Valparaiso Beacons (4-8, 1-1 MVC) at Drake Bulldogs (8-5, 2-0 MVC)
Des Moines, Iowa; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Valparaiso visits Drake after Leah Earnest scored 21 points in Valparaiso’s 93-70 loss to the Northern Iowa Panthers.
The Bulldogs have gone 4-1 at home. Drake is first in the MVC with 19.3 assists per game led by Katie Dinnebier averaging 7.5.
The Beacons are 1-1 in conference games. Valparaiso averages 18.6 turnovers per game and is 3-4 when committing fewer turnovers than opponents.
Drake is shooting 45.2% from the field this season, 1.2 percentage points higher than the 44.0% Valparaiso allows to opponents. Valparaiso has shot at a 44.0% clip from the field this season, 3.0 percentage points higher than the 41.0% shooting opponents of Drake have averaged.
The Bulldogs and Beacons meet Saturday for the first time in MVC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Dinnebier is averaging 19.5 points, 7.5 assists and 2.4 steals for the Bulldogs.
Earnest is scoring 18.6 points per game and averaging 8.3 rebounds for the Beacons.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 6-4, averaging 76.6 points, 36.3 rebounds, 19.1 assists, 8.8 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.4 points per game.
Beacons: 4-6, averaging 68.4 points, 26.0 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 10.4 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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