The Basics
Drake women's basketball will start the home portion of their 2023-24 MVC schedule this week. The Bulldogs are set to host Indiana State on Thursday, Jan. 4 before welcoming Evansville to Iowa's capital on Saturday, Jan. 6.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs bring an 8-4 overall record and a 1-0 mark in conference play into the second week of league action. Drake enters the week ranked No. 11 in the Collegeinsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll and holds the highest NET ranking among Valley teams at 64.
In their last contest, Drake opened MVC action on the road with a 78-59 victory at Southern Illinois on Dec. 30.
Drake boasts a quartet of double-digit scorers led by point guard
Katie Dinnebier's 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, over five assists per game, and almost three steals per contest.
Grace Berg has also been stellar for the Dogs with 17.1 ppg as Drake's second-best distributor.
Anna Miller and
Taylor McAulay round out the Bulldogs' offensive leaders with over 11 points per game.
In their last contest, Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach
Allison Pohlman earned her 50th-career win as head coach.
Scouting Indiana State
Indiana State also started conference play with a bang, beating in-state rival Evansville 66-49 on Dec. 30. The Sycamores are 5-6 overall.
Kiley Bess is averaging 12.5 points per game to lead Indiana State. Chelsea Cain and Bella Finnegan also average at least 10 points for the Sycamores. Finnegan has been one of Indiana State's premier perimeter defenders with a team-high 1.8 steals per game.
Elsewhere, Mya Glanton has dominated the boards, collecting 89 rebounds, 30 more than the second-leading rebounder, for an average of 8.1 per game. Ella Sawyer dishes out nearly three assists per game.
Indiana State will be without head coach Chad Killinger. The Sycamores' head coach will miss their matchup in Des Moines and at UNI on Saturday due to undisclosed medical reasons. He has coached Indiana State to a 27-45 record in three seasons in Terre Haute.
Drake leads the all-time series with Indiana State by a 63-24 margin. The Bulldogs have won two-straight meetings and is 36-6 in home games vs. the Sycamores.
Scouting Evansville
The Purple Aces have had a tough start to the season with a 2-10 overall record and an 0-1 mark in MVC play. Their lone conference loss came to Indiana State last week. Evansville is set to visit UNI on Thursday, Jan. 4 before traveling south to Des Moines this weekend.
Kynidi Mason Striverson's 15.8 ppg lead the team's offensive output followed by Maggie Hartwig with 11.4 ppg. Striverson is also the club's best distributor with four assists per contest.
Hartwig also narrowly leads the Purple Aces with 7.9 rebounds per game, just ahead of Barbora Tomancova's 7.3 rpg. The two post players are tied for the team-lead in blocked shots.
Evansville head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells is in her third season leading the Aces. She has posted a 165-134 overall record over 10 head coaching seasons and a 21-51 mark at Evansville.
The Bulldogs own the all-time series with Evansville, 51-14. Drake has won 16-straight over the Purple Aces and is 23-6 when playing at home. Evansville's last win came in the 2015 MVC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will hit the road again for a trip to The Region and the Windy City. Drake will visit Valpo on Friday, Jan. 12 and UIC on Sunday, Jan. 14.
