LINCOLN, Neb. – The Drake University women's basketball team will play at Nebraska Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the first of two games this week for the Bulldogs. Following Tuesday's road game, Drake returns to the Knapp Center Thursday morning to host Clarke University in the annual "Pack the Knapp for Character, presented by the YMCA of Greater Des Moines". Tipoff with the Crusaders is set for 11 a.m.
 
Drake (3-3) visits Nebraska (3-5) looking to bounce back from a 71-48 defeat at Green Bay this past Saturday. The Bulldogs shot just 30.9 percent and committed 21 turnovers as the Phoenix never trailed in the win.
 
Senior Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) and sophomore Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) paced Drake with 12 points at Green Bay. Wendell, the leading scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference at 22.2 points per game this season, is eight points away from reaching 2,000 in her outstanding career. She will be just the fourth Bulldog to reach 2,000 points milestone and the first to do so since former standout Wanda Ford (1982-86), who scored 2,636 in her great career.
 
Bachrodt knocked down a career-high four three-pointers at Green Bay and scored in double-digits for the fourth time this season. She is averaging a career-best 11.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Senior Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) handed out seven assists in the road loss and now has 579 career assists. Ingle moved to second all-time in program history past Kay Riek (1980-84, 576) and now sits behind leader, Connie Newlin (1978-82), who had 767.
 
Nebraska holds a slight edge in the all-time series with Drake at 10-8. The teams last played on March 16, 2006 in a first round WNIT game the Cornhuskers won 62-59. Nebraska owns a two-game winning streak in the series and has won nine out of the past 12 games. This season, sophomore Jessica Shepard leads Nebraska in scoring at 17.5 points and rebounding at 10.1 rebounds per game.
 
For the fourth-straight season, thousands of elementary and middle school students will fill the stands for a fun-filled day of educational activities and Bulldog basketball at "Pack the Knapp" on Thursday. Clarke is a NAIA opponent out of Dubuque, Iowa, who plays in the Heart of America Conference. The Crusaders are 7-3 overall with a 4-3 mark in conference games. Senior Kelsey Ernst leads the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game. Drake is 2-0 all-time against Clarke and the two teams last played back on Nov. 20, 1976 when both programs were members of the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women).
 
Following Thursday's game against Clarke, Drake will take an extended break for finals with its next game Dec. 18 at the Knapp Center against Iowa at 2 p.m.