TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State women's basketball will conclude its Iowa road-swing Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET when the Sycamores take on Drake inside the Knapp Center. The game can be seen world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3 as well as on WIBQ 1230 AM in the Wabash Valley with Luke Martin on the call.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Sycamores trail the all-time series against the Bulldogs, 51-22. The task of knocking off Drake grows even more on the road where the Sycamores have won just six games in Des Moines out of 36 contests. Though the series has been dominated by DU, the matchups in the last five years have been contested by both sides at five wins apiece. The Sycamores did take the last meeting against the Bulldogs by a score of 68-53 in Terre Haute last season.
 
LOOKING AT DRAKE
Drake, the top offensive team in the MVC (83.6 ppg) comes into Sunday's game with a 14-4 overall record, and a 7-0 mark in MVC play. DU is riding a 10-game winning streak and are led by MVC Preseason Player of the Year award winner Lizzy Wendell who is leading The Valley with 22.3 points a contest. The Bulldogs have pieces around Wendell in Caitlin Ingle who is scoring 10 points a game while dishing out eight assists per contest to lead the team. The Bulldogs are coming off a week which they connected on 24 3-pointers and dished out 58 assists.
 
PUTTING ON THE CLAMPS
The Sycamores currently rank first in the Missouri Valley Conference, holding opponents just 57.9 points per game this season. The Sycamores are also leading the conference field goal percent defense, allowing the opposition to shoot just 35.1 percent from the floor. Indiana State is 7-3 when holding opponents under 60 points.
 
SWAT TEAM
Indiana State as a whole has recorded 72 blocks as a team this year to lead the Missouri Valley. Their 4.2 blocks per game second-best in the MVC behind Illinois State. The Sycamores top paint protector is Wendi Bibbins who has 21 blocks while her counterpart Rhagen Smith has swatted away 14 shots. A total of 11 players have recorded blocks this year for the Sycamores.
 
STARTING MVC PLAY STRONG
Junior Ashley Taia is leading the way in Valley play with a 16 points per game average while senior Rhagen Smith adds nine a game. Forward Wendi Bibbins is also averaging 8.2 points and seven boards a game through six conference games. Taia has recorded two 20+ point scoring games in MVC play. In total, the forward has three this season. She also has 13 games of double-digit scoring. Bibbins has scored in double-digits in six games in a Sycamore uniform.
 
REBOUND AND WIN
The Sycamores are 6-1 when cleaning up on the glass this season and just 4-6 when getting outrebounded. As a team ISU sits in sixth place in the conference with 38 rebounds per contest while sitting second in the MVC with 26.8 defensive rebounds per game. Junior forward Wendi Bibbins leads the squad with 7.9 rebounds per contest.
 
CONSISTENCY
Ashley Taia, the Sycamores' leading scorer has been the most consistent offense for ISU this season. Taia has scored in double-figures 13 times including a career high 26 points at Southern Illinois on New Year's Day. The Brisbane, Australia ranks seventh in the MVC in scoring at 13.8 points per game.
 
PULLIN THEM DOWN
From day one junior Wendi Bibbins has made her presence known in the paint on the boards. The junior has recorded a pair of double-doubles this season and has snagged double-digit rebounds in five games, including a season-best 14 boards at Florida Atlantic. She is tied for second in the MVC in rebounding (7.9), third in blocked shots per game (1.2), eighth in field goal percent (47.9) and 19th in scoring (9.6).
 
CAREER HIGH PERFORMANCE
Though the Sycamores dropped their last contest to Northern Iowa, junior Regan Wentland recorded career-highs in both rebounds (8) and assists (3). She led the Sycamores in both categories in the game.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.