Drake Women’s Basketball Prepares for 2025-26 Season

A new era of Drake women’s basketball is here as the Bulldogs look to get back to postseason glory in the 2025-26 campaign. Drake begins its march through a challenging non-conference slate next week with a trip to Eastern Illinois (Nov. 3) and a visit from former MVC rival Creighton the following weekend (Nov. 9).

Bulldog Bites

Drake is coming off a 21-10 season, including a 15-5 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play, in Suzie Glazer Burt Head Coach Allison Pohlman‘s fourth year at the helm. Last year, Pohlman became the only coach in program history to lead the Dogs to at least 20 wins in their first four years. The bulldogs also qualified for their first-ever appearance in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament,which features a field of 32 teams that did not qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Drake was one of five Valley teams inside the top 100 of the 2024-25 NET rankings. The Dogs checked in at 71 at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. Pohlman’s squad was selected fourth in the 2025-26 MVC preseason Poll. The Bulldogs earned four first-place votes and were listed behind league favorite Belmont, defending conference champion Murray State, and rival Illinois State.

The Bulldogs will lean on their returners including sharpshooter Abbie Aalsma, veteran guard Ava Hawthorne, and experienced forwards Taedyn Gray and Shannon Fornshell, among others. Aalsma was one of the moast dynamic shooters from deep range last season, ranking in the top five of MVC hoops in 3-point percentage with a mark of .444.

The Bulldogs will also feature a handful of new faces as Drake added a foursome of freshmen to this year’s roster. The 2025 freshman class…