The Basics
The Drake women's basketball has two home matches on tap this week. Drake will host Missouri State on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6:00 p.m. before welcoming UNI to a Knapp Center Blue Out on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. Sunday will also feature the team's National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs are 20-5 overall and 13-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference. They currently sit atop the league standings. Last time out, Drake defeated an 11-3 Belmont team on the road. The Bulldogs edged out the Bruins 77-71. The win against Belmont secured the third straight 20-win season for the Bulldogs.
The multi-faceted Bulldog offense features double-figure scorers
Katie Dinnebier (19.0 ppg),
Grace Berg (17.2 ppg) and
Anna Miller (12.3 ppg). Dinnebier also leads the Bulldogs with 6.7 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She was recently named a Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Semifinalist.
Miller and Berg have also been very productive for the Bulldogs. The former led the Bulldogs with 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in the recent win against Belmont. She leads the MVC with 67 blocks and an average of 2.7 blocks per game. The latter is Drake's second-leading scorer with 17.2 points per game.
Scouting Missouri State
The Lady Bears are 17-6 overall and 11-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. They are currently tied with Belmont for second place in the MVC. Missouri State has won five of their last six games, with their only defeat coming in an 89-95 result to Murray State.
The Lady Bears have two double-digit scorers in Lacy Stokes (11.2 ppg) and Kennedy Taylor (10.8 ppg). Stokes, their lead guard, averages 4.6 assists per game and Taylor, a forward, averages a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Kyrah Daniels leads Missouri State shooting 39.5% from three-point range and adds 9.7 points per game.
Missouri State's coach, Beth Cunningham, is in her second season at the helm for the Bears. In her inaugural season, the Bears went 20-12.
Missouri State leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs, 51-46. Drake has won two in a row against the Lady Bears. This is the first and only time these two teams will meet in the regular season.
Scouting UNI
UNI has a 10-13 overall record and a 9-5 record in the MVC. The Panthers are tied for fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers are coming off a two-point loss at Murray State in their last time out and will battle Southern Illinois in Cedar Falls before visiting Des Moines.
Grace Boffeli, the MVC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the Panthers with 15.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Maya McDermott adds a high-volume 15.5 points and 3.6 assists per game. McDermott is also an efficient 35.4 percent three-point shooter. Emerson Green is the final Panther player that averages double figures, pouring in 10.0 points per game.
Tanya Warren is the head coach for UNI women's basketball. Warren is in her 17th season as coach of the Panthers. She is a three-time MVC Coach of the Year and recently set the mark for all-time conference wins in The Valley.
Drake holds a commanding 71-27 all-time advantage over UNI. Earlier in February, Drake defeated UNI in Cedar Falls 79-71 behind
Katie Dinnebier's first-career triple-double.
Up Next
Drake will remain at home for two more regular season games. The Bulldogs will host UIC on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. and host their final home regular season game against Valparaiso on Saturday, Mar. 2 at 2 p.m. Senior Day festivities will take place after the game with the Beacons.
