The Basics
Drake women's basketball will get their MVC schedule underway this weekend with a one-off road tilt at Southern Illinois. The Bulldogs and Salukis will meet up at 1 pm on Saturday, Dec. 30 in Carbondale, Ill.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs finished their non-conference slate with a record of 7-4. Their seven wins included five at home, one over Big 12 rival Iowa State (11/12), and a 108-point total at North Dakota (12/21). Two of Drake's early losses came to ranked opponents against No. 2 Iowa (11/19) and No. 20 Creighton (12/17). Drake earned one vote in the AP Poll after defeating the Cyclones and is currently ranked No. 12 in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25.
Katie Dinnebier has been a star for Drake to start the 2023-24 season. She currently leads the team and the conference and ranks in the top 40 nationally with 19.3 points per game, 57 assists, and 5.2 assists per game. Dinnebier has earned MVC Player of the Week and also leads Drake in free throw percentage (.897), steals (28), and steals per game (2.5).
Three other Bulldogs also average double figure points including
Grace Berg (16.4 ppg),
Anna Miller (11.7 ppg), and
Taylor McAulay (11.5 ppg). Miller has been the Bulldogs' top rebounder with 91 total and 8.3 boards per game. The junior post has also been the premier shot blocker in the MVC with 26 rejections and an average of 2.4 per game.
Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach
Allison Pohlman is in her third season as the Bulldogs' leader. She is just one win away from her first minor milestone of 50 career wins as head coach.
Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis have had an up-and down start to their 2023-24 season with an even record of 5-5. SIU opened the year with a win over Southeast Missouri State (11/7) before dropping three in-a-row. Southern Illinois bounced back with two victories at the San Juan Shootout (11/23-11/25) in Puerto Rico. Most recently, SIU has split its last two with a home win over Saint Louis (12/9), a common opponent with Drake, and a road loss at Oklahoma State (12/17).
A pair of Salukis have led the offense with double-digit points per game. Laniah Randle leads the way with 17.6 ppg followed by Seairra Hughes with 11.1. Jaidynn Mason and Shemera Williams each average over 14 points but have only played in five games or fewer. Randle is also the Salukis' best rebounder with 9.3 rpg and averages a block per game.
Elsewhere, Quierra Love's 4.5 assists per game facilitate the offense and 2.3 steals per game help on the defensive end of the floor.
SIU is led by head coach Kelly Bond-White in her second season at the helm. She has led the Salukis to a 17-24 record during her young head coaching career.
Up Next
Drake will host Indiana State (1/4) and Evansville (1/6) to begin the home portion of their 2023-24 schedule.
