The Drake basketball teams had a win-filled week of competition. The teams both went 2-0 for the week to boost both programs’ season records going into February’s loaded schedule. The men’s team especially saw an impressive high this week that put Drake on the map as the school with the number one men’s basketball season record in the nation thus far after Auburn University lost to the University of Florida 90-81.
The Drake women’s program entered the week looking to move up the Missouri Valley Conference standings. The team passed Illinois State University in the MVC standings with a 79-74 win over the Red Birds and a 72-52 win over the Bradley University Braves. This moves the team to 9-3 in conference standings and ties the Bulldogs at third with the Murray State Racers down in Kentucky.
During Drake’s game versus Bradley, senior guard Katie Dinnebier dropped 15 points, while senior forward Anna Miller dropped 13 points overall respectively. Junior guard Abbie Aalsma and graduate forward Courtney Becker also put up 10 points each for the Bulldogs. These wins advanced the team’s overall record to 15-8 and added to the program’s four-game winning streak.
“[We] leaned into the consistency of some different people off the bench…they came in confidently and made an impact on the game,” Head Coach Allison Pohlman said about the game. “The other team’s approach changes when we have various people scoring. At halftime, we’d taken 20 layups, which is fantastic…we did a nice job of being able to throw off their timing which led to some of those easier baskets.”
The women’s team plays next on Feb. 13 against the Murray State Racers in Kentucky at 6 p.m. With this match, the Bulldogs will look to move up another notch in the ranks and claim the solo-third place MVC standing position.
On the men’s side of the court, the Drake Bulldogs managed to extend their season record to 22-2, which after the Auburn loss to the Gators, crowned Drake as the number one winning percentage team in the nation.
This was notable news for the Bulldogs, as the team who was once 13-0 as one of the last four undefeated teams in the nation has notched its way back to first place in a matter of weeks. Although the Bulldogs are unranked nationally with 18 AP votes in favor of ranking Drake, this win in overtime against the Indiana State Sycamores was a boost that the Bulldogs earned after weeks of hard work and dedication.
“I didn’t think we came out with an elite level of energy defensively, in particular, to impose our will,” Head Coach Ben McCollum said about the game. “I thought offensively we executed, so we were able to build a sizable lead and couldn’t just quite get us going defensively from an effort and even an execution standpoint, which is rare. I think the really good part about it, though, is sometimes you’re able to learn from wins as long as you don’t let the win become a distraction.”
Although the Bulldogs won, it was in an overtime competition against a 12-12 team. After Drake’s 55-45 win over 12-13 Murray State four days before, the Racers avenged their loss.
The Bulldogs’ next game will be on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. against the Illinois State Red Birds in Illinois, where Drake will look to go 23-2 for the season.
