DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University women's basketball team returns to the Knapp Center Thursday and Friday to host SIU for a two-game Missouri Valley Conference series. Tipoff for each game will be 5 p.m. The two games will be the team's Pink Games presented by MercyOne Medical Center Des Moines.
 
Drake (10-8, 8-3 MVC) swept Loyola last weekend in Chicago and sits alone in second place after the two wins over the Ramblers. The Bulldogs used hot shooting in the first two quarters to cruise in the first game and then held off a fourth-quarter charge by the Ramblers in the finale.
 
Sophomore guard Sarah Beth Gueldner played two great games off the bench for Drake, including a career-high 17 points in the finale behind a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the field and 5-of-5 from three. It was the third perfect shooting game this year for the sophomore from Olathe, Kan. Gueldner has made at least one three-pointer in 12-straight games and 24 in league games, which is the second most among Valley players. Her career-high 40.8 percent from three ranks fourth in the MVC.
 
Drake continues to share the basketball exceptionally well with 44 assists in the two games in the Windy City. Maddie Monahan and Allie Wooldridge had 11 and 10 assists, respectively.
The Bulldogs lead the nation in total assists with 378 and rank third in assists per game at 21.0 per game.
 
SIU (6-8, 3-6 MVC) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 43-41 victory over Illinois State in its last contest. The Salukis held the Redbirds to a season-low 41 points. SIU is third in the Valley in scoring defense at 59.5 points per game. Senior Makenzie Silvey is averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game.
 
Drake starts it final road trip of the regular season Feb. 19-20 at Illinois State.