DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake women's basketball team returns to the Knapp Center Thursday night against Southern Illinois at 7:05 p.m. Listen to Ric Silvestrini and former Drake standout Laura Leonard on Praise 940 and follow live stats at www.godrakebulldogs.com. Fans can now purchase a $4.95 24-hour subscription to Bulldog Vision to watch games. Click here for more details.

DRAKE QUICKLY

-The Drake Bulldogs (9-18, 4-12 MVC) are coming off a back-and-forth, 67-66, loss at Creighton. It's the first one-point defeat of the year for the Bulldogs.

-The game featured seven ties and 10 lead changes. Drake led 37-30 at halftime but the second-place Bluejays started the second-half on a 14-7 scoring run.

-Trailing, 65-60, with 1:06 left in the game, Kyndal Clark's (Webb City, Mo.) layup with 12 seconds remaining cut the Bluejays' lead to 67-66, but the Bulldogs couldn't get the foul they needed as Creighton ran out the clock to improve to 7-0 in home conference games.

-Clark paced the offense with 18 points along with seven rebounds, while Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) had her eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 boards. Senior Stephanie Running (Oak Creek, Wis.) added 10 points off the bench.

-After a record breaking shooting performance in the opening half at UNI, Drake finished 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from the floor and 6-of-10 (60 percent) from behind the arc in the first half against the Jays.

-Drake held Creighton to just 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) shooting from the floor and 3-of-10 (30 percent) from three-point range in the first half. In the first game in Des Moines, the Bluejays shot 71 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the three-point line in the opening half.

-Mary Pat Specht (Shawnee, Kan.) had seven points off the bench with one three-pointer in the game. The junior college transfer has hit at least one three-pointer in 24-of-27 games this season and in 15-of-16 conference games.

-Nine of the 10 MVC teams are playing for seeding at the MVC Women's Basketball Tournament. Dozens of possible scenarios could be played out during this final weekend of conference action. SIU, in the 10 spot, is the only locked in team for the tournament March 14-17 in St. Charles, Mo.

-Saturday's game against Evansville is the regular season finale for the Bulldogs.  Running, the team's lone senior, will be recognized prior to and after the game.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS QUICKLY

-Southern Illinois (4-23, 1-15 MVC) is coming off a 74-60 setback against UNI in Carbondale.

-The Salukis have dropped 15 of their last 16 contests with their only MVC win at home against Drake, 77-70 on Jan. 5.

-SIU is led by interim head coach Adrianne Harlow, who took over Missy Tiber 10 games ago.

-Sophomore Cartaesha Macklin averages a team-leading 14.7 points per game, the fourth most in the conference. Freshman Rishonda Napier is next at 11.2 points per game, while fellow freshman Dyana Pierre averages eight points and a conference-leading 8.7 rebounds per game.

DRAKE VS. SIU

Drake is 49-26 all-time against Southern Illinois and has won eight of the last 10 games. The Bulldogs hold a commanding, 28-6, lead in games played in Des Moines as the two schools have played twice annually since 1980. Drake and SIU have played 75 games in the all-time series, which is the most matchups for the Bulldogs against a conference opponent.

ONE MORE

One more Bulldog victory this year will make Drake head coach, Jennie Baranczyk, the fifth Drake women's basketball head coach to win 10 or more games in their first season. Susan Yow who finished 9-18 in her first season, 1986-87, is the only head coach to fall short of that mark.

HOME COOKING

The Bulldogs are currently 6-6 in home games this season and are trying to finish with a .500 or better home winning percentage for the 23rd straight season.

BURNING UP THE NETS

The Bulldogs scorched the nets in the win at UNI finishing 33-of-57 (57.9 percent) from the floor including 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from three-point range. The Bulldogs' field goal percentage, three-point shooting percentage and three-point makes are all season-highs. Drake finished 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the floor and 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from three-point distance in the opening half. Both marks are season-highs and five Bulldogs hit at least one trey in the opening half.

HISTORY AVERTED

Drake's win at Northern Iowa avoided an 0-8 start to conference road action. The 2006-07 team dropped their first seven MVC road games before winning at Wichita State, 67-64, on February 23, 2007.

AWARD TIME

Clark picked up her first career Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award last week. The Missouri native averaged 22.5 points, seven assists, five rebounds and 3.5 steals per game helping the Bulldogs to a split in their two games. Clark was twice named MVC Newcomer of the Week during her freshman campaign. Clark's weekly MVC award is the first for the Bulldogs this year.

STEPPING UP

Freshman Ashley Bartow (Verona, Wis.), was held scoreless by UNI on Jan. 27, is averaging 12.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in the eight contest since. In 13 career starts, Bartow is averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

ENERGY BOOST

Sophomore Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) has provided a spark for the Bulldogs since the Indiana State game on Feb. 10. The Colorado native started the second half against the Sycamores finishing with five rebounds, two assists and one steal in 27 minutes played. She started the next contest against Wichita State, her first start this year, tallying eight points with a career-high eight rebounds along with one assist and one steal. Heap knocked down 2-of-4 from behind the arc, both career highs, against WSU. Against Bradley, she tied her career scoring mark with 12 points and added five boards and four assists. Since joining the starting lineup, Heap is averaging six points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

BULLDOGS LOVE THE 60'S

Drake has scored 60 or more points in 21 of its 27 games this year and Drake is averaging 65.5 points per game this season, up from 61.5 points per game at the same point last season.

KYNDALING PART TWO

Clark is having an outstanding sophomore season and continues to have a strong case for the 2013 Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year award. Clark is averaging a team-leading 15 points per game, which ranks tied for second in the Valley with junior Anna Munn of Indiana State. The sophomore has scored 20 or more points in eight games this season, which ranks second to Jacqui Kalin of UNI, who leads the league in scoring at 19.3 points per game. Clark's name can be found in other conference statistical categories as well. The Missouri native is averaging 2.6 steals per game (t-1^st), holds an assist to turnover ratio of 1.2 (6^th), 1.9 three-pointers made per game (7^th), shooting 78.6 at the free-throw line (8^th), 3.4 assists per game (9^th), and minutes played per game at 32.5 (9^th).

BACK-TO-BACK?

If Clark is able to win the player of the year award this season it would mark the first back-to-back MVC women's basketball player of the year awards for Drake since Kristina Kinne and Tricia Wakely won in 1995 and 1996, respectively. Rachael Hackbarth was named the 2012 MVC Jackie Stiles Player of the Year award for her outstanding senior season.

CRASH THE BOARDS

Reid scores 11 points per game and grabs a team-leading eight rebounds per game. Reid leads the Bulldogs with eight double-doubles this season and ranks ninth in the conference in field goal percentage at 43.3 percent. Her rebounding average is tied for fourth place in the Valley.

RISE AND FIRE

The Bulldogs have three of the top three-point shooters in the conference in Clark, Specht and redshirt sophomore Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.). The three have each set their career-highs in three-points made in a game this year with Clark knocking down six against Iowa and Grenfell and Specht each hitting five against Illinois at Chicago and Missouri State, respectively. Heap and Bartow knocked down two and four three-pointers against Wichita State last week, respectively, both career-highs. Lutes hit her first two career three pointers at UNI.

DEAD ON

Stephanie Running (Oak Creek, Wis.), the lone senior on the team in 2012-13, is shooting a team-best 52.8 percent (76-of-144) from the floor. Running is averaging 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

CALL THE POLICE

Clark is one steal away from moving into the Drake top-10 for most in a single season. The sophomore has 71 this year and has tallied at least one steal in 12-straight games. Clark picked a career-high seven steals in the win over Bradley.

720^th

The Bulldogs win at UNI was the 720th 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 for Drake women's basketball.

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.

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 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.