# 2018–19 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2018–19 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by seventh-year head coach Jennie Baranczyk, played their home games at Knapp Center and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2017–18 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. They earned an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament where they lost to Texas A&M in the first round.

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. RV = Received votes. NR = Not ranked :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | RV | RV | NR | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 23 | 23 | 21 | N/A |
| Coaches | RV | RV^ | RV | 24 | 21 | 25 | RV | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 23 | 23 | 21 | RV |
^ No week 2 poll released

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 28, 2018* 2:00 p.m. | | Dubuque | W 117–33 | | Knapp Center (1,993) Des Moines, IA |
| November 3, 2018* 5:00 p.m. | | Pittsburg State | W 92–55 | | Knapp Center (2,059) Des Moines, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2018* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | at Nebraska | W 83–77 | 1–0 | Pinnacle Bank Arena (3,738) Lincoln, NE |
| November 10, 2018* 4:30 p.m. | | at Western Illinois | W 98–71 | 2–0 | Western Hall (681) Macomb, IL |
| November 15, 2018* 6:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN3 | | South Dakota | W 76–64 | 3–0 | Knapp Center (5,511) Des Moines, IA |
| November 18, 2018* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Northridge | W 73–63 | 4–0 | Knapp Center (2,345) Des Moines, IA |
| November 22, 2018* 3:30 p.m. | | vs. Rutgers Vancouver Showcase quarterfinals | W 69–59 | 5–0 | Vancouver Convention Centre (383) Vancouver, BC |
| November 23, 2018* 9:00 p.m. | | vs. No. 1 Notre Dame Vancouver Showcase semifinals | L 64–82 | 5–1 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,156) Boulder, CO |
| November 24, 2018* 9:30 p.m. | | vs. No. 13 South Carolina Vancouver Showcase 3rd-place game | W 90–85 $^{OT}$ | 6–1 | Vancouver Convention Centre (1,866) Boulder, CO |
| November 28, 2018* 12:00 p.m. | No. 24 | Creighton | W 85–69 | 7–1 | D. J. Sokol Arena (1,535) Omaha, NE |
| December 4, 2018* 11:00 a.m., ESPN3 | No. 21 | Clarke | W 91–43 | 8–1 | Knapp Center (6,031) Des Moines, IA |
| December 8, 2018* 2:00 p.m. | No. 21 | at South Dakota State | L 71–80 | 8–2 | Frost Arena (1,711) Brookings, SD |
| December 16, 2018* 12:00 p.m., Cyclones.TV | | at Iowa State | L 81–86 | 8–3 | Hilton Coliseum (10,923) Ames, IA |
| December 21, 2018* 6:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN+ | | No. 16 Iowa | L 82–91 | 8–4 | Knapp Center (6,107) Des Moines, IA |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| January 4, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 92–63 | 9–4 (1–0) | Renaissance Coliseum (737) Peoria, IL |
| January 6, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | W 82–64 | 10–4 (2–0) | Redbird Arena (592) Normal, IL |
| January 11, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Loyola–Chicago | W 69–60 | 11–4 (2–1) | Knapp Center (2,786) Des Moines, IA |
| January 13, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 84–53 | 12–4 (4–0) | Knapp Center (3,121) Des Moines, IA |
| January 18, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | W 88–64 | 13–4 (5–0) | McLeod Center (1,458) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 25, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 70–68 | 14–4 (6–0) | Hulman Center (1,408) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 27, 2019 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Evansville | W 78–47 | 15–4 (7–0) | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (233) Evansville, IN |
| February 1, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 79–85 | 15–5 (7–1) | Knapp Center (3,101) Des Moines, IA |
| February 3, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 94–66 | 16–5 (8–1) | Knapp Center (3,683) Des Moines, IA |
| February 8, 2019 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 88–62 | 17–5 (9–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (328) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 10, 2019 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 83–55 | 18–5 (10–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (264) Chicago, IL |
| February 15, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | W 76–61 | 19–5 (11–1) | Knapp Center (3,401) Des Moines, IA |
| February 22, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 24 | Evansville | W 66–39 | 20–5 (12–1) | Knapp Center (3,463) Des Moines, IA |
| February 24, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 24 | Indiana State | W 96–77 | 21–5 (13–1) | Knapp Center (2,878) Des Moines, IA |
| March 1, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | at Southern Illinois | W 71–64 | 22–5 (14–1) | SIU Arena (415) Carbondale, IL |
| March 3, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | at Missouri State | W 70–61 | 23–5 (15–1) | JQH Arena (3,827) Springfield, MO |
| March 6, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | Illinois State | W 88–61 | 24–5 (16–1) | Knapp Center (3,555) Des Moines, IA |
| March 9, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 23 | Bradley | W 95–53 | 25–5 (17–1) | Knapp Center (3,257) Des Moines, IA |
| Missouri Valley women's tournament ||||||
| March 15, 2019 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) No. 21 | vs. (9) Valparaiso Quarterfinals | W 86–58 | 25–5 | TaxSlayer Center (1,509) Moline, IL |
| March 16, 2019 1:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) No. 21 | vs. (4) Illinois State Semifinals | W 65–54 | 27–5 | TaxSlayer Center (2,254) Moline, IL |
| March 17, 2019 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (1) No. 21 | vs. (2) Missouri State Championship game | L 79–94 | 27–6 | TaxSlayer Center (1,558) Moline, IL |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2019* 3:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (10 G) | vs. (7 G) Missouri First round | L 76–77 $^{OT}$ | 27–7 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,220) Iowa City, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. G=Greensboro Region. All times are in Central. ||||||
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