EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Drake women's basketball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play
at Evansville Thursday night. Tip-off between the Bulldogs and the Purple Aces
will be at 7 p.m. and you can listen to Ric Silvestrini on KRNT-1350AM or
follow live stats at www.godrakebulldogs.com.
DRAKE QUICKLY
-Drake (5-6)
is coming off an 80-70 win at Milwaukee this past Saturday. Four players scored
in double figures led by Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.) who paced Drake
with 19 points to go along with four rebounds, four steals and a career-high
six assists.
-Drake's 80
points scored against the Panthers are a season-high.
-Alyssa Marschner (Plymouth, Minn.) scored a career-high 16 points and Morgan Reid (Kansas City, Mo.) and Stephanie Running (Oak Creek, Wis.) each
added 10 points. Carly Grenfell (York, Neb.) and Ashley Bartow
(Sun Prairie, Wis.) just missed double figures at nine points and eight points,
respectively. Bartow added a career-high 11 rebounds.
-Drake is 18-11
all-time in Missouri Valley Conference openers, and 10-10 in road openers and
1-1 in openers against Evansville. Against the Purple Aces, the Bulldogs won
67-60 on Dec. 30, 2001 and suffered a 77-66 defeat on Dec. 31, 2004 - both in
Evansville.
-The
Bulldogs are
opening their conference season on the road for the fifth-straight season. In
addition, the Bulldogs have opened their MVC slate on the road in nine of the
last 10 seasons. Drake hosted Missouri State Jan. 4, 2008 in its last Valley
opener at home (W, 72-42).
-Drake
just missed finishing with a .500 or better record in non-conference matchups
this season. The Bulldogs had finished the previous six seasons at .500 or
better. Drake went 4-5 out of conference during the 2005-06 season, but
finished 13-5 in the MVC.
-Clark
leads Drake with 13.8 points per game, which ranks eighth in the conference and
Reid is the other Bulldog averaging in double figures as the forward scores
11.1 points per game while pulling down a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game.
EVANSVILLE
QUICKLY
-Evansville
(2-9) will try and end its eight-game losing streak Thursday night.
-The
Purple Aces are led by second-year head coach Oties Epps, who was hired from
the University of Wisconsin where he was on the staff of former Drake head
coach Lisa Stone for three seasons. This is the first head coaching position
for Epps.
-Evansville
was picked to finish 10th in the MVC preseason poll and returns
eight letterwinners and three starters from last season.
-The
Purple Aces are led in scoring by senior forward/center Samantha Heck at 14.5
points per game followed by Khristian Hart at 13.4 points per game. Heck's
scoring average ranks sixth in the conference.
-Heck
averages eight rebounds per game, which is tied for fifth in the MVC.
-Sophomore
Mallory Ladd, an Evansville native, is a transfer from Valparaiso who became
eligible prior to the Purple Aces contests against Toledo and Hampton at the
Toledo Invite. Ladd averaged 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the two
losses.
-The
Purple Aces' last game was a 64-45 loss against Hampton on Friday, Dec. 21,
2012.
DRAKE VS EVANSVILLE
Drake leads
the all-time series 31-10 and is 12-6 all-time in Evansville. The Bulldogs have
won the previous 11 games against the Purple Aces with the last loss occurring
Feb. 14, 2008 in overtime (69-66) at the Knapp Center. Drake went 3-0 last
season against the Aces with the last victory in the opening round of the MVC
tournament in St. Charles, Mo. Rachael Hackbarth scored 15 points as the
Bulldogs held on for the 52-48 win.
HIGH PACED OFFENSE
Drake
scored a season-high 80 points in the win at Milwaukee last Saturday. The
Bulldogs connected on a season-high 33 field goals and finished a season-best
51.6 percent from the floor. Four Bulldogs scored in double figures with
another finishing with nine points and another with eight points against the
Panthers. Drake's 37 first half points Saturday equaled its highest first-half
point total of the season, which occurred against South Dakota in the opener,
and its 43 second-half points Saturday against the Panthers were a season-high.
IMPROVMENT
Drake
finished the month of the November with a 1-4 overall record but fared better
in the month of December. The Bulldogs won 4-of-6 with one loss coming in
overtime at North Dakota to improve their record to 5-6.
715!
The Bulldogs
win over Saint Louis was the 715th in school history. The Drake
women's basketball program first started in 1974-75 finishing 10-10 under the
direction of Carol Baumgarten. The 2013-14 season will be the 40th
anniversary of Drake women's basketball.
KYNDALING PART TWO
Kyndal Clark (Webb City, Mo.), a
member of the 2012 MVC All-Freshmen team, is averaging 13.8 points, 4.9
rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals through Drake's first eleven games. She
finished with an impressive stat line in the win over North Dakota State
earlier this season finishing with 11 points, six rebounds, six steals and five
assists. Clark is one of just four MVC players to score in double figures in
all but one game this season and is the eighth leading scorer in the
conference.
STEPPING UP
Junior
guard Alyssa Marschner (Plymouth,
Minn.) continues to play well for the Bulldogs this season. The Minnesota
native has started every game this year after only playing 56 minutes all of
last season. Marschner scored a
career-high 16 points in the win at Milwaukee to go along with five rebounds
and three assists. She is averaging 6.2
points, 4.5 rebounds and a conference leading 5.5 assists per game. Her assists
per game average ranks 32nd in the nation.
RISE AND FIRE
Redshirt
sophomore Carly Grenfell (York,
Neb.) is burning up the nets this season shooting 45 percent from the floor,
which is 10th in the MVC and 43 percent from behind the three-point
line, which ranks second in the Valley and 26th in the nation. Grenfell is
averaging 8.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and has knocked down a team-high
24 treys this year.
DEAD ON
Stephanie Running (Oak Creek, Wis.),
the lone senior on this season's roster, is shooting 49 percent (39-of-79) from
the floor this season, which ranks fifth in the MVC. Running is averaging 7.8
points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
IMPROVEMENT AT THE LINE
Junior
forward Morgan Reid (Kansas City,
Mo.) knocked down 10 free throws on 12 attempts, both career highs, in the loss
to the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Kansas City, Mo. native is 41-of-52 (79 percent) from
the charity stripe this season and her makes and attempts lead the Bulldogs.
She has improved her percentage by over 10 percent from last season (66.7) and
is ninth in the Valley in free-throw shooting percentage.
CALL THE POLICE
The
Drake Bulldogs have swiped 45 steals in the last five games including 10 in
each of the games against North Dakota State and North Dakota. Clark and Reid
each swiped a career-high six steals in the wins over North Dakota State and
Milwaukee, respectively.
DOUBLING UP
In its
win over Chicago State, Drake pulled down a season-high 58 rebounds. The total
doubled Chicago State's 29 boards. Drake pulls down a league-high 30.6
defensive rebounds per game and its rebounding margin (2.9) is third in the
league.
CAREER NIGHTS
Sophomore
Liza Heap (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
played her best game against South Dakota in the season opener recording
career-highs in points (12) and rebounds (5) in just 28 minutes. Her previous
career-high was four points. Against Iowa State, fellow sophomore forward Cara Lutes (Maplewood, Minn.) scored a
career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting in just 17 minutes. Lutes' previous
career-high was four points.
WELCOME
All
five newcomers on the 2012-13 roster have seen minutes so far this year.
Freshmen Emma Donahue (Naperville,
Ill.) and Ashley Bartow (Verona,
Wis.) along with junior college transfer
Mary Pat Specht saw the court against South Dakota in the opener. Drake's
other two newcomers, Alexis Eckles
(Milwaukee, Wis.) and Dilonna Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis.) played in the
Bulldogs' second game of the season.
NEW BEGINNINGS
Former
University of Iowa standout and Des Moines native, Jennie Baranczyk is in
her first season as head women's basketball coach at Drake University.
Baranczyk is the sixth Drake women's basketball head coach in school history
and comes to Drake after a two-year stint as assistant coach and recruiting
coordinator at the University of Colorado. Baranczyk also served as an
assistant coach at Kansas State and Marquette.
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
This is
the first head coaching position for Baranczyk, but she brings an impressive
postseason resume as a player and assistant coach, having reached postseason
play every season. She also captured two Iowa high school state titles at
Dowling Catholic. Baranczyk has coached in two NCAA tournaments and has won two
WNIT championships as an assistant coach (Kansas State in 2006 and Marquette in
2008). At Iowa, she played in three NCAA tournaments and one WNIT and helped
Iowa win the 2001 Big Ten Tournament.
ONLY ONE
With
the loss to South Dakota in the opener, Carol Baumgartner, who was the
program's first head coach, remains the only Drake head coach to win her debut.
The Bulldogs beat the Iowa Hawkeyes, 78-65 on November 20, 1974 in the
program's first ever game.
COACHING STAFF
Baranczyk's
first hire as head coach was retaining veteran assistant coach Allison Pohlman. Pohlman has been an
assistant at Drake since the 2007-08 season. Former Chipola College head coach
and Iowa native David Lane was hired
as an assistant coach. Courtney Graham who
coached at Holy Cross for three seasons was the final assistant hired by
Baranczyk. Former Iowa State standout Kelsey Bolte is the new coordinator of basketball operations for the Bulldogs.
HIGH
SCORING STAFF
Baranczyk (Iowa), Bolte (Iowa State), Pohlman (Northern Iowa) and
Graham (Mississippi St.) all played Division I basketball and the four scored
4,963 points combined. Baranczyk scored 1,762 career points followed by Bolte
(1,639), Pohlman (1,463) and Graham (99).
REWIND
The
Drake Bulldogs finished the 2011-12 season at 18-16, 9-9 MVC and lost in the
first round of the WNIT to South Dakota. Drake won seven of its last eleven
games to close the regular season and advanced to the postseason for the first
time since the 2007-08 season. Drake won three games (Evansville, Illinois
State, Wichita State) in three days to advance to the MVC tournament title game
before falling to Creighton. The Bulldogs' 18 wins were the most since the
2008-09 season.
DRAKE IN SEASON-OPENERS
The loss to the Coyotes
gives the Bulldogs a 23-16 overall record in 39 debut games, dating back to the
program's first game on Nov. 20, 1974 - a 78-65 home victory over Iowa. Drake
dropped its season opener last year at Illinois at Chicago, 61-48.
BULLDOGS PICKED NINTH
The
Drake women's basketball team was picked to finish ninth in the Missouri Valley
Conference's annual preseason poll, the conference announced Monday. Creighton
received 26 of 40 first-place votes and 382 total points, out-distancing
Wichita State (347). Illinois State (323), UNI (272) and Missouri State (265)
followed the Bluejays to round out the top-five. Bradley (144), Indiana State
(135), Southern Illinois (123), Drake (121) and Evansville (119) made up the
lower half of the poll.
COACHES RADIO SHOW
The Drake Basketball Coaches' Radio Show with
Jennie Baranczyk and Mark Phelps will be broadcast live from Rock Bottom, 4508
University Avenue in West Des Moines on Monday nights at 7:00 p.m. through
March 4. There will be no show on December 24 and 31.
BULLDOG BREAKDOWN
This
year, Drake Women's Basketball will hold a game day event, Bulldog
Breakdown, prior to each home game. One of the assistant coaches will meet
with Bulldog fans in the Paul F.
Morrison Room before tip-off to break down the opponent, share the game
plan for that day's game, and give an inside look at the team's preparation and
keys to the game. Doors to the Morrison Room will open one hour before the
game, and a member of the basketball staff will share his or her comments
approximately 40 minutes before tip-off. Concessions will be available for
purchase (cash only) just outside the Morrison Room. Fans may continue to enjoy
the pre-game excitement after the Bulldog Breakdown and are asked to make their
way to their seats with 10 minutes left on the pre-game warm-up clock to get
ready to cheer on your team.
BASKETBALL LUNCHEONS
The Drake Basketball Coaches' Luncheons have
returned to Overtime, located at 4810 86th Street in Urbandale. The luncheon
costs $12 per person and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the following
dates: men's luncheons: January 22, February 5 and women's basketball
luncheons: January 8, and February 19.
DRAKE HEAD COACH JENNIE BARANCZYK
Former University of Iowa standout
and Des Moines native, Jennie (Lillis) Baranczyk (pronounced
bah-rahn-check) was named the sixth head women's basketball coach at Drake
University on April 17, 2012.
Baranczyk, 30, comes to Drake after
a two-year stint as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the
University of Colorado, where she was on the staff of head coach Linda Lappe, a
former Drake assistant coach. Prior to Colorado, Baranczyk was an assistant
coach for four seasons at Marquette after two seasons as an assistant coach at
Kansas State.
Baranczyk helped recruit and develop
numerous all-conference student-athletes at all three schools and was
instrumental in Colorado securing the No. 27th-ranked 2012
recruiting class by ESPN HoopGurlz. At Colorado, she coached All-Big 12
first-team forward Brittney Spears and All-Pac-12 guard Chucky Jeffrey as well
as Pac-12 all-freshman team members Lexy Kresl and Jen Reese. On the floor she
has had a coaching emphasis in the development of the post player's at all
three schools.
Baranczyk has reached postseason
tournament play every season as a player and coach. She has coached in two NCAA
tournaments and has won two WNIT championships as an assistant coach (Kansas
State in 2006 and Marquette in 2008). At Iowa, she played in three NCAA
tournaments and one WNIT and helped Iowa win the 2001 Big Ten Tournament.
A three-time captain at Iowa,
Baranczyk, was a four-year letterwinner at forward from 2000-04 under Bluder.
One of the best all-around players in Hawkeye basketball history, she was a
three-time All-Big Ten Conference selection, earning first-team honors as a
junior in 2003 and second-team honors as a sophomore in 2002 and as a senior in
2004.
She graduated as the only player in
Iowa history in the top 10 of five major statistical categories: points,
rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and is one of only two Hawkeye players to
score more than 1,700 points and grab 800 rebounds.
Baranczyk graduated from Iowa in
2004 with her bachelor's degree in Communication Studies and from Kansas State
with her master's degree in Counseling and Student Development in 2007. At
Iowa, she was the recipient of the 2004 Big Ten Conference's Medal of
Honor. First awarded in 1914, the Big Ten's oldest award is given annually
to a student in the graduating class of each university that demonstrated
proficiency in scholarship and athletics. Baranczyk was also a three-time
Academic All-Big Ten pick, a WBCA Scholarship Award recipient, CoSIDA Academic
All-District honoree, and a Collegiate Basketball Award for Excellence
semifinalist as a senior in 2004.
In her prep career, she helped
Dowling Catholic in Des Moines win state championships in 1998 and 2000 and she
is a member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame.
On the date of her hire, Baranczyk
was the second youngest Division I head women's basketball coach.
Jennie's father, Terry played
college baseball and basketball at Simpson College and her brother, Brian
played college basketball at the University of Albany in New York.
Jennie and her husband, Scott
Baranczyk, were married in May 2009 and have a son, Eli, who was born on May 8,
2012.
