DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team starts its February slate of games at the Knapp Center on Friday as Drake faces Wichita State. Tipoff with the Shockers is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will broadcast via
The Valley On ESPN3.
Drake with a 14-6 overall record enters Friday night at 7-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play after the first time through the league's round-robin schedule. The Bulldogs are coming off an 81-65 win at Loyola on Sunday, where they rallied from an 11-point second-quarter deficit.
Drake went on a 15-2 scoring run to end the second period fueled by junior
Lizzy Wendell (Blue Springs, Mo.), who scored eight points during the run, including a layup right before the buzzer to propel the Bulldogs to a 29-27 halftime lead. Drake never trailed again as it pulled away from Loyola with two high-scoring final quarters.
Wendell finished with a game-high 25 points, adding six assists with just one turnover, four rebounds, one block and one steal in 32 minutes. She scored 25 points in Drake's previous game against Bradley and her big weekend earned her MVC Player of the Week accolades on Monday. The weekly honor is the league-leading fourth for Wendell this season. She has climbed to 11
th all-time in career scoring with 1,621 points, passing an impressive trio of former Bulldogs in Tammi Blackstone (1996-2000) 1,581 points, Kiersten Miller (1994-98) 1,598 points and Tricia Wakely (1992-96) 1,605 points.
Sophomore
Maddy Dean (Jordan, Minn.) had an impressive performance in the win in Chicago with 13 points, seven rebounds, a career-tying seven assists and two steals. A pair of freshmen,
Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) and
Sara Rhine (Eldon, Mo.) each had 10 points. Drake had just eight points on three baskets after the first quarter, but finished the day with 28 field goals and 21 assists.
Wichita State is 5-15 overall and 2-7 in the MVC after having its two-game win streak snapped by Missouri State. Newcomer Rangie Bessard leads the Shockers at 14.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Drake won 87-56 in the first meeting between the two teams this season in Wichita, Kan.
Following Friday's game, Drake hosts Missouri State on Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.
