The Basics
Drake women's basketball hits the road again for their first two-game stretch away from home in the conference season. The Bulldogs will visit current MVC cellar-dwellers Valparaiso on Friday, Jan. 12 and then take a short drive to the Windy City for a bout against UIC on Sunday, Jan. 14.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs bring a 10-4 overall record and a 3-0 mark in conference play into this weekend. Drake enters the week ranked No. 11 in the Collegeinsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll and has earned their best league start since the 2018-19 season.
Katie Dinnebier leads a quartet of double-digit scorers with 19.8 points per game. She has been one of the most prolific players in the entire country with a nearly 90% free throw percentage, 5.7 assists per game, and almost three steals per contest.
Other key contributors include
Grace Berg with 16.6 ppg,
Taylor McAulay with 11.1 ppg, and
Anna Miller with 11.2 ppg, 8.9 rebounds per game, and 2.4 blocks per game. Miller's rejection numbers lead the MVC and rank 16th nationally.
Scouting Valparaiso
Valparaiso comes into the weekend with a 1-11 overall record and a winless 0-3 mark in MVC action. The Beacons are currently riding a five-game losing streak including a 75-66 loss at Southern Illinois in their last time out (1/6).
Leah Earnest leads Valpo in scoring with 13.9 points per game. She also averages 6.5 rebounds and leads the Beacons in assists. Jill Harris and Olivia Brown round out Valpo's double-digit scorers with 11.8 ppg and 10.8 ppg, respectively.
Mary Evans is in her sixth season leading the Valparaiso women's hoops program. She had led the Beacons to a 56-102 record.
Drake leads the all-time series with Valpo by a 15-2 margin. Drake has won two meetings in a row with the Beacons' two wins coming in the 2021-22 season.
Scouting UIC
The Flames of UIC are currently 8-6 on the season with a 1-2 record in MVC play. They dropped a narrow 51-50 loss at Missouri State in their last time out (1/6) after beating SIU (1/4). UIC is 3-0 at home this season.
Makiyah Williams leads UIC's scoring effort with 12.8 points per game. She is followed by Keimari Rimmer's 11.4 ppg and Dais'Ja Trotter's 11.0 ppg. Rimmer also adds production on the defensive end with a team-high 2.1 steals per game.
Preseason All-MVC Second Team selection Jaida McCloud leads the Flames on the glass with 6.5 rebounds per game and also tallies the most blocks on the team.
The Flames are led by head coach Ashleen Bracey in her second season at UIC. Bracey has posted a 27-23 record in her two years.
Drake also leads their all-time series with UIC by a 6-2 margin. The Flames picked up one of their two wins in the most recent meeting, a 64-53 decision in Chicago last season.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will return home to celebrate another installment of their annual DSM Hometown Team Weekend with two high-level matchups.
Drake will welcome Belmont to Des Moines on Friday, Jan. 19 for a rematch of last year's MVC Tournament Championship game. They will then close the weekend with a meeting against the highest-scoring team in The Valley in Murray State on Sunday, Jan. 21.
