The Basics
Postseason play is here for the Bulldog women with the start of the 2026 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament. Drake enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed and will battle No. 11 Valparaiso at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 12.
 
The 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament is returning to the state of Iowa. This year's tourney, which marks the 40th installment, will be played at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.
 
Bulldog Breakdown
Drake wrapped up its regular season with a 73-55 home win over Illinois State (Mar. 5) before dropping the finale in a rivalry romp at UNI (Mar. 8).
 
Drake currently leads the league in assists per game with 18.1 dishes per contest. The Dogs are also third in the MVC with 1.1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ava Hawthorne leads Drake with 103 total assists and 3.4 assists per game. The Bulldogs' assists numbers rank ninth in the country. Drake also leads the Missouri Valley Conference in rebounding margin. The Bulldogs pull down 39.6 boards per game while holding opponents to 34.1 rebounds per contest. Maggie Taylor paces Drake's rebounding effort with 6.8 per game.
 
Senior sharpshooter Abbie Aalsma leads the Bulldogs in scoring this season with an average of 15.1 points per game. She is one of two Drake players to average double digit points. Aalsma was voted as a Third Team All-MVC performer this season.
 
Anna Becker is the other Drake player to average double figures with 11.5 points per game to her credit. Becker recently earned her fifth MVC Freshman of the Week honor and was named to the MVC All-Freshman team after a stellar rookie campaign.
 
The Bulldogs are 54-27 all-time in MVC Tournament play. Drake won back-to-back tournament titles in 2023 and 2024 before bowing out in last year's semifinals. Drake enters tournament play as the No. 6 seed for the third time in program history. The Bulldogs are 1-2 all-time as the sixth seed. As previous No. 6 seeds, Drake reached the semifinals in 2005 and were one-and-done in 2011.
 
Key Players
Abbie Aalsma | 15.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.8 apg
Anna Becker | 11.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.9 apg
Grace Knutson | 9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.7 apg
 
Scouting Valparaiso
Valparaiso finishes the 2026 regular season firmly in last place in The Valley standings. The Beacons failed to win a single game this year, going 0-31 overall and 0-20 in MVC play. Valpo ended the regular season with a 100-68 loss at league champion Murray State (Mar. 7).
 
The Bulldogs lead Valpo 20-3 in the teams' all-time series. Drake is also 7-3 in the last 10 matchups. The Bulldogs swept this season's series with Valpo by scores of 79-68 at home and 66-56 in The Region. Valpo is looking for its first win over Drake since a 66-65 stunner last season. The Bulldogs are 3-0 all-time in neutral site games vs. Valparaiso. The Bulldogs are averaging 79.1 points per game against Valparaiso. The first matchup in the series came in 1994 with a 94-59 Drake win.
 
Courtney Boyd is in her first season leading Valparaiso. Including the current winless season, Boyd has built a career record of 180-99 including previous stops at NAIA Clarke and Division II Quincy.
 
Key Players
Fiona Connolly | 12.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.7 apg
Allia von Schlegell | 11.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.2 apg
Milana Nenadic | 9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0.5 spg
 
Up Next
The winner of Thursday's nightcap will advance to the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament and face off against No. 3 seed Illinois State on Friday evening.