Women's Basketball 11/23/2011 12:49:00 PM Drake Athletics

Bulldogs in Mexico For Seventh-Annual Cancun Challenge

CANCUN, Mexico -- The Drake University women's basketball team heads to Cancun, Mexico for the seventh-annual Triple Crown Cancun Challenge this week. The Bulldogs will take on Marist Thursday at 5:30 before meeting Hofstra Friday at 1:30. Both contests will air live on AM 1350 KRNT.

TRIPLE CROWN CANCUN CHALLENGE: The 2011 Challenge features 10 teams, including Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Drake, Hofstra, Idaho State, Kansas State, Marist, Purdue, South Dakota State and Tulane.
Each of the 10 teams will play two games in Cancun at the Moon Palace Resort during Thanksgiving week. Fans can visit the website at www.cancunchallenge.net for tournament and fan package information.

ABOUT DRAKE: The Bulldogs are coming off a 63-51 home victory over Milwaukee. Through three games, the Bulldogs have shot 44.4-percent from the floor, better than any other Missouri Valley Conference team. The Bulldogs also boast the league's top rebounding differential at +5.7 per game.
    Senior Rachael Hackbarth has totaled three-straight double-doubles and leads the team with 17.3 points per game. Hackbarth has averaged 11.3 rebounds per game and is the lone MVC performer to average double-figure rebounds through the season's first three contests. Freshman Kyndal Clark ranks third on the team with 9.7 points per game and scored in double figures in both games last week.

ABOUT MARIST: The Red Foxes are 1-2 and coming off a 68-51 loss at Princeton. Marist advanced to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament and have won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference six years in a row.
    Preseason MAAC Player of the Year Corielle Yarde leads Marist with 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 steals per game. Yarde has accounted for nearly one-third of Marist's points this season and has led the Red Foxes in scoring in all three games, including a season-high 24 points Nov. 18 vs. Yale.
    The Red Foxes are coached by 10th-year head coach Brian Giorgis, whose .776 winning percentage (225-65) ranks sixth among all NCAA head coaches.

ABOUT HOFSTRA: Hofstra is 2-1 and coming off a 93-82 victory against St. John's. The Pride's lone loss this season came at Gonzaga (-) in their season opener. Hofstra returns four starters from last season's WNIT team and was picked to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association.
    Katelyn Loper leads the Pride with 20.7 points per game and has made 11 of Hofstra's 20 three-pointers this season. Shante Evans, who was a Preseason All-CAA pick, ranks second on the team with 17.0 points per game and is the team-leader with 8.7 rebounds per contest.
    Hostra is coached by sixth-year head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey.

TOUGH TEAMS IN CANCUN: Drake will meet 2011 NCAA Tournament participant Marist in its opening game of the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge Thursday. The Bulldogs then meet 2011 WNIT participant Hofstra on Friday. Drake has never played either team in its 38-year women's basketball history.

SAME AS LAST YEAR?: Last season, Drake left for the Northern Arizona Thanksgiving Tournament with a 1-2 record. The Bulldogs went on to win four-straight.

AWARD SWEEP: Senior Rachael Hackbarth and freshman Kyndal Clark were named MVC Player and Newcomer of the Week, respectively, on Monday. Last season, Senior Kristin Turk and freshman Angela Christianson swept the MVC awards on Dec. 6.
    Hackbarth put together back-to-back double-doubles last week to lead Drake against Iowa State and Milwaukee. The senior opened the week with 15 points and 14 rebounds against Iowa State and followed with a 20-point, 11-rebound performance against Milwaukee. Hackbarth made 59.1-percent of her attempts (13-of-22) to lead Drake with 35 total points and 25 total rebounds.
    Clark emerged as Drake's top outside shooter over the last two games. The freshman opened the week with a career-high 15 points, including 12 in the second half, on 5-of-9 shooting against Iowa State. She made 3-of-6 from three-point range in her first collegiate home contest. Clark followed her Iowa State effort with a 12-point, five-assist performance that led the Bulldogs to their first win of the season against Milwaukee. All told, Clark scored 27 points and led Drake with eight total assists while shooting 52.6-percent from the floor last week.

MEET THE CAPTAINS: Amber Wollschlager and Rachael Hackbarth have been chosen captains by their teammates for 2011-12. This season marks Wollschlager's second as a captain after she shared the honor with Kristin Turk (2007-11) last season.

HACKBARTH CENTRAL: Senior Rachael Hackbarth is one of the Valley's top returners in 2011-12. She ranks as the conference's second-highest returning scorer and third-highest returning rebounder after totaling 14.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season.

Top Returning Scorers in the MVC:
1) 18.2     Casey Garrison, Missouri State
2) 14.6     Rachael Hackbarth, Drake

Top Returning Rebounders in the MVC:
1) 8.6     Shannon Thomas, Indiana State
2) 8.2     Christiana Shorter, Missouri State
3) 8.1     Rachael Hackbarth, Drake

Hackbarth currently sits at 1,051 points - 22nd all-time at Drake - and can become one of Drake's 10 most-prolific scorers if she totals 586 or more points this season. Last season's leading scorer, Kristin Turk, scored 600 points.

Between Hackbarth and the Top Ten:
10)     1,605    Tricia Wakely (1992-96)
11)     1,598    Kiersten Miller (1994-98)
12)     1,566    Kristi Kinne (1991-95)
13)     1,564    Lindsay Whorton (2004-08)
14)     1,559    Julie Rittgers (1991-95)
15)     1,405    Kristin Turk (2007-11)
16)     1,351    Connie Newlin (1978-82)
17)     1,343    Jordann Plummer (2005-10)
18)     1,212    Jenni Fitzgerald (1986-90)
19)     1,129    Linda Sayavongchanh (2002-06)
20)     1,081    Jody Busing (1975-79)
21)     1,080    Brandy Dahir (2004-08)
22)     1,071    Rachael Hackbarth (2008-Present)

Additionally, Hackbarth currently has 586 career rebounds, 88 short of Amy McDermott's (1978-82) 10th-place total of 674 on the all-time list. Hackbarth totaled 242 rebounds last season.

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