# 2017–18 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2017–18 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by sixth year head coach Jennie Baranczyk, played their home games at Knapp Center and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–8, 18–0 in MVC play to win the MVC regular season championship. They defeated Valparaiso, Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa to become champions of the Missouri Valley women's tournament and earn an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament, where they lost to Texas A&M in the first round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/01/2017* 7:00 pm | | Grand View | W 115–43 | | Knapp Center (1,993) Des Moines, IA |
| 11/05/2017* 2:00 pm | | Truman State | W 90–50 | | Knapp Center (2,059) Des Moines, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/10/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee Preseason WNIT First Round | W 77–73 | 1–0 | Knapp Center (2,658) Des Moines, IA |
| 11/12/2017* 4:00 pm | | at No. 11 Oregon Preseason WNIT Quarterfinals | L 77–110 | 1–1 | Matthew Knight Arena (2,658) Eugene, OR |
| 11/17/2017* 7:00 pm | | Liberty Preseason WNIT Consolation Round | W 96–68 | 2–1 | Knapp Center (2,022) Des Moines, IA |
| 11/21/2017* 7:30 pm | | at Wyoming | L 61–75 | 2–2 | Arena-Auditorium (2,453) Laramie, WY |
| 11/24/2017* 3:30 pm | | vs. George Mason Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic semifinals | L 75–87 | 2–3 | Coors Events Center (1,486) Boulder, CO |
| 11/25/2017* 1:00 pm | | vs. Mississippi Valley State Rocky Mountain Hoops Classic 3rd place game | W 96–60 | 3–3 | Coors Events Center (250) Boulder, CO |
| 11/30/2017* 7:00 pm, MC22 | | Iowa State | W 83–80 | 4–3 | Knapp Center (3,212) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/03/2017* 2:00 pm, MC22 | | Creighton | L 100–108 $^{4OT}$ | 4–4 | Knapp Center (2,863) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/05/2017* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | Iowa Wesleyan | W 102–25 | 5–4 | Knapp Center (4,615) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/09/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Nebraska | L 84–89 $^{2OT}$ | 5–5 | Knapp Center (2,683) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/17/2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | South Dakota State | L 78–85 | 5–6 | Knapp Center (2,309) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/21/2017* 7:00 pm | | at No. 25 Iowa | L 66–79 | 5–7 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (4,847) Iowa City, IA |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/29/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 86–50 | 6–7 (1–0) | Knapp Center (2,310) Des Moines, IA |
| 12/31/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 72–46 | 7–7 (2–0) | Knapp Center (2,190) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/05/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | W 80–68 | 8–7 (3–0) | JQH Arena (2,204) Springfield, MO |
| 01/07/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 75–64 | 9–7 (4–0) | SIU Arena (706) Carbondale, IL |
| 01/12/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 85–64 | 10–7 (5–0) | Knapp Center (2,287) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/14/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 107–66 | 11–7 (6–0) | Knapp Center (2,520) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/19/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | W 81–64 | 12–7 (7–0) | Knapp Center (3,331) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/26/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Illinois State | W 65–58 | 13–7 (8–0) | Redbird Arena (607) Normal, IL |
| 01/28/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | W 84–75 | 14–7 (9–0) | Renaissance Coliseum (733) Peoria, IL |
| 02/02/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 84–73 | 15–7 (10–0) | Knapp Center (2,714) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/04/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | W 84–65 | 16–7 (11–0) | Knapp Center (3,784) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/09/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Evansville | W 101–50 | 17–7 (12–0) | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (361) Evansville, IN |
| 02/11/2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 84–51 | 18–7 (13–0) | Hulman Center (1,657) Terre Haute, IN |
| 02/16/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | W 72–67 | 19–7 (14–0) | McLeod Center (1,966) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 02/23/2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bradley | W 77–71 | 20–7 (15–0) | Knapp Center (3,922) Des Moines, IA |
| 02/25/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | W 80–64 | 21–7 (16–0) | Knapp Center (3,152) Des Moines, IA |
| 03/01/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 97–53 | 22–7 (17–0) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (272) Chicago, IL |
| 03/03/2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | W 85–53 | 23–7 (18–0) | Athletics–Recreation Center (440) Valparaiso, IN |
| Missouri Valley Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (8) Valparaiso Quarterfinals | W 89–40 | 24–7 | TaxSlayer Center Moline, IL |
| 03/10/2018 1:30 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) Southern Illinois Semifinals | W 68–59 | 25–7 | TaxSlayer Center Moline, IL |
| 03/11/2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (3) Northern Iowa Championship Game | W 75–63 | 26–7 | TaxSlayer Center (2,169) Moline, IL |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/16/2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (13 S) | at (4 S) No. 14 Texas A&M First Round | L 76–89 | 26–8 | Reed Arena (2,835) College Station, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |