VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Drake University women's basketball team is set to play its only road games this month when it visits Valparaiso Friday at 5 p.m. before closing the weekend at Loyola Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Drake (16-5, 8-1 MVC) bounced back after its first Missouri Valley Conference loss in more than two seasons with a convincing win over SIU 94-66 on Super Bowl Sunday.
Becca Hittner (Urbandale, Iowa), was one of four Bulldogs in double figures, with a game-high 30 points.
Sara Rhine (Eldon, Mo.) posted her ninth double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds while
Maddy Dean (Jordan, Minn.) and
Sammie Bachrodt (Wichita, Kan.) added 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Hittner, who was named MVC Player of the Week for the second time on Monday, is the first Drake player to score 30-plus points in back-to-back games since Jan Jensen during the 1991-92 season. The Urbandale, Iowa, native has scored double figures in 19 of 21 games this season. Since her last single digit game of eight points against defending national champion Notre Dame, Hittner has raised her scoring average from 14.2 to a league-high 19.7 points per game, scoring 12 or more in every contest since. Hittner and Rhine (19.4), who are No. 1-2 in the league in scoring, also rank No. 8 and No. 9 in career scoring average at Drake at 15.6 and 15.3, respectively. Rhine has 11 20-plus games while Hittner has nine.
Drake defeated both Valpo (6-15, 2-7 MVC) and Loyola (10-10, 4-5 MVC) at the Knapp Center in mid-January. The Crusaders are coming off a close three-point loss to Illinois State, but beat Bradley in the game before. The Ramblers edged the Redbirds by three last Friday before losing to the Braves Sunday. Loyola is the league's top three-point shooting team at 35.9 percent while Drake is No. 2 at 35.4 percent and Valpo No. 4 at 33.8 percent.
Following this weekend, Drake will host UNI Feb. 15 in the first game of a three-game homestand. The in-state meeting with the Panthers is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN3.
