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Elite This Late...
On only two occasions have two teams been 13-1 or better at this point in the MVC league season. The only other occasion occurred in 1984-85 when both Illinois State and Drake were 13-1 when they met on Feb. 27 in Des Moines. The Redbirds pulled out a 79-74 win on the way to the regular season title. Drake and Missouri State can better that mark with wins on Friday with both teams set to meet in Springfield on Sunday.
Season Teams (Rec.) MVC Finish
2018-19 Drake 13-1 ---
Missouri St. 13-1 ---
1984-85 Illinois St. 13-1 1st (17-1)
Drake 13-1 2nd (16-2)
20 Wins Streak
Drake claimed its fifth-consecutive 20-win season over the weekend and sits with an overall record of 21-5. The impressive streak began in 2014-15. The league record for consecutive 20-win seasons is held by Drake and Missouri State, with each holding a streak of six-straight.
Consecutive 20-win seasons since 1982-83
1. Drake (1996-97 through 2000-01) 6
Missouri State (1990-91 through 1995-96) 6
3. Illinois State (2006-07 through 2010-11) 5
Southern Illinois (1982-83 through 1986-87) 5
Drake (2014-15 through current) 5
Speaking of 20 Wins
Since the start of the 1992-93 season only two 20-win MVC teams have been left out of the postseason. In that time, all but two (55 of 57) 20-win Valley teams have advanced to the postseason. Last season Drake and Missouri State each earned postseason bids after winning at least 20 games
20-Win Seasons (since 1982-83)
17 - Missouri State
17 - Drake
12 - Illinois State
9 - Southern Illinois
5 - Indiana State
4 - UNI
3 - Evansville
1 - Bradley
.700 Club
Drake’s Jennie Baranczyk sits third in Valley history in career winning percentage in league games. Baranczyk sits with a career record of 92-30 (.754) in league contests and can tie MSU’s Cheryl Burnett for second on the list with a win at Southern Illinois Friday. Missouri State’s Kellie Harper sits fifth on the chart with a career mark of 75-29 (.721).
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
Jennie Baranczyk, Drake (2013-present) 92-30 .754
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98) 199-67 .748
Kellie Harper, Missouri State (2014-present) 75-29 .721
Road Streak Continues...
Drake’s MVC-record regular season road winning streak sits at 27-straight entering play Friday in Carbondale. The Bulldogs last suffered a road loss on Feb. 19, 2016 at UNI. Drake also has a Valley-best 10 road wins overall this season. As of Feb. 25, the Bulldogs are one of just of 21 teams that currently have double digit win totals in away contests.
More Road Success
Missouri State improved to 7-0 in Valley road games with a Sunday win at Loyola, becoming the first squad in program history to reach that mark. The 1995-96 club held the previous mark with a 6-0 start. MSU has won seven conference road games on nine separate occasions, and went 8-1 in 1992. The Lady Bears have won nine straight MVC road games dating to last season, one shy of the school record set from 1999-00 and again from 2015-16.
Poll Position
Drake remained in the Associated Press’ women’s Top 25 poll this week, moving up to No. 23 in the poll. This is the fourth time this season Drake has been ranked in the AP weekly poll, also appearing No. 24 in Week 3 and No. 21 in Week 4 and No. 24 last week. The Bulldogs have been ranked in the AP poll 20 times in program history, which ranks second in MVC history behind Missouri State’s 52 appearances in the poll.
Team Times Ranked Last Rank
Missouri State 52 2/10/04 (23)
Drake 20 2/25/19 (23)
Southern Illinois 17 12/7/87 (13)
Illinois State 8 1/28/08 (24)
Indiana State 3 12/22/76 (20)
The Bulldogs also appear at No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll this week.
In Good Company
Drake is one of six teams nationally ranking in the Top 15 in assists per game, field-goal percentage and scoring offense this season. The Bulldogs are joined by top ranked Baylor, #2 UConn, #4 Notre Dame, #12 Iowa and #13 Marquette in the club (AP Rank).
Team FG% (Rank) PPG (Rank) APG (Rank)
Baylor 51.0% (4) 81.4 (8) 23.4 (1)
Drake 47.7% (11) 81.1 (10) 22.1 (2)
UConn 49.3 (5) 83.8 (5) 20.3 (4)
Iowa 51.9% (1) 80.6 (12) 21.9 (3)
Marquette 46.9% (14) 84.1 (4) 18.0 (12)
Notre Dame 51.6% (2) 87.6 (2) 20.3 (5)
30-Point Effort
Drake’s Becca Hittner earned her fourth 30+ point game this season, scoring 33 points in the win over Indiana State Sunday. The junior also hit the milestone against Southern Illinois (30), Missouri State (37) and Iowa (32) this season. In the MVC era (beginning in 1992-93), only on 10 occasions has a player had four or more 30+ point outings in a season.
30-Point Games in Single Season (MVC Era)
Jackie Stiles, Missouri State 2000-01 20
Jackie Stiles, Missouri State 1999-00 13
Jackie Stiles, Missouri State 1998-99 9
Lizzy Wendell, Drake 2014-15 5
Becca Hittner, Drake 2018-19 4
Lizzy Wendell, Drake 2016-17 4
Kyndal Clark, Drake 2013-14 4
Tahnee Balerio, Missouri State 2006-07 4
Jenni Lingor, Missouri State 2004-05 4
Christy Neneman, Creighton 2002-03 4
Sweeps Week
Bradley topped I-74 rival Illinois State 75-65 Friday to complete the regular-sweep of the Redbirds. In fact, the Bradley men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams won all four regular-season matchups with Illinois State as the Braves completed their first combined sweep of the I-74 rivalry since 1986-87.
Gasper’s Milestone
Reaching a major milestone for the second time this season, Evansville senior Kerri Gasper recorded her 500th rebound against Drake on Friday evening. Scoring her 1,000th point earlier this season, Gasper’s rebounding mark makes her the first student-athlete in program history to amass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and more than 125 made three-pointers.
Record Setters
Valpo entered the program record book in the first quarter of Sunday’s game vs. Southern Illinois, shattering single-season program records for 3-pointers made and 3-pointers attempted. In both categories, Valpo set the previous record in 1991-92 when the team attempted 676 triples and made 224. The made 3s mark was matched in 2007-08. The new records were solidified with three regular season games and at least one MVC Tournament game to spare. Entering Thursday’s game at Bradley, Valpo has 230 made 3s and 696 attempts this season.
Updated RPI Ratings
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Feb. 25) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-160, led by Drake at No. 24, followed by Missouri State (69), UNI (91), Southern Illinois (151), Bradley (156) and Illinois State (160). The MVC ranks 13th among 32 conferences. The league ranking is the highest for the league since the 2013 season (finished 10th).
Strength of Schedule
Drake, Missouri State and UNI tested themselves with a difficult non-conference schedule this season. According to the latest NCAA RPI report, the Bulldogs played the sixth toughest non-conference strength of schedule this season, while the Lady Bears’ non-league schedule ranks 81st and Panthers 69th nationally.
CoSIDA Academic All-District
Drake’s Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine were named to the 2018-19 Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team last week. Hittner, who holds a 3.96 cumulative grade point average in marketing, is leading the MVC in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Rhine, who owns a 4.00 GPA in elementary education, is a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for the second-straight season. The Bulldogs were one of just five Division I programs to have two all-district first-team selections, joining Central Michigan, High Point, South Dakota and Fresno State.