A game in last year's MVC Tournament was the turning point for Drake women's basketball

The turning point for the Drake women’s basketball team came during the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

The Bulldogs were down seven points with just over four minutes remaining in their quarterfinal matchup with Missouri State but came back with a late rally. The victory propelled Drake into the semifinals and ultimately jumpstarted their title run.

“Maybe that was the light switch that got turned on for us,” said Drake coach Allison Pohlman.

The Bulldogs have not been the same since. They’ve once again established themselves as the top team in the MVC and now enter this week’s tournament as the top seed, the reigning champions and the team everyone is trying to beat. Drake will officially begin its quest for a second straight tournament title when they take on Indiana State, the 9-seed, in the quarterfinals Friday at 12:02 p.m., at Vibrant Arena in Moline, Illinois.

“I feel awesome about this team and about their focus and more than anything of really what mission is at hand,” Pohlman said. “I’m really, really excited about our opportunities.”

Those opportunities are endless for the Bulldogs, who are coming off a huge 2022-23 campaign that saw Pohlman get the team back on track during what was her second season at the helm. Pohlman, a longtime Drake assistant, took over the program when Jennie Baranczyk took over the head coaching vacancy at Oklahoma. Pohlman inherited a young team that showed flashes of its potential during her first season.

But the team really took off late in her second season when it overcame that huge deficit to Missouri State in the quarterfinals. It gave Drake some much-needed momentum that carried over into the next day when it took down top-seed Illinois State in the semifinals. The Bulldogs followed that up with a victory over Belmont in the final to win the tournament and clinch an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Pohlman’s tenure.

“That’s what propels you into just really continuing to have success,” Pohlman said of the Missouri State victory.

More: Drake women's basketball player Katie Dinnebier named MVC Player of the Year

Drake, which nearly took down Louisville in the NCAA Tournament, has rolled ever since last season’s trip to the quad cities. The Bulldogs finished this season with a 26-5 mark, including a 19-1 record in MVC play. Their 19 wins are the most in MVC play by any men’s or women’s hoops team in a single season. It led to the Bulldogs clinching an outright regular season conference crown. After winning 11 straight games, the Bulldogs march into this year’s MVC Tournament with a giant target on their backs as the top seed that everyone is now paying close attention to.

“I think what this squad has been able to do is really relish and write their story, which I think has been a really special one,” Pohlman said.

The story has been remarkable. Junior point guard Katie Dinnebier was named the MVC Player of the Year Wednesday. Pohlman was named the league's Coach of the Year. Anna Miller was picked as the Defensive Player of the Year. Together, they've paved the way for Drake's dominating season which also includes a marquee victory against Iowa State, another team likely headed to the NCAA Tournament, earlier in the season.

All that success has been building since last season with the bulk of that team back and preparing for another postseason run.

"More than anything, you have a lot of people back who had the opportunity to feel what it's like to be an NCAA team and what it's like to be an MVC Tournament team," Pohlman said. "And when you get that, it becomes intoxicating. It's one of those things that you want to continue to replicate."

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Drake women's basketball returns to MVC Tournament as the favorites