DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team hosts Central Missouri Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the first of two preseason exhibition contests at the Knapp Center. Following Tuesday's exhibition, Drake will close the preseason slate against Simpson Nov. 3.
 
The Central Missouri exhibition will be broadcast on Praise 940 while the Simpson contest will be on 1350 ESPN Des Moines with Hunter Phillips and Randy Mauro set for their fourth season on the air for Drake women's basketball. Live stats at www.godrakebulldogs.com will be available for both exhibitions.
 
Drake won its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season title in 2018-19. It was the first three-peat in program history and just the fifth in MVC history. Drake qualified for its third-consecutive NCAA Tournament, the 13th time the Bulldogs made the tournament. This season, Drake is looking to make its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, which has never happened in school history.
 
Seniors Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine are set for their final seasons at Drake. Last season, the decorated duo became just the second set of teammates to lead the Valley in scoring with Hittner at a league-best 19.7 points point per game and Rhine next at 18.3 points. Rhine with 1,654 career points and Hittner with 1,565 points will each strive for 2,000 career points, joining just four in program history and eight in MVC history to reach the impressive 2,000-point mark. Hittner, the back-to-back Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year, can become just the third MVC player to win the award three times.
 
Hittner and Rhine along with Hannah Fuller, Maddie Monahan and Brenni Rose are Drake's five returners with the most game experience. They're joined by Monica Burich, a Colorado transfer who played her first season at Drake last year, Mya Mertz, who returned in 2018-19 after missing the previous season due to injury and sophomores Maggie Negaard and Allie Wooldridge who each earned significant playing time in their first season. Rounding out the roster are Division I transfers, Grace Berg and Kierra Collier, who came to Drake from Missouri and Washington, respectively. Three freshmen, Maggie Bair, Sarah Beth Gueldner and Taylor McAulay round out the 2019-20 roster.
 
Drake opens the regular season at home against Sweet 16 participant, South Dakota State, on Nov. 8. Tipoff at the Knapp Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.