DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team hosts Indiana State at the Knapp Center for a two-game Missouri Valley Conference series on Friday and Saturday. Tipoff Friday is set for 5 p.m. with the game on ESPN+ while the finale Saturday will start at 3 p.m. and be on ESPN3. In addition, both games will be broadcast on Mediacom MC22.
 
Drake (5-6, 3-1 MVC) is coming off a road sweep over Evansville as the Bulldogs won their first back-to-back games with the two big victories over the Purple Aces. Drake's defense limited Evansville to just 50 and 43 points, respectively, as both totals are the lowest by a Bulldogs' opponent this season.
 
Drake has ranked in the top 10 leaders in the NCAA in team assists each of the past five seasons. This season, the Bulldogs are once again sharing the basketball as they sit No. 2 nationally in assists with 221 and fifth in assists per game at 20.1. Against Evansville, Drake recorded an impressive 45 assists on its 53 field goals (85.0 percent assist rate).
 
With her eight assists in the two games against the Purple Aces, senior point guard Maddie Monahan moved to No. 8 all-time in career assists with 390. Monahan, who moved past Karlin Hayes (387) and Jan Krieger (389), needs five more dimes to move past her former teammate, Sammie Bachrodt (394) for seventh all-time. Monahan (4^th, 3.7 and her teammates, Kierra Collier (2^nd, career-high 4.8) and Allie Wooldridge (7^th, career-high 3.3) rank in the top 8 among the Valley leaders in assists.
 
Indiana State (4-5, 1-3 MVC) won its MVC opener at Loyola but has lost its last three games since that victory. The Sycamores are led by senior Jamyra McChristine who is averaging team-high 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The series between the schools started in 1977 and since 1983 the teams have played at least twice every season.
 
Following the Indiana State series, Drake returns to the road when it visits Missouri State on Jan. 22-23.