AMES, Iowa – With finals week completed, the Drake University women's basketball team visits Iowa State Sunday at 12 p.m. in its lone game this week. Drake (8-2) and Iowa State (7-2) meet in the first of two back-to-back in-state contests for the Bulldogs who host No. 16 Iowa Dec. 21 in their final non-conference game of the regular season.
 
Drake is coming off an 80-71 road loss at South Dakota State Dec. 8. The Jackrabbits led by 10 at halftime and had to fight off several rally attempts by the Bulldogs who multiple times trimmed their deficit to one-point. However, SDSU outscored Drake, 18-13, in the final period to win their second straight in the series between two team in the upper half of espnW's mid-major rankings. Sara Rhine (Eldon, Mo.) scored 22 points in the road defeat while Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) tallied a season-high 18 points and added five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
Iowa State crushed North Dakota, 87-35, in its last game. Bridget Carleton, an honorable mention AP All-American last season, is averaging a team-leading 17.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. The Cyclones won the Preseason WNIT earlier this season.
 
The in-state series between the Bulldogs and the Cyclones has been back-and-forth the past four seasons with home team winning each meeting. Iowa State holds a slight edge all-time, 29-28, in the series that started in 1975-76 and has featured at least one game between the two every season since.
 
Following Sunday's road game, Drake hosts Iowa Friday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. in the team's final non-conference regular season game. The in-state matchup will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on Mediacom MC22.