best four three-pointers in Drake's loss at Colorado State. It was the first time the Colorado native played in her home state as a Bulldog. Heap added two rebounds, one assist and one steal in a career-high 37 minutes. She has started all three games this young season, averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1 assist per game.
INSTANT IMPACT
Freshman forward Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) has quickly made an impact for the Bulldogs in her first season. Wendell provided a spark off the bench in the season-opening win over Creighton scoring 13 points while grabbing five rebounds. At one point in the first half she scored seven straight points in less than two minutes. Against Wisconsin she had eight points and three rebounds. For her efforts she was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week on Monday, Nov. 11.
COMING HOME
The game at Wisconsin was a homecoming for Drake sophomore Ashley Bartow, who is from Verona, Wis. which is outside of Madison. Bartow scored eight points and snagged six rebounds in 22 minutes.
RIVALRY QUICKLY RENEWED
The Drake Bulldogs hold a 38-24 advantage in the all-time series against the Creighton Bluejays after its 62-55 victory in its season-opener at the Knapp Center. The Bluejays departed the Missouri Valley Conference for the newly configured Big East after last season. The teams have met at least twice annually since 1981, a run that will come to an end in 2013-14, unless the squads meet in the postseason. Junior Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) scored a team-high 19 points as the Bulldogs overcame a 30-26 halftime deficit to snap a three-game losing streak to the Bluejays
PRESSURE DEFENSE
Creighton shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) in the second half as Drake forced 22 turnovers and scored 23 points off of the turnovers. Preseason all-Big East selectee Sarah Nelson scored eight points for the Bluejays, but was held scoreless in the second period.
DRAKE IN SEASON-OPENERS
The Creighton win improves the Bulldogs season-opening record to 24-16 overall record, dating back to the program's first game on Nov. 20, 1974 - a 78-65 home victory over Iowa.
MILESTONE SEASON
The 2013-14 campaign is the 40th anniversary of Drake women's basketball. The Drake women's basketball program started in 1974-75 and finished 10-10 that first season under the direction of Carole Baumgarten.
BULLDOGS TABBED FOURTH
The Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in the MVC's annual preseason poll, the conference office announced prior to the league's basketball tipoff event on the campus of MVC-newcomer Loyola.
The Indiana State Sycamores, who received 26 out of 40 first-place votes and 378 total points, have been tabbed as the preseason favorite in the MVC's women's basketball race in the annual survey of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members. Wichita State, which captured its first-ever regular season and MVC tournament championships in 2012-13, is second with 13 first-place votes and 360 points. Drake's in-state rival the Northern Iowa Panthers garnered 259 points for third place in front of the Bulldogs, who tallied 221 points.
Missouri State, Loyola, Bradley, Illinois State, Evansville and Southern Illinois round out the poll.
EARLY SEASON RECOGNITION
Clark who capped off a great sophomore campaign by being named to the all-MVC second and all-defensive teams, was nominated to the 2013-14 preseason all-conference squad the league also announced.
Alex Harden of Wichita State, Simone Law of Loyola, Cartaesha Macklin of Southern Illinois and Anna Munn of Indiana State round out the all-conference team. Harden is tabbed the MVC Preseason Player of the Year.
BULLDOGS CRUISE IN EXHIBITION
The Bulldogs overpowered the Dubuque Spartans, 98-59, in their lone exhibition contest in front of 1,829 fans at the Knapp Center last Friday night.
Every Bulldog played double-figure minutes and scored at least two points as senior Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) scored a game-high 17 points.
1000 POINT CLUB
Clark needs 175 points to become the 23rd player in Drake women's basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Clark scored 332 points, while averaging 9.8 points per game and was named to the all-MVC freshman team in her debut season. Last year she dropped in 453 points, while averaging a team-leading 14.6 points per game, which ranked third in The Valley. She needs 55 steals to move into the top-10 all-time in school history. Clark has started every game in her time at Drake (68).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Reid needs to pull down 123 rebounds to move into the top-10 in school history. Reid grabbed 8.2 rebounds per game in 2012-13, good for third in the Missouri Valley Conference. The forward is 328 points away from the 1,000 career points mark.
RISE AND FIRE
Drake smashed its previous season-high for three-pointers made in the Colorado State game. The Bulldogs knocked down 12 to surpass the five they made against Creighton in the season-opener. This season the Bulldogs lead the Missouri Valley Conference with 21 three-pointers made.
EXPERIENCE MATTERS
One year after having one of the youngest teams in the conference with just one senior on the roster, Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk has nine players back with significant playing experience. Two freshmen, Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) and Wendell, join three seniors, four juniors and two sophomores on the 2013-14 Drake roster.
EXPERIENCE MATTERS PART TWO
Similar to her team's experience Baranczyk, in just her second season, is now one of the Missouri Valley Conference's most tenured coaches. With Creighton's departure for its new conference, Loyola joining and with several staff changes at other conference schools, Baranczyk and Bradley's Michael Brooks are the fifth-most tenured coaches in the MVC. UNI head coach Tonya Warren is the longest tenured coach as she enters her eighth season. Illinois State, Loyola, Missouri State and Southern Illinois all have coaches in their first season in charge. Sheryl Swoopes, perhaps the greatest women's basketball player of all-time, begins her first season of coaching as the head coach of Loyola.
2013-14 ROSTER
Baranczyk will look to three seniors this year in Reid, Specht and Alyssa Marschner (Plymouth, Minn.) as each brings a special talent to the squad. Reid, who leads the team in career starts with 75, will continue to be Drake's primary rebounder while also providing scoring. Reid had a team-leading 10 double-doubles last year. Specht, a junior college transfer, finished fifth in the conference in three-point shooting at 37.8 percent in her first season. Marschner, dished out a team-high four assists per game, which was good for third in the MVC.
Drake's junior class is led by Clark, but its three other members: Grenfell, Heap and Cara Lutes (Maplewood, Minn.) will also be significant contributors in 2013-14. Last season Grenfell tied with Specht at 48 three-pointers made, while Heap started the last nine contests averaging 5.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and two assists. Lutes saw time in 30 of the 31 games last year and poured in a career-high 19 points at then No. 24 Iowa State.
Two sophomores, Bartow and Emma Donahue (Naperville, Ill.), saw significant minutes in their first seasons and will see increased roles in 2013-14. Bartow started the final 17 games last year and averaged 7.5 points and four rebounds per game. Donahue saw more minutes late in the campaign scoring a career-high eight points in the win over Missouri State in the opening round of the MVC Championship.
A pair of talented and highly successful former preps round out the team as Ingle and Wendell enter their first season as Bulldogs. Ingle led Southeast Polk to the Iowa Class 5A state championship her senior season, while Wendell's teams qualified for the Missouri state tournament all four years finishing second three times and third once.
2013-14 SCHEDULE
The Bulldogs will play a tough non-conference schedule with 11 contests including their annual games with in-state foes Iowa (Dec. 21) and Iowa State (Nov. 24). Drake tips off the season at home against Creighton (Nov. 8) before playing five of its six next games on the road or on neutral courts with trips to Wisconsin (Nov. 10), Colorado State (Nov. 16), South Dakota (Nov. 21) on the slate. Drake returns to the Knapp Center for its game against the Cyclones before traveling to Seattle, Wash. on Nov. 29-30 for the Delta Dental Thanksgiving Tournament hosted by Seattle University. The Bulldogs will open the tournament with Cornell (Nov. 29) before playing either Seattle or Coastal Carolina the following day.
The month of December features just four games for the Bulldogs with all four taking place in the state of Iowa. Up first for Drake are home games against Idaho State (Dec. 5) and SIU-Edwardsville (Dec. 17) before it heads to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes. The Bulldogs final non-conference tilt will be a home game against Milwaukee on Sunday, Dec. 29.
Conference action starts with trips to Illinois State (Jan. 3) and Indiana State (Jan. 5) as Drake will once again play a round-robin 18 game schedule. The Bulldogs' first home Valley game will be with Southern Illinois (Jan.10).
BULLDOG BREAKDOWN
Drake Women's Basketball will again hold its special game day event, Bulldog Breakdown, prior to each home contest this season. 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 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 start time 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, but 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 the Bulldogs!
DRAKE HEAD COACH JENNIE BARANCZYK
Former University of Iowa standout and Des Moines native, Jennie (Lillis) Baranczyk (pronounced bah-rahn-check) enters her second season at the helm of the program. She was named the sixth head women's basketball coach at Drake University on April 17, 2012.
In her first season leading the Bulldogs, Baranczyk became the fifth Drake women's basketball coach to win 10 or more games in their first season. Clark netted a pair of honors being named to the all-MVC second team and the all-Defensive team. The Bulldogs averaged 2,265 fans per game in Baranczyk's first season, which ranked third in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Baranczyk came 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. 27th-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 coach Lisa 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 in 2007 with her master's degree in Counseling and Student Development. 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.
