Nice schedule.

@ Nebraska (#60 RPI last year)
@ W Illinois (#100)
South Dakota (#59)
CS Northridge (#178)
vs. Rutgers (#40)
vs. Notre Dame (#2)/Gonzaga (#34)
vs. South Carolina (#11)/ETSU (#110)/WKU (#50)/Oregon State (#42)
@ Creighton (#49)
Clarke 
@ So Dakota State (#28)
@ Iowa State (#104)
Iowa (#21)

Would be great to see them beat Rutgers and get a shot at the champs.

Up to 2-0 with the 98-71 win against former Gateway Conference rival Western Illinois today. Most impressive stat is Sara Rhine with a double double in just 18 minutes of play. Second quarter continues to be our quarter.

Home opener on Thursday at 6:00 PM. If you go to draketix.com/promo and enter code DOLLAR you can get a ticket for $2 ($1 ticket + $1 processing fee). Banner will be raised. If you can't make it in person, the game will also be available on ESPN+.

Seeing a lot of good things to get a big crowd this Thursday. Dollar tickets, donors/companies buying tickets for kids, $99 Family Pass, etc.

Would be great to see a number over 4k, attendance wise. This team is getting Top 25 votes and is poised for another run into March. Hopefully DSM turns out!

Drake appears at #1 in the first ESPN Mid-Major Rankings of the season. http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/25267904/drake-bulldogs-lead-way-espnw-mid-major-rankings


Tomorrow night's opponent South Dakota is ranked #4 and future opponent South Dakota State is ranked #2. 

Drake wins 76-64. Drake clearly the superior team but USD kept it close due to a large amount of Drake turnovers. It got icky for a while there.

Big win before a crowd of over 5,000.  26 turnovers is/was ugly, but it's early in the year.  Drake's depth is going to win them some games against some of these top 100 squads.  Northridge is the perfect opponent before they head to Vancouver to face Rutgers.

USD played really hard defense. Very active hands and had times where they really shut down passing lanes. There will be a lot to learn from this tape.

This team could improve on finishing after contact. The refs were pretty inconsistent last night, IMO. First half let things get pretty rough then start the second half calling lots of little ticky tack stuff. Still let muggings happen underneath, but called little stuff out top. 

The 5511 attendance reported is likely the 'paid attendance'. I know they were working to get tickets donated for good causes and were offering blocks of tickets to groups. My guess is the crowd of actual buts in the seats was a bit over 4,000 (though the other 1,500 could have been in line at the concession stand -- long lines there all night). 

All-in-all, a good win against a quality team.

D 73
California State-Northridge 63
Rhine with 24, Dean with 17

Games Thursday-Saturday in Vancouver British Columbia could be HUGE. Knocking off a big name (or two?) will be critical to get respect in seeding for NCAA Tournament (assuming they make it)

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

Glad we won yesterday, but I'm a little less optimistic for good things in Vancouver given how we played. Emphasis on tough in tough schedule given where we are right now.

We've seen them play better, but Coach gave everybody minutes.  Hittner didn't play half of the game.  Rhine played just over half.  I think Jennie used her depth to give everybody some minutes and experience.  Also, save some gas for games three days in a row in a stacked Vancouver tournament. 

There isn't one cupcake on the non-conference schedule for Drake.
 
One game at a time.  Aggressive defense, hit the free throws and keep turnovers down, Drake can beat Rutgers. A win puts them in the same sentence/bracket with Notre Dame, South Carolina and Oregon St.  Nothing to lose!  They are fun to watch

Sloppy and sluggish on Sunday, but still won by double digits. Limit the turnovers and we'll have a good time north of the border.

Rutgers 25
D 15
Early 2nd period. Brutal shooting in 1st period...down 20-6 in one point. Several blocks (5?!) by Scarlet Knights so far

Unfortunately those awful Jethro's commercials are back. I am a big fan of the restaurant but whatever girl is trying to do a rural/southern accent needs to be flogged.

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

Half
Rutgers 44
D 29

Got to within 5 but another Knights run extended the lead straight after that. 56% shooting for Rutgers.
4-19 from 3pt area so far will not win many games.

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

After 3 periods
Rutgers 51
D 48

D hasn't led but they claw back closer and closer. Hopefully they can catch and then scoot past the Scarlet Knights. A couple of huge 3s at end of 3rd period pulled this game tight

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

Within 3 entering the 4th quarter.

Up 8 with a minute left

Final
D 69
Rutgers 59

Massive run by Bulldogs in the 2nd half...outscoring Scarlet Knights 40-15 in 2nd Half?!

11 Turnovers..only 3 in the 2nd half

Next up: Top ranked Notre Dame. If nothing else, it will help RPI in a big way. 

Darth Vader
Lord of the Sith
Founding Father - Drake Spirit Committee (1990)

40-15 second half domination means a double digit win despite being down 15.

Bring on the champs!

Wow! Jennie just flat outcoached Stringer.

Nice win! Congrats to Jennie and her team.