NOTEBOOK (PDF)

Historic Start
For just the third time in Valley history, a pair of teams have started the league slate with a 7-0 mark. Following two wins over the weekend, Drake and Missouri State improved to a league-best 7-0 in MVC play.  Missouri State’s wins over Loyola and Valparaiso gave the Lady Bears their best MVC start since the 2003-04 season (started 11-0).  Drake’s wins over Indiana State and Evansville gave the Bulldogs their  third-straight 7-0 start in league play. 

Battle Royale
For just the third time in Valley history, a pair of teams with at least a 7-0 record will meet as Missouri State travels to Drake for a 7PM matchup Friday.  The only other league meetings between two 8-0 teams are listed below with both involving Drake. 

Two Teams with at least a 7-0 MVC Start
2015           Drake (8-0) & Wichita State (8-0)
    WSU lost to Drake, 64-61, on Feb. 1
2017           Drake (8-0) & UNI (8-0) 
    UNI lost to Drake, 88-79 (2OT), on Jan. 27

.700 Club
Friday’s showdown in Des Moines between Drake and Missouri State will feature two of the top five all-time coaching win percentages in MVC contests.

Drake’s Jennie Baranczyk sits tied for third in Valley history in career winning percentage in league games.  Baranczyk sits with a career record of 86-29 (.748) in league contests.  Missouri State’s Kellie Harper sits fifth on the chart with a career mark of 69-28 (.711).

ALL-TIME COACHES WIN% (MVC GAMES)
(Minimum 50 games)
Name, School (Years)                              Rec.             Pct.
Carole Baumgarten, Drake (1983-86)                     48-6               .889
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)                201-65          .756
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)                  199-67          .748
Jennie Baranczyk, Drake (2013-present)                    86-29             .748
Kellie Harper, Missouri State (2014-present)            69-28           .711

League Leaders
Drake and Missouri State’s 7-0 league starts match 12 others who have started with seven-straight league wins in 2018-19. The MVC joins the Southland as the only conferences to have two teams sitting with unblemished records. (through Jan. 28).

NCAA Teams With Perfect League Marks
9-0    BYU, Marquette
8-0    Oregon, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris
7-0    Baylor, UConn, Drake, Hartford, Lamar, Mississippi State, Missouri State, NC State, Rice
6-0    Florida Gulf Coast, NC A&T, SF Austin
5-0     Mercer

Points-A-Plenty
Missouri State scored 108 points in a win over Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon. The 108 points scored are the fifth-most ever in a league game.

Most Points in MVC/Gateway Games 
117 - Bradley at Evansville (Jan. 21, 2018)
112 - Drake vs. UNI (Jan. 23, 1993)
110 - Creighton vs. Indiana State (Mar. 5, 1995)
109 - Bradley vs. Wichita State (Feb. 13, 1992)
108 - Missouri State vs. Valparaiso (Jan. 27, 2019)

Valley Streak 
Drake has the longest win streak in the history of the Gateway/MVC for regular season contests, winning 47-straight.  The impressive streak started Feb. 26, 2016 with a win over Loyola.  The Bulldogs broke SIU’s 37 game streak from 1985-1987 during the Gateway era with a win over Illinois State last season.  The streak is the second longest active streak against conference opponents, trailing only UConn’s streak in the American. 

Home Court Streaks
Drake currently holds the longest active home winning streak in Valley games at 24.  The streak is tied for the third longest in Valley history with Illinois State.  Missouri State holds the record with 66-straight MVC home wins from 1989-1997.

Below is a look at the top three home winning streaks all-time in Valley contests:

Consecutive MVC Home Wins
1.     66, Missouri State    3/3/89 to 1/20/97    
2.     28, Creighton    2/9/01 to 2/13/04
3.    24, Illinois State    1/21/10 to 2/23/12
            24, Drake    2/5/16 to present

National Career Leader
Drake junior Becca Hittner currently leads the nation in career three-point field goal percentage.  The junior standout boasts a career mark of 46.5% from behind the arc, leading Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu.   

NCAA Active Leaders, Career 3-pt FG%
1.        Becca Hittner, Drake    46.5%
2.        Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon    43.4%
3.        Marla Gomez, Wyoming    43.0%

Strength of Schedule
Drake, Missouri State and UNI tested themselves with a difficult non-conference schedule this season.  According to WarrenNolan.com, the Bulldogs played the third toughest non-conference strength of schedule this season, while the Lady Bears’ non-league schedule ranks 50th and Panthers 64th nationally. 

Double Your Pleasure
Bradley’s Chelsea Brackmann is the only MVC player averaging a double-double this season.  The junior is averaging 12.7 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.  Brackmann has nine double-doubles on the season. Below are players with six or more double-doubles. 
  
No.        Player, Team            
9        Chelsea Brackmann, Bradley
7        Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
            Sara Rhine, Drake
6        Simone Goods, Illinois State

Three out of the past four seasons, an MVC player has finished the season averaging a double-double.

Year            Player, Team        PPG, RPG    #DD
16-17       Leti Lerma, Bradley        11.7, 10.8, 13
15-16       Dyana Pierre, SIU           12.3, 11.2, 15
14-15       Dyana Pierre, SIU           14.6, 11.8, 16

Looking to End It
Evansville  has dropped 26-straight MVC regular season contests, setting the MVC record.  The Aces last MVC win was a 52-44 at Indiana State on Mar. 4, 2017. 

Consecutive Conference Losses
1.    26, Evansville    12/29/17 to present
2.     24, Bradley    2/26/98 to 1/13/00
        24, Southern Illinois     12/31/10 to 1/14/12 

Sharp Shooters
A year after seeing Evansville lead the nation in free-throw percentage (82.0%), The Valley has two of the nation’s top five teams in the category so far this season. UNI currently leads the league and sits 2nd nationally, while Loyola sits 9th. 

Loyola’s Abby O’Connor leads The Valley and ranks No. 6 nationally hitting 92.2% of her attempts. In 2012-13, UNI’s Jacqui Kalin set the MVC record with a percentage of 95.5% for a season. 

Free-Throw Percentage
    1.    Virginia Tech    79.5%
    2.     UNI    78.7%
    3.    Princeton    78.3%           
           South Dakota    78.3%
   9.    Loyola    77.4%

The RPI Ratings Game
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Jan. 28) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-175, led by Drake at No. 16, followed by UNI (78), Missouri State (102), Bradley (151), Southern Illinois (160) and Indiana State (166). The MVC ranks 12th among 32 conferences. The league ranking is the highest for the league since the 2013 season (finished 10th).

Sharing the Rock
Over the past five seasons, Drake has ranked in the top 10 every season in the NCAA in assists per game, including leading the nation a year ago. The Bulldogs are once again sharing the basketball as they enter the week No. 3 in the country averaging 21.7 assists per contest.   

Assists Per Game
    1.    Baylor           23.4
    2.    Iowa            22.3
    3.    Drake            21.7
    4.    Michigan State           20.3
    5.    Oregon        20.1

“So You Want to Be A Coach”
Valparaiso senior Meredith Hamlet and Drake senior Becca Jonas were named participants in the 2019 “So You Want to be a Coach” program, hosted by the WBCA. This marks the 17th annual “So You Want to be a Coach” program as each member will participate in a three-day workshop with speakers provided by the WeCOACH on April 3-5 in conjunction with the WBCA Convention in Tampa, Florida.