The Iowa women had a six-game winning streak snapped last week with the 83-70 loss at Iowa State. Coach Lisa Bluder says dealing with the loss is compounded by an extended break. “Ten days to sit on a loss is awful and to go through finals week on a losing note is really hard,” Bluder says.

The Hawkeyes face another in-state rival this coming weekend and Bluder says their practices will be a little sporadic as they prepare for Drake because of finals. Drake and Iowa tipoff at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes are 10-2. The Bulldogs are 4-4.  “It’s and in-state rivalry, and we need to come back and play our best against Drake,” Bluder says. Before the Iowa game, Drake will host SIU-Edwardsville in a noon tip-off Tuesday at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

The Bulldogs haven’t played since December 5, when they beat Idaho State 78-59.

The Iowa State women, now 9-0, are off until December 28-29 when they host the Cyclone Challenge. The Northern Iowa women are 3-7 and travel to DeKalb to play Northern Illinois on Saturday.