The Basics
Drake women's basketball will put their unblemished league record to the test with a pair of road contests this weekend. The Bulldogs are set for visits to Bradley on Thursday, Jan 25 and Illinois State on Saturday, Jan. 27.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The league-leading Bulldogs have been playing inspired basketball of late, boasting a 14-4 overall record and 7-0 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake extended their winning streak to eight games with a sweep of Belmont (1/19) and Murray State (1/21) over Des Moines' Hometown Team Weekend.
Despite a down weekend scoring-wise, point guard
Katie Dinnebier continued to lead the Bulldogs on offense with an average of 18.4 ppg. She also leads the team and The Valley in assists (6.3 apg) and steals (2.8 spg). Dinnebier is nearing a career milestone with 990 career points. She is just 10 shy of becoming the 36th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points in a career.
Graduate student
Grace Berg saw an uptick in her numbers after a career-high 30 points in the Bulldogs' last time out. She is averaging 17.4 points per game with an impressive 42 percent three-point rate, the second highest in the conference.
Other key contributors include
Anna Miller with 11.9 ppg, a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game, and a league-high 2.4 blocks per game.
Taylor McAulay rounds out the Bulldogs' double-digit scorers at 11.4 ppg. McAulay joins Dinnebier as the only two Drake players to average multiple steals.
Scouting Bradley
Bradley comes into this weekend after losing their last two contests. The Braves currently hold an overall record of 5-13 and a league record of 1-6. Bradley dropped a pair of road games last weekend at UIC (1/19) and Valparaiso (1/21). The Braves' last win came on Jan. 13 with a two-point victory over Southern Illinois in Peoria.
Halli Poock leads the Braves' scoring effort with 12.1 ppg and is the only player on the roster to average double figures. Alex Rouse is near that threshold at 9.7 ppg. Poock also leads the team with 2.8 assists and 0.9 steals per game. On the interior, forward Isis Fitch spearheads the Braves' rebounding attack with 6.1 per game.
Head coach Kate Popovec-Goss is in her second season leading the Braves. She has coached Bradley to a 4-29 record during her tenure.
Drake leads the all-time series with Bradley by a 67-18 margin. The Bulldogs have won the last five meetings with Bradley's most recent win coming in the 2021 MVC Tournament Championship. The Bulldogs swept last season's meetings by an average of 25.5 points.
Scouting Illinois State
The Redbirds of Illinois State come into the weekend with records of 11-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Illinois State was upended by UIC in Chicago in their most recent bout to snap a three-game winning streak.
DeAnna Wilson and Maya Wong pace the Redbird offense with 15.1 ppg and 12.7 ppg, respectively. Bradley transfer and Ames, Iowa native Caroline Waite adds 9.0 ppg. Wilson is the team's second-leading rebounder with 7.3 per game, just behind Kate Bullman's 8.9 rpg. Wong also facilitates the Illinois State offense with a team-high 4.1 assists per game.
Kristen Gillespie coaches the Redbirds and is in her seventh season in Normal. She has posted a record of 121-76 during her time at Illinois State and a 226-141 record in 13 seasons across all levels of NCAA hoops.
Drake has controlled the all-time series with the Redbirds, 51-39. The Bulldogs went 2-1 vs. Illinois State last season with blowout wins in Des Moines and the MVC Tournament semifinals. Despite their all-time advantage, Drake is just 18-25 when playing at Illinois State.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will cap off a three-game road stretch with a rivalry matchup at UNI on Saturday, Feb. 3 in Cedar Falls.
