The Basics
Drake women's basketball will officially open the 2023-24 campaign as they host St. Thomas on Monday, Nov. 6 and travel to St. Louis on Thursday, Nov. 9.
The Bulldogs will celebrate their historic 2022-23 season with two separate ceremonies surrounding the debut versus St. Thomas. Prior to the contest on Nov. 6, the team will reveal their 2023 MVC Championship banner. Following the conclusion of the game, the team and coaches will be presented their championship rings.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs were picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.
Drake returns nine members of the 2023 NCAA Tournament squad including junior
Katie Dinnebier who was named to the 2023-24 Preseason All-MVC First Team as well as the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Preseason watch list. Dinnebier averaged 11.7 points and 5.8 assists per game last season.
Senior
Grace Berg joined Dinnebier on the Preseason All-MVC First Team squad. She averaged 12.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season as the Bulldogs' second-leading scorer. Junior
Anna Miller was named to the Preseason All-MVC Second Team. Miller averaged 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds in the 2022-23 campaign while earning Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year honors.
Drake also added four newcomers to this year's squad including graduate transfer
Anna Brown from Loyola Chicago and a trio of true freshmen.
Scouting St. Thomas
The Tommies earned a 13-17 record in their 2022-23 campaign, including their first-ever Summit League Tournament title and Division I postseason win. They will return three starters from that run.
Jordan Glynn will return for her fifth year after appearing in all 30 games for the Tommies last season. Joining her in returning is Jordyn Lamker, who averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds last season, and Amber Scalia, who averaged 4.7 points.
Monday's season opener will be the first-ever matchup between St. Thomas and Drake.
Scouting St. Lous
The Billikens return after winning the program's first-ever Atlantic-10 Tournament Championship in the 2022-23 campaign. They're led by Rebecca Tillett in her second season, who became only the second head coach in D-I Women's Basketball history to lead teams in different conferences to conference tournament titles in back-to-back years. She reached the Big Dance at Longwood in 2021-22 prior to taking Saint Louis there last year. The only other coach to accomplish that feat was former Bulldog head coach Lisa Bluder at Drake in 2000 and Iowa 2001.
Kyla McMakin returns to the squad after averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game last season.
The Billikens were picked third in the A-10 preseason poll. Thursday's matchup will be Saint Louis' season debut and the seventh all-time meeting between the two teams. Drake leads the series 4-2 with three-straight wins over the Billikens.
Up Next
Drake will take on a pair of in-state rivals when they host Iowa State on Sunday, Nov. 12 and travel to No. 3 Iowa on Sunday, Nov 19.
