THE GAME
Drake women's basketball looks to bounce back from a loss at Wisconsin Thursday, taking on Green Bay, Saturday (Nov. 22), in the Kress Center in Green Bay, Wis. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. KPSZ (940 AM) will carry the broadcast, with the pre-game show beginning at 1:30 p.m.

THE SERIES
The Drake-Green Bay series, which began during the 1990-91 season, is locked at 2-2. The Bulldogs finished the Phoenix season last year, defeating Green Bay in the Knapp Center, 65-56, in the first round of the WNIT tournament.

12/17/90 at Green Bay - L - 89-54
12/6/91 vs. Green Bay - W - 63-59 (OT)
11/9/07 vs. Green Bay - L - 78-66
3/22/08 vs. Green Bay - W - 65-56

PREVIEWING THE PHOENIX
Green Bay is 3-0 this season, defeating Florida International (68-24, 11/14/08), Miami (63-61, 11/16/08) and Chicago State (66-48, 11/19/08). Leading the attack for the Phoenix is senior guard Kati Hardy, averaging 13.0 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. Also averaging double-figures is sophomore guard Heather Golden with 11.3 points per game. Adding depth is Rachel Porath (9.7 points, 4.0 rebounds), Lavesa Glover (8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds) and Kayla Tetschlag (7.3 points, 4.0 rebounds).

FOLLOW THE DRAKE-GREEN BAY GAME
There are several ways to follow the action of the Drake-Green Bay game: you can link to live stats through uwgbathletics.cstv.com, listen to the Drake broadcast on KPSZ (940 AM), listen to the Green Bay broadcast online with WDUZ and watch the action online through www.horizonleaguenetwork.com.

COLD SHOOTING PLAGUES DRAKE AT WISCONSIN
Wisconsin 55, Drake 39 (Nov. 20: Madison, WIs.) ? Wisconsin took advantage of cold shooting by Drake to earn a 55-39 victory in the Badgers' home opener.

The Bulldogs hit just 36 percent from the floor to open a treacherous three-game road swing which includes stops at Green Bay Saturday and Tennessee Tech Tuesday.

Sophomore guard Kristin Turk (Des Moines, Iowa) came off the bench to lead Drake with nine points.

Junior guard Jordann Plummer (St. Louis, Mo.) and senior forward Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn.) added eight points apiece for Drake, which fell to 1-1.

Clinging to an 18-14 lead, Wisconsin used a 13-3 scoring spurt during a six-minute stretch that included the last two minutes of the first half, to grab a 31-16 advantage.

Dybing grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Drake, which was outrebounded, 31-20.

Plummer and freshman guard Brittnye McSparron (Apple Valley, Minn.) collected three assists apiece for the Bulldogs. Drake junior guard Kaniesha Agee (Kansas City, Mo.) had two steals.

The first half was a game of spurts.

After Wisconsin jumped to a 5-0 lead, Drake responded with six straight points. The Badgers reeled off five unanswered points to forge to a 10-6 advantage.

Then it was Drake's turn with a 5-0 turn to take its last lead of the game at 11-10.

After a jump by senior Ashleigh Brady (Lubbock, Texas) gave Drake the 11-10 lead with 8:14 left, the Bulldogs would close out the first half making just one of their last eight shots.

Wisconsin took advantage, going on a 13-3 run to enjoy a 23-14 halftime lead.

Drake shot just 27 percent in the first half, making only six of 22 shots. Drake had combined scoring droughts of 16 minutes 35 seconds in the first half.

The Bulldogs also committed 11 turnovers with Wisconsin scoring six points off those miscues.

Drake was coming off an impressive 72-54 season opening victory past Texas State last Friday.

ON THIS DATE IN BULLDOG HISTORY
Drake is 4-2 all-time in games played on November 22. The Bulldogs last win on 11/20 was a 76-55 victory over Marquette in the 1999-2000 season in the Knapp Center. Drake first won on Nov. 20 in 1976 with a 82-49 advantage over Graceland in Des Moines. Other victories on Nov. 20 include Kansas State (88-67 in 1998), University of Northern Iowa (91-63 in 1980). Drake's losses on this date are Wisconsin (77-69, 1996) and Kansas (81-62, 1977)

LAST TIME THEY MET
Led by 18 points from senior Lindsay Whorton (Independence, Mo./Truman) and the 41st career double-double by senior Jill Martin (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk), Drake erased a nine-point second-half deficit en route to a 65-56 victory over Green Bay at the Knapp Center in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on March 22, 2008.

In a game that featured big scoring streaks by both teams, it was the Bulldogs that survived a nine-minute six-second stretch midway through the affair in which they missed 15 of 16 attempt to prevail with the final run of the game. After the Phoenix took a 45-36 lead with 12:44 to go in the game, Drake rattled off 24 of the game's next 30 points to own a 60-51 lead with under two minutes to play.

Fueling the surge with six points apiece was Whorton and junior Kelsey Keizer.

Whorton capped a 9-0 run in that span that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half connecting on a three-pointer from the far left corner with 7:21 remaining. Green Bay regained the lead on a jumper by Lavesa Glover but it proved to be short-lived as Keizer put Drake ahead for good on a lay-up at the 6:07 mark.

Sophomore Jordann Plummer gave Drake its biggest margin in the contest, 60-51, hitting a pair of free throws with 1:59 left.

Glover broke the Bulldogs' run with a jumper and Celeste Hoewisch converted a lay-up to cut the deficit to five points, 60-55.

Drake sealed its first postseason victory since downing Baylor, 76-72, on March 17, 2002 in the NCAA Tournament, with a pair of made free throws from Whorton, Plummer and one off the hands of sophomore Monique' Jones.

Whorton paced the Bulldogs with an 18-point effort, with all of her points coming off of three-pointers, as she shot 45.5 percent (5-of-11) beyond the arc.

Martin finished the affair with 15 points, while snatching a game- and career-high 16 rebounds to post her 41st career double-double, including her league-leading 15th of the season. With her first rebound of the second half, Martin became only the fifth player in Drake history to record at least 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds joining Lorri Bauman (3,115 points/1,050 rebounds), Wanda Ford (2,636 points/1,815 rebounds), Jan Krieger (1,846 points/1,214 rebounds) and Sharon Upshaw (2,513 points/1,675 rebounds).

Coming off the bench to spark the Bulldog comeback with a season highs in points (12) and rebounds (8) was Keizer. Plummer added eight points, four assists and three steals, while junior Ashleigh Brady distributed a career- and game-best five assists against no turnovers.

Glover headlined all scorers with 23 points for the Phoenix.

Green Bay took an early lead in the first half, leading by as much as six and owning a 17-12 lead with 8:31 to go. That's when Drake went on a 14-0 run, fueled by a trio of three pointers, one of which was part of a four-point play by Whorton.

After a basket by junior Lauren Dybing powered Drake to a 28-21 lead with 3:45 left in the first half, the Phoenix reeled off eight straight points capped by a Kati Harty lay-up to grab a 29-28 halftime lead.

Green Bay's run continued into the second half, as Glover scored 12 of team's first 14 points of the stanza as the team shot 8-of-11 out of the locker room. But as hot as the team was to start, the Drake defense ratcheted up and limited the Phoenix to just 11 points over the final 12:44 of the game.

Green Bay finished the contest shooting 42.6 percent to Drake's 34.4 percent, but the Bulldogs were 7-of-21 from long range. After connecting on 10 three-pointers in the team's earlier meeting (Nov. 9), the Phoenix hit just one of seven three-point attempts.

The Bulldogs dominated the boards, outrebounding the Phoenix, 49-30, including 19-5 on the offensive glass.

WITH A WIN AGAINST GREEN BAY
Drake will improve to 12-6 against teams from Wisconsin, including a 5-2 mark under Stephens.

Drake will improve to 224-216 in road contests.

DRAKE TABBED THIRD
The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish third in the 2008-09 Missouri Valley Conference pre-season poll.

In the Valley's annual poll of coaches, sports information directors and media members, the Bulldogs garnered 297 points. Illinois State topped the rankings, receiving all 40 first-place votes and 400 total points. Creighton landed in second with 310 points.

The defending MVC regular-season champion Bulldogs return eight letter winners, including three regular starters and six players with starting experience, to a team that finished 23-11 last season and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

Rounding out the rankings were Evansville in fourth with 342 points followed by Northern Iowa (245), Missouri State (215 points), Indiana State (166 points), Bradley (161 points), Southern Illinois (108 points) and Wichita State (47 points).

2008-09 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

1) Illinois State (40) - 400 points 6) Missouri State - 215 points
2) Creighton - 310 points 7) Indiana State - 166 points
3) Drake -297 points 8) Bradley - 161 points
4) Evansville - 251 points 9) Southern Illinois - 108 points
5) Northern Iowa - 245 points 10) Wichita State - 47 points

NOVEMBER SUCCESS
Drake has enjoyed success in the month of November, going 62-44 all-time in the Thanksgiving month. A breakdown of the numbers shows the Bulldogs are 36-6 at home, 12-26 on the road and 14-12 at neutral sites.

BULLDOGS ON THE WEB
Information on the Drake Bulldogs, all other Missouri Valley Conference teams and the league is available to members of the media at all times via the internet.

Drake's Athletic Website may be found at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. The site will include current statistics and game notes as well as other pertinent information about Bulldog basketball and other varsity teams.

The MVC website may be found at www.mvc.org. The site will contain conference statistics, standings, TV schedules and press releases, among other important information about MVC basketball.

NEXT UP
The Bulldogs travel to Cookeville, Tenn. for a Nov. 25 match-up at Tennessee Tech. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.