DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team hosts UNI Wednesday in a midweek Missouri Valley Conference game. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the team's final game of January will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Drake (7-8, 5-3 MVC) is coming off a pair of hard-fought losses at league leader No. 25 Missouri State while UNI (8-7, 5-3 MVC) swept Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind.
 
The Bulldogs came back from double-digit deficits to be within one possession in each game against the Lady Bears. They erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit in the opener to trail by three with the basketball and 2.2 seconds left. However, sophomore Sarah Beth Gueldner's basket at the buzzer was a two-pointer as Missouri State held on for a 73-72 win. In the series finale, Drake was down three points late in third quarter before Missouri State went on a 15-1 run to help pull away for the series sweep.
 
In the two games in Springfield coming off the bench, Gueldner averaged 12.0 points per game helped by great shooting at 52.6 percent (9-of-16) from the floor, including knocking down five three-pointers and not missing a shot in the opener. She recorded her first career back-to-back 10 or more points performances. Another young Bulldog, freshman Courtney Becker, played well averaging 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the games. Becker scored a career-high eight points in just 14 minutes in the series finale.
 
Wednesday's game will be the 91^st all-time meeting between Drake and UNI. The Panthers snapped a nine-game losing streak in the series with their 91-78 win last year in Cedar Falls. That game ended up being the final game for each team in 2019-20 after the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the MVC and NCAA Tournaments.
 
Two of the MVC's top scorers in Drake's Grace Berg and UNI's Karli Rucker will meet Wednesday. Berg is third in scoring at 16.4 points while Rucker is sixth at 14.5 points. They're also two of the top shooters as Berg leads the Valley in shooting at 53.6 percent while Rucker is fifth at 53.3 percent. Berg recorded her sixth 20-plus scoring game of the season with 25 points in the first game against Missouri State.
 
Following Wednesday's game, Drake will enjoy a nice break before returning to action at Loyola on Feb. 5-6.