ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Conference announced today that ESPN has made its selection for the final MVC regular-season women’s basketball production for The Valley on ESPN.

The Drake at Southern Illinois women’s basketball game on Friday, March 1, will be the featured production on ESPN+.

Drake (16-5, 8-1 MVC) will travel to Southern Illinois (10-10, 3-6 MVC) in a 6 PM (CT) contest at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois.

Drake took the first meeting between the two schools on Sunday when the Bulldogs posted a 94-66 win in Des Moines. Reining MVC Player of the Year Becca Hittner scored 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field in the win.

The selection of this game marks the fifth year that ESPN has used a “Wildcard” process to determine one of its MVC women’s basketball productions for The Valley on ESPN. 

Using the Wildcard Weekend model, the league -- through its television partners ESPN, CBS Sports Network, FOX Sports Midwest and NBC Sports Chicago -- reserves clearance windows for late February and March dates in the fall of each academic year and waits until the midpoint of the men’s and women’s basketball seasons to determine its final regular-season telecasts.