MOLINE, Ill. – The Drake University women's basketball team, which claimed its second-straight outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship, is the top seed at this week's "Hoops in the Heartland" MVC Tournament, March 8-11, at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.
 
Drake (23-7, 18-0 MVC), which is the defending MVC Tournament champion, will play either No. 8 Valparaiso or No. 9 Loyola in the quarterfinals on Friday at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast online on The Valley on ESPN3 and on the radio at 1350 ESPN Des Moines. Drake's game notes will be posted Thursday night following the conclusion of the Loyola and Valparaiso game.
 
The Bulldogs, who are the first Valley program to go undefeated in a conference regular season after its historic 2016-17 season, are the first MVC program to ever accomplish the feat twice. They have won 40-consecutive Valley regular season contests which is a league record for the Gateway/Missouri Valley eras.
 
Drake is seeking to win back-to-back MVC Tournament championships for the second time in program history with the first repeat in 1997 and 1998. The Bulldogs own a 42-23 all-time record at the MVC Tournament. The winner of the four-day event claims the Valley's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Drake has not played Loyola (7-22, 5-13 MVC) or Valparaiso (12-17, 5-13 MVC) in the MVC Tournament. The Ramblers are in their fifth season in the MVC while the Crusaders are in their first season as members. The Bulldogs just closed the regular season against the two newest league members, winning 97-53 at Loyola and 85-53 in the regular season finale at Valparaiso.
 
If Drake wins Friday it advances to the semifinals to play the winner of No. 4 Southern Illinois vs. No. 5 Indiana State, which will take place Friday at 2:30 p.m. The semifinal matchup tipoffs Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast online on The Valley on ESPN3.