NORMAL, Ill. – The Drake University women's basketball team visits Illinois State on Friday night in the first of five remaining road games for the Bulldogs to close the regular season. Drake and Illinois State will tipoff at 7 p.m. Friday night with the contest broadcast via
On The Valley On ESPN3.
In its last game on Sunday, Drake (16-6, 9-2 MVC) raced past Missouri State by a score of 95-72 to take sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bulldogs used a dominating 21-2 scoring run in the second quarter to break open a close game as the team finished with the most points scored all season versus an MVC opponent.
Junior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.) and sophomore
Paige Greiner (Williamsburg, Iowa) fueled the decisive run with Wendell pouring in seven points and Greiner knocking down three three-pointers during the stretch. Wendell went on to score a game-high 25 points while Greiner finished with nine points. Junior
Caitlin Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) recorded her third points/assists double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 assists.
Drake ranks 10
th in the nation with its league-best 80.6 points per game scoring clip while also ranking 10
th in the country and pacing the MVC in field goal percentage at 47.2. The impressive scoring mark is 10.0 points more than the next closest team in the MVC, Missouri State (70.6). As a team, the Bulldogs also share the basketball, averaging an MVC-high 18.6 assists per game, which is eighth in the nation.
Illinois State (6-15, 4-6 MVC) is coming off a 73-62 home win over Indiana State, and the Redbirds have won three of their last five games. Drake defeated Illinois State by a score of 76-41 back on Jan. 17 in Des Moines as the Bulldogs now lead the series, 37-35. The longtime MVC rivals have played at least twice annually every season since the 1981-82 season.
The Bulldogs will close the weekend at Indiana State on Sunday afternoon. The contest in Terre Haute, Ind., will start at 1 p.m. CST and is available via
The Valley On ESPN3.
