NOTEBOOK (PDF)
League Leaders
Bradley’s 5-0 league start matches 24 others who have started with five-straight league wins in 2019-20 (through Jan. 20 games).
NCAA Teams With Perfect League Marks
8-0 Sam Houston State
7-0 UConn, DePaul, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Louisville
6-0 Bucknell, Florida Gulf Coast, Jackson State, Rice, Robert Morris, South Dakota, Stony Brook, South Carolina, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin
5-0 Bradley, Central Michigan, Davidson, Dayton, Fairfield, UMass Lowell, Utah Valley, Rider, Tulane
Bradley is 5-0 in MVC play for the first time in school history. The Braves’ 14-2 overall start to the year is also the best in school history through 16 games. The five-game MVC win streak is now the third longest for the Braves, behind only two other Valley win streaks of six games.
Upset in Carbondale
Southern Illinois upset No. 17/19 Missouri State at the buzzer Friday, as Gabby Walker’s layup with :01 seconds left delivered the Salukis their first win over a ranked opponent during the regular season since 1991 (81-64 vs. No. 8 NC State). The win is the eighth over a Top-25 opponent in school history and the first to come on SIU’s home floor since 1987. The Lady Bears suffered their first road Valley loss in nearly two years after a school-record streak of 13 consecutive wins.
RPI Update
The latest weekly installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Jan. 20) has seven Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including three in the top 50. Missouri State sits No. 2 in the RPI after dropping Friday’s game at Southern Illinois. Drake comes in at No. 38 and UNI No. 48 this week. Southern Illinois (66), Bradley (72), Illinois State (78) and Loyola Chicago (95) also appear in the Top 100.
The Valley joins the Power Five leagues as the only leagues to have seven or more Top 100 teams.
ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Jan. 20) has three MVC teams in the field of 64. Bradley represents The Valley’s AQ and is a 12 seed in Iowa City playing Arizona State. Missouri State is a No. 6 seed playing Purdue in Chicago, while Drake is a No. 10 seed playing West Virginia in Los Angeles. UNI is also appearing in the “Next Four Out”. The MVC is one of just seven leagues receiving multiple bids, joining the Power Five leagues and the Big East.
8 X 10
Entering this week, the MVC has 8 of its 10 teams with 10 or more victories on the season. Only the Big 12 (9 of 10, 90%) and Big Ten (12 of 14, 85.7%) surpass the MVC with over 80% of its membership reaching double figure wins already this season. The SEC (11 of 14, 78.6%), Pac-12 (8 of 12, 66.7%), ACC (9 of 15, 60%) and Conference USA (8 of 14, 57.1%) are the other conferences with eight or more teams with 10+ wins.
Poll Position
Missouri State fell out of this week’s AP Top 25 Poll, following this weekend’s loss at Southern Illinois. The Lady Bears are the No. 26 team and first among those receiving votes.
The Lady Bears continue to appear in the latest USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll, falling at No. 22 this week.
Home Sweet Home
Five MVC teams are unbeaten at home entering the week: Bradley (7-0), Drake (8-0), Illinois State (8-0), Missouri State (8-0) and UNI (6-0) have unblemished records on their home courts this season.
The Valley currently has three teams with a home win streak of 12 or more. Drake stretched its streak to 14-straight (5th-longest nationally), while Bradley has won a program-record 13-straight at home and is tied for the 8th-longest streak nationally. Illinois State has a 12-game win streak at home, tied for 12th nationally.
Ramblin’ on the Road
Loyola Chicago is second in the nation with a perfect 8-0 road record this season, trailing only UConn’s 9-0 road mark. The Ramblers are one of just seven teams in the nation to remain perfect on the road (UConn, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Tulane and Baylor).
Streaks in League Play
UNI owns the Valley’s longest active winning streak against a conference opponent, as the Panthers enter Friday’s game with 16-straight wins over Bradley.
Below is a look at the longest winning streaks against an MVC opponent.
Longest Winning Streaks vs. MVC Opponent
27 – Southern Illinois over Bradley (1983-95)
25 – Missouri State over UNI (1989-00)
21 – Illinois State over UNI (1984-94)*
20 – UNI over Wichita State (2000-09)
20 – Drake over Southern Illinois (1997-05)
19 – Drake over Bradley (1996-04)
19 – Missouri State over Southern Illinois (1997-06)
19 – Missouri State over Wichita State (1988-97)
17 – Drake over UNI (1987-95)
17 – Southern Illinois over UNI (1984-92)
16 – UNI over Bradley (2012-Present)
16 – Missouri State over Bradley (1992-97)
15 – Illinois State over Bradley (2006-13)
*ILS won 22-straight in the series
Longest Current Winning Streaks vs. MVC Opponent
16 – UNI over Bradley (2012-Present)
13 – Drake over Illinois State (2014-present)
13 – Missouri State over Loyola (2014-present)
12 – Drake over Bradley (2014-present)
12 – Missouri State over Indiana State (2015-present)
12 – UNI over Evansville (2015-present)
11 – Drake over Loyola (2014-present)
11 – UNI over Indiana State (2015-present)
Sharp Shooters
The Valley has three of the nation’s top 15 teams in free-throw percentage so far this season. Drake currently leads the league and sits 7th nationally (78.2%), while UNI sits 8th (77.7%) and Valparaiso 15th (77.0%).
Drake’s Becca Hittner leads The Valley and ranks No. 11 nationally hitting 88.8% of her attempts.
The Valley as a whole is shooting 71.2% from the line this season, ranking 4th nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Free-Throw Percentage (By Conference)
1. Mountain West 72.0%
2. Pac-12 71.9%
3. Summit League 71.7%
4. Missouri Valley 71.2%
Big East 71.2%
1,000 Point Club
The Valley has seven active players in the 1,000 point club. Loyola's Abby O'Connor became the 25th player in Loyola history to join the club in Friday's loss to Bradley. Bradley's Gabi Haack scored her 1,000th point in Sunday's win at Valpo, becoming the 19th player in program history to join the club.
Drake's Sara Rhine sits fourth on the NCAA career scoring chart, while teammate Becca Hittner sits eighth. The duo is the second highest teammate scoring tandem in the country behind Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard.
Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
1,958 - Sara Rhine, Drake
1,859 - Becca Hittner, Drake
1,332 - Alexa Willard, Missouri State
1,251 - Nicole Martin, Southern Illinois
1,012 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,005 - Abby O’Connor, Loyola Chicago
1,000 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
Current MVC Players approaching 1,000
976 - Grace Hales, Valparaiso
952 - Chelsea Brackmann, Bradley
High Percentage
Drake enters this weekend ranking 3rd nationally in Field Goal Percentage (49.2%). Drake finished 10th in FG% last year, 5th in 2017-18, and 2nd in 2016-17. UConn is the only other school to finish in the top 10 in the last three seasons. The Huskies currently sit ninth nationally.
Drake’s Sara Rhine enters the week ranking 4th nationally in field goal percentage (67.2%).
The Valley as a whole is shooting 42.7% from the field this season, ranking 5th nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Field Goal Percentage (By Conference)
1. SEC 43.4%
2. Big Ten 43.3%
3. Pac-12 43.1%
Big 12 43.1%
5. Missouri Valley 42.7%
6. ACC 41.9%
Sharing the Rock
Drake enters the weekend averaging 22.1 assists per game, which ranks second nationally. Drake is the only team in the country to rank in the top three of Assists Per Game each of the previous three seasons.
Assists Per Game
1. Baylor 23.2
2. Drake 22.1
3. Oregon 21.5
4. Iowa 21.1
5. DePaul 19.6
Senior CLASS Award
Bradley’s Chelsea Brackmann has been named one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Brackmann is the fourth Bradley Women’s Basketball player selected as a Senior CLASS Award candidate, joining Michelle Young (2013-14), Jenny Van Kirk (2009-10) and Kelly Krumwiede (2008-09) and is the lone candidate from the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
Rebounding Record
There is a new all-time leading rebounder at Bradley with senior Chelsea Brackmann pulling down her 845th career board Friday at Loyola to top the previous school record of 844 career rebounds held by former teammate Leti Lerma. Currently third in the MVC in rebounding at 8.3 per outing this season, Brackmann is 21st in league history with 848 career rebounds.
Lots of Points
Drake had quite the return to the Knapp Center this past weekend with blowout wins over Indiana State and Evansville. The Bulldogs cruised past the Sycamores, 105-65 and by the Purple Aces, 108-44. It is the first-ever time a Valley team has surpassed the century mark in back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference games. The 108 points against Evansville are the most points against a league foe in a regulation game behind just the 112 points the 1993 Drake team scored in a four-overtime marathon against UNI.
Chart Climbers
Seniors Sara Rhine and Becca Hittner, who are each vying to hit the 2,000 career point mark, moved up the all-time scoring lists at Drake and in the Valley. Rhine has 1,958 career points, which ranks sixth at Drake and No. 10 in league history. Over the weekend, she moved past Jill Martin (1,928) and Carla Bennett (1,930) at Drake. In front of her at Drake and in the MVC is Jan Jensen who scored 1,996 points. Hittner with 1,859 points moved to No. 9 all-time at Drake going past Jan Krieger (1,846). She ranks 16th all-time in conference history.
Tough Road
UNI’s five losses are all away from the McLeod Center and all against teams in the top 68 in the RPI. UNI’s losses are against No. 2 Missouri State, No. 22 Creighton, No. 30 Ohio State, No. 38 Drake and No. 68 Alabama.
100th Win at SIU
SIU’s win over Missouri State marked the 100th career win for Cindy Stein as Southern’s head coach. She joins Saluki greats Charlotte West and Cindy Scott as the only head coaches in program history to reach the century mark for victories. Stein, the third-longest tenured head coach in the MVC, joins UNI’s Tanya Warren and Drake’s Jennie Baranczyk as the only active Valley coaches with 100-plus wins at their current institutions.