Drake splits two opening weekend games

Column by Carly Grenfell

Well, my friends, we finished the weekend with a split. Friday night we opened up with Creighton University for our first game of the season.

This is a school we have a long history with, and many of us considered them a rival when they were a part of the Missouri Valley Conference.

I can’t even begin to explain how great it felt to beat them after getting beat twice last year. We had an unbelievable crowd that truly helped us finish on top. If you were there, thank you.

The victory was short-lived. Not because we weren’t excited but because we had a quick turnaround for Wisconsin on Sunday. We enjoyed the win, reflected on what we did well and shifted gears to yet another tough opponent.

Wisconsin was bigger and stronger than us, but I’m still not convinced they are better. It’s really tough to play on the road, but it’s even tougher to play a Big 10 team on the road. And, unfortunately, we didn’t showcase our best Bulldog basketball.

Sometimes, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Not to undermine how much we can grow and improve as a team, but to say that neither the Creighton or Wisconsin games define our season in the least bit.

We have 25-plus games left. We have countless practices left. We have nearly four whole months of the season left. How awesome is that? Our team hasn’t reached our potential yet. But we will get there.

If that means fighting and clawing our way up, then that is how we will get there. Of course, it would be amazing to be undefeated right now. It would be amazing to be the best team in the conference. But we aren’t. And there is something to be said for our journey to get there. Plus, if you ask me, basketball would be boring if we never faced any sort of adversity.

I’ve said this in an article before, but even if we get beat, we are never broken.

We bounce back, we make adjustments and we go get the next one. Basketball is a game of runs. It’s still early – and this team still believes in one another no less than before.

We have back-to-back away games this weekend and then face Iowa State at home. Hope to see you at the Knapp on Nov. 24.