# 2022–23 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team

The 2022–23 Drake Bulldogs women's basketball team represented Drake University during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by second-year head coach Allison Pohlman, played their home games at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).
The Bulldogs finished the season 22–10, 14–6 in MVC play, to finish in a tie for fourth place. In the MVC tournament, they defeated Missouri State in the quarterfinals, upset top-seeded Illinois State in the semifinals and Belmont to win the MVC tournament championship and earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. They received the #12 seed in the Seattle Regional 4, where they lost to #5 region seed Louisville in the first round.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2021–22 season 20–14, 9–9 in MVC play, to finished in a tie for sixth place. As a 7th seed in the MVC women's tournament they defeated Bradley in the first round before losing to Missouri State in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the WNIT where they defeated Missouri in the first round and fellow MVC member Northern Iowa in the second round before losing to South Dakota State in the third round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2022* 2:00 p.m. | | Northwest Missouri State | W 84–41 | | Knapp Center (1,820) Des Moines, IA |
| December 18, 2022* 2:00 p.m. | | Southwest Baptist | W 96–40 | | Knapp Center (1,549) Des Moines, IA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Green Bay | W 80–67 | 1–0 | Knapp Center (1,814) Des Moines, IA |
| November 13, 2022* 2:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN+ | | No. 4 Iowa | L 86–92 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Knapp Center (6,424) Des Moines, IA |
| November 19, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 22 Nebraska | W 80–62 | 2–1 | Knapp Center (2,487) Des Moines, IA |
| November 25, 2022* 1:00 p.m. | | vs. Massachusetts FIU Thanksgiving Classic semifinals | L 83–100 $^{OT}$ | 2–2 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (175) Miami, FL |
| November 26, 2022* 10:00 a.m. | | vs. Howard FIU Thanksgiving Classic consolation | W 97–60 | 3–2 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (183) Miami, FL |
| December 1, 2022* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | Lindenwood | W 87–60 | 4–2 | Knapp Center (4,971) Des Moines, IA |
| December 6, 2022* 7:00 p.m., MidcoSN+ | | at South Dakota | W 83–54 | 5–2 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (1,588) Vermillion, SD |
| December 10, 2022* 7:00 p.m., FloSports | | at No. 18 Creighton | L 71–75 | 5–3 | D. J. Sokol Arena (1,083) Omaha, NE |
| December 22, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 14 Iowa State | Canceled due to severe weather | Canceled due to severe weather | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| MVC regular season ||||||
| December 30, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Illinois State | L 76–87 | 5–4 (0–1) | Redbird Arena (1,132) Normal, IL |
| January 1, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 87–58 | 6–4 (1–1) | Renaissance Coliseum (398) Peoria, IL |
| January 6, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Belmont | W 94–63 | 7–4 (2–1) | Knapp Center (1,978) Des Moines, IA |
| January 8, 2023 2:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN+ | | Murray State | W 80–67 | 8–4 (3–1) | Knapp Center (2,189) Des Moines, IA |
| January 11, 2023 6:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | L 69–70 | 8–5 (3–2) | Knapp Center (2,563) Des Moines, IA |
| January 14, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 86–65 | 9–5 (4–2) | Hulman Center (1,487) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 19, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UIC | W 63–51 | 10–5 (5–2) | Knapp Center (1,801) Des Moines, IA |
| January 21, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 84–51 | 11–5 (6–2) | Knapp Center (2,130) Des Moines, IA |
| January 26, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | W 87–73 | 12–5 (7–2) | Banterra Center (488) Carbondale, IL |
| January 28, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | L 54–64 | 12–6 (7–3) | Great Southern Bank Arena (2,174) Springfield, MO |
| February 1, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | L 47–49 | 12–7 (7–4) | McLeod Center (2,757) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 87–48 | 13–7 (8–4) | Knapp Center (2,655) Des Moines, IA |
| February 10, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Valparaiso | W 71–54 | 14–7 (9–4) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,655) Valparaiso, IN |
| February 12, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UIC | L 52–54 | 14–8 (9–5) | Credit Union 1 Arena (1,098) Chicago, IL |
| February 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 81–49 | 15–8 (10–5) | Knapp Center (1,719) Des Moines, IA |
| February 18, 2023 2:00 p.m., MC22/ESPN3 | | Illinois State | W 83–67 | 16–8 (11–5) | Knapp Center (2,623) Des Moines, IA |
| February 23, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Murray State | W 97–71 | 17–8 (12–5) | CFSB Center (1,298) Murray, KY |
| February 25, 2023 4:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Belmont | L 77–83 | 17–9 (12–6) | Curb Event Center (1,198) Nashville, TN |
| March 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Missouri State | W 83–63 | 18–9 (13–6) | Knapp Center (2,173) Des Moines, IA |
| March 4, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 91–68 | 19–9 (14–6) | Knapp Center (2,345) Des Moines, IA |
| MVC women's tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2023 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) Missouri State Quarterfinals | W 73–70 | 20–9 | Vibrant Arena at The MARK (1,241) Moline, IL |
| March 11, 2023 1:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) Illinois State Semifinals | W 74–54 | 21–9 | Vibrant Arena at The MARK Moline, IL |
| March 12, 2023 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | (4) | vs. (2) Belmont Championship | W 89–71 | 22–9 | Vibrant Arena at The MARK (1,208) Moline, IL |
| NCAA women's tournament ||||||
| March 18, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (10 G) | vs. (5 S4) Louisville First round | L 81–83 | 22–10 | Moody Center Austin, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S4=Seattle 4. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | — | —* | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —* | —^ | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same. ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll.