A month ago, after her team beat Illinois State 70-58, Drake coach Lisa Stone finished her Redbird Arena press conference with some words of warning about the Redbirds.
"Illinois State has a lot of talent," Stone said. "When they get a little more experience, they'll be very tough."
Well, the Redbirds, 2-11 when Stone spoke, are eight games more experienced and have split those eight contests. Now, Stone's Bulldogs, 15-6 overall, 9-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, provide Jenny Yopp's Redbirds, 6-15, 4-8, with an opportunity to earn greater notice with a road win against one of the Valley's top teams. Drake and Illinois State meet at 2:05 p.m. Saturday.
But Yopp believes its more about Illinois State than Illinois State being 'better' than Drake--or any other opponent.
"A win would solidify that our team has the confidence to play Illinois State basketball and play winning basketball," said Yopp. "Our recent successes have taught us that, if we focus on Redbird basketball and performing to our capabilities, we have the opportunity to beat any team."
The Bulldogs are 5-2 since they last met Illinois State, including a three-game winning streak which includes a rare road sweep at Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State, plus an 84-59 blitzing of Indiana State Thursday. JaNae Mosley hit six three-pointers on the way to a 20-point effort. The Bulldogs hit 11 of 20 from beyond the arc.
Illinois State hit six of 11 treys at Creighton, including four by sophomore forward Stacey White, who scored a career-high matching 16 points despite being one of a half-dozen Redbirds still impacted by a virus which has swept through the team over the past two weeks. Even Yopp herself is stuggling with 'the bug.'
"We're still bugged," said Yopp, whose team won't have freshman guard Chris Kutschinski because of an inflammation in her upper leg. "But, I'm hopeful that some of it is wearing off."
The Redbirds return home to face Evansville at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Redbird Arena
