With five games left for the Bulldogs, it’s gut check time

Grenfell is a sophomore public relations and management double major and can be contacted at carly.grenfell@drake.edu.

It’s hard to believe that we are over half way done with the season. After the weekend, we are now 12-12 on the year and 6-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play. We have just five more games to go, and then it is tournament time. A .500 record isn’t exactly ideal. Nonetheless, there are still games to be played. We are currently fighting for a spot in the top half of the MVC. Our situation isn’t hopeless, but this last half of the season will be a major gut check for our team.

We have two overtime losses and several others by five points or less. I have to admit that those games are the worst. Being that close to victory is torture for any competitor. But even so, whether it’s by 20 points or three points, it’s still an ‘L’ in the record books. From this point forward, stringing together solid days of practice is critical. Our league is nuts, for lack of better words. The lowest seeded team can beat the highest on any given day. It’s simply a matter of who wants it more.

The ups and downs of the season are part of what makes it enjoyable at times and discouraging at others. We recently snapped our four-game losing streak with a win over Evansville. Sometimes, that is all it takes, though. We started off the season almost the exact same way and came back in December finishing 6-1 for the month. I feel something good coming on. Even in the games we lost, there are many positives to look back on. How about Rachael Hackbarth with her 17th double-double of the season? Or what about the recent production from our bench play? All we need is that spark to snowball us in the right direction.

Our next two games are against Indiana State and Illinois State this Friday and Sunday. We then have our last road swing at Northern Iowa and Bradley. On March 3, we finish up our final conference game against the Creighton Bluejays. All of them can be considered MUST wins. No pressure? No pressure. I’m confident our team will rise to the occasion. I hope to look back on the season knowing we were fighters when it mattered most. If we can get hot now, look out, Missouri Valley Conference.