AUSTIN, Texas – The Drake University women's basketball team continues its challenging non-conference schedule Friday night with a visit to No. 22 Texas. Tipoff at the Erwin Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network and on the radio on Hope 940 AM.
 
Drake (2-3) and Texas (4-1) agreed to play earlier in the week and are set to meet for the first time since March 15, 1984 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns won that NCAA game to hold a 2-1 advantage in the series with each game played from 1983 to 1984. Friday's game will be third time the teams have played in Austin. The Bulldogs' previously announced game against Lewis University scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19 at the Knapp Center is cancelled.
 
Drake, which has played four of its five games away from the Knapp Center, is coming off an 87-73 road loss at South Dakota State Tuesday night. The Bulldogs couldn't dig out of an early deficit as the Jackrabbits opened the game on a 10-0 run and then reeled off another 10-0 spurt to lead by 16 late in the opening period. Drake pulled within five early in the final quarter but SDSU countered with a 7-0 run to lead by double digits the rest of the way.
 
Grace Berg scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the first 13 minutes of play and added nine rebounds and four assists. Maddie Monahan tallied 20 points to extend her double-figure scoring streak to nine games. Maggie Bair, who grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, notched the first double-double of her career with a season-best 10 points.
 
Texas will play its first game since Dec. 9 after its previous scheduled games against Tennessee and Kansas were postponed due to Covid-19 protocols. Vic Shaefer is in his first season as the Longhorns' head coach after a long and successful stint at Mississippi State. Junior Charli Collier is one of the top players in the nation, averaging 25.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
 
Following Friday, Drake stays on the road making the short trip to Iowa State on Dec. 22 for a 6 p.m. game at Hilton Coliseum. The Bulldogs will play consecutive Big 12 opponents for the first time since 2000 when it played the Cyclones and then Kansas State.