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After sweeping the MVC’s Iowa road swing for a second consecutive season, Missouri State is now 44-6 in their last 50 games, dating to Dec. 20, 2018. Those 44 wins trail only Baylor, UConn, Oregon State and Mississippi State nationally over that time frame, and is the second-best 50-game stretch in school history. Missouri State went 46-4 from Jan. 12, 1991-March 28, 1992 before losing in the 1992 Final Four.
Winning Milestones
Missouri State reached 20 wins on Sunday at Drake, hitting that milestone for the third year in a row and 19th time in the last 30 seasons. MSU also improved 6-1 in Valley road games this year, the Lady Bears’ sixth consecutive year with six or more Valley road victories.
Impressive Resume
Missouri State enters the week as one of only six teams with 7 or more Top 50 RPI wins this season. The Lady Bears join #1 South Carolina, #2 Baylor, #3 Oregon, #10 Maryland and #17 Iowa on the list.
The Lady Bears are 7-2 (78%) vs. the RPI Top 50 and join South Carolina, Baylor, Iowa and Oregon as the only teams with at least 7 Top 50 wins and a win percentage of 70%+ vs. the Top 50.
Most Top 50 RPI Wins (Feb. 11)
11 -South Carolina
9 - Maryland
8 - Baylor, Iowa, Oregon
7 - Missouri State
Lucky 13
The Valley currently has eight teams at 13 wins or more on the season. The Valley joins the Big Ten, SEC and ACC as the only conferences with 8 or more teams sitting with 13 or more wins.
Teams with 13 Wins (Feb. 10)
10 - Big Ten, SEC
8 - ACC, Missouri Valley
7 - Big 12, Big East, Conference USA
The last time The Valley had 8 teams reach at least 14 wins on the season was the 2011-12 season when the MVC sent seven teams to the postseason (1 NCAA, 4 WNIT, 2 WBI).
Home Sweet Home
Two MVC teams continue to remain unbeaten at home entering the week: Bradley (9-0) and Missouri State (10-0) are still perfect.
Bradley is riding a school record 15-game streak which ranks 7th nationally.
Collectively, the league has won 61.1 percent of the time at home during league play this year (after winning 81.3 percent of its home games in non-league play). Notably, the top six teams in the league standings have combined for a full-season 55-8 record at home.
Best MVC Home Records (Since 2007-08)
1. 2007-08 61-29 (.678)
2. 2009-10 58-32 (.644)
3. 2010-11 57-33 (.633)
4. 2011-12 56-34 (.622)
5. 2012-13 53-37 (.589)
Historic Conference RPI
The Valley ranks seventh nationally in the NCAA’s conference RPI report (Feb. 10). The Valley sits behind the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big East entering this week.
The Valley record for RPI in a season is 8th (2011).
Conference RPI
1. Pac-12
2. Big Ten
3. Big 12
4. SEC
5. ACC
6. Big East
7. Missouri Valley
8. Ivy League
9. American
10. MAC
RPI Update
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Feb. 11) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including four in the top 50. Missouri State sits No. 4 in the RPI, Drake comes in at No. 29, Bradley No. 43 and UNI No. 46. Illinois State (78) and Southern Illinois (85) also appear in the Top 100.
The Valley joins the Power Five leagues and the Big East as the only leagues to have six or more Top 100 teams.
Elite Company
Illinois State’s TeTe Maggett enters the week averaging 16.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Maggett is one of eight players in the nation averaging 16 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. Also joining her on that list is DJ Williams (Coastal Carolina), Haley Gorecki (Duke), Ciara Duffy (South Dakota), Sabrina Ionescu (Oregon), Haylee Andrews (Portland), Rachel Thompson (Colgate) and Erica Johnson (Ohio).
Since 1992-93, only two Valley players have ended a season averaging 16.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and 4.0 apg. Missouri State’s Jenni Lingor did during the 2005 season (won Jackie Stiles Player of the Year) and MSU’s Casey Garrison did during the 2010 season (won Jackie Stiles Player of the Year).
Player Year PPG RPG APG
Jenni Lingor, MSU 04-05 20.0 6.3 4.5
Casey Garrison, MSU 09-10 19.9 7.3 5.1
They Can Do It All
Bradley's Gabi Haack and Drake's Becca Hittner are two of seven players in the nation that have hit at least 52 three-pointers and have collected 130 rebounds and 45 or more assists. Haack and Hittner are the only two players nationally to also have more than 50 made free throws.
Sweeping the Redbirds
Bradley picked up its third consecutive road win in the series with I-74 rival Illinois State, topping the Redbirds 66-62 last Friday to sweep the regular-season series. The Braves swept the regular-season series for Illinois State for the second consecutive year (first time since 2013-14 & 2014-15) and Bradley has won three consecutive road games against the Redbirds for the first time dating back to winning four consecutive games at Redbird Arena between the 1991-92 and 1994-95 campaigns.
Raining Threes
Drake's Becca Hittner knocked down nine three-pointers this past weekend. Hittner’s big weekend from deep helped her jump all the way from No. 6 all-time at Drake to No. 2 in program history with 241. Lindsay Whorton (2004-08) holds the school record from most three-pointers with 266. Hittner and her teammates knocked down 15 three-pointers in the SIU win as seven different Bulldogs made at least one. It tied for the second-most threes in a game for the team.
Home Court Streak
Drake had its impressive 17-game home court winning streak stopped by No. 19/24 Missouri State Sunday. The streak was tied for the nation’s third longest streak. Prior to Sunday’s loss, Missouri State had the last win inside the Knapp Center by a visiting team last season on Feb. 1, 2019.
Doing It with Defense
Valpo limited Indiana State to just 45 points for the game in a 61-45 win Saturday. The 45 points were the second-fewest by a Valpo opponent this year (UIC, 37) and were the fewest points allowed by Valpo in an MVC game since joining the conference. Valpo forced 31 turnovers by the Sycamores, the most by any Valpo opponent since January 2009. The win was highlighted by a scoreless second quarter, as Valpo held Indiana State to 0-of-12 shooting – including 0-of-6 from 3-point range – and forced eight turnovers. It was the first scoreless quarter for Valpo defensively since the 2015-16 switch to quarters.
First Year Success
Missouri State first-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton has moved into a tie for fourth place on The Valley coaching list for most wins in a first year. Coach Mox’s 20 wins is tied for fourth with Creighton’s Connie Yori during the 1992-93 season.
Creighton’s Jim Flanery (2002-03) and Drake’s Lisa Stone (2000-01) each won a share of the regular season MVC title during their first year at the helm.
Most Coaching Wins, 1st-Year Coaches
Name, School (Years) League Overall
Jim Flanery, Creighton (2002-03) 13-5 24-9
Stephanie Glance, Illinois State (2010-11) 12-6 24-11
Lisa Stone, Drake (2000-01) 16-2 23-7
Connie Yori, Creighton (1992-93) 12-4 20-8
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, MSU (2019-20) 10-1 20-3
1,000 Point Club
The Valley now has nine active players in the 1,000 point club. Bradley’s Chelsea Brackmann became the 20th player in program history to score 1,000 career points, scoring 12 points in Friday’s win at Illinois State.
Sara Rhine sits fourth on the NCAA career scoring chart, while Hittner sits seventh. Rhine and Hittner are the second highest teammate career scoring tandem in the country behind Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard.
Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
2,063 - Sara Rhine, Drake
1,991 - Becca Hittner, Drake
1,421 - Alexa Willard, Missouri State
1,313 - Nicole Martin, Southern Illinois
1,116 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,064 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,060 - Abby O’Connor, Loyola Chicago
1,049 - Grace Hales, Valparaiso
1,006 - Chelsea Brackmann, Bradley
Climbing Valley Charts
Drake seniors Sara Rhine and Becca Hittner are climbing their way up the Missouri Valley Conference career scoring list. Rhine has scored 2,063 career points entering this weekend and currently sits 8th on the MVC list. Hittner currently ranks 11th with 1,991 points. Rhine and Hittner are looking to become the first set of teammates in The Valley’s 113-year history (men or women) to eclipse 2,000 career points in the same season.
Career Points (MVC History)
1. 3,393 - Jackie Stiles, Missouri State 1998-01
2. 2,636 - Wanda Ford, Drake 1982-86
3. 2,551 - Lizzy Wendell, Drake 2014-17
4. 2,271 - Casey Garrison, Missouri State 2008-12
5. 2,139 - Kristi Cirone, Illinois State 2005-09
6. 2,099 - Sara Dickey, Evansville 2014-17
7. 2,073 - Kari Koch, Missouri State 2003-06
8. 2,063 - Sara Rhine, Drake 2015-pres.
9. 2,054 - Jacqui Kalin, UNI 2012-13
10. 1,996 - Jan Jensen, Drake 1987-91
11. 1,991 - Becca Hittner, Drake 2016-pres.
ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Feb. 11) has three MVC teams in the field of 64. Missouri State moved up to a No. 5 seed playing Duke in Iowa City, while Drake is a No. 9 seed playing Central Michigan in Columbia, South Carolina. Bradley jumps into the field as an at-large as one of the “Last Four In” and is slated as a No. 11 seed playing Kentucky in Corvallis. UNI is listed among the “Next Four Out”. The MVC is one of eight leagues receiving multiple bids.
Poll Position
Missouri State remained in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll, coming in at No. 24 once again this week.
The Lady Bears continue to move up in the latest USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll, sitting at No. 17 this week.
High Percentage
Drake enters this week ranking 3rd nationally in Field Goal Percentage (49.0%). 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 8th nationally.
Missouri State also ranks in the Top 25 in Field Goal % nationally, shooting 45.1% from the field.
Drake’s Sara Rhine enters the week ranking 4th nationally in field goal percentage (66.8%). The MVC record for FG% in a single season is Tonya Baucom of Missouri State in 1991-92 (65.8%).
The Valley as a whole is shooting 42.4% from the field this season, ranking 5th nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Field Goal Percentage (By Conference)
1. Big Ten 42.9%
2. SEC 42.8%
3. Pac-12 42.5%
Big 12 42.5%
5. Missouri Valley 42.4%
High Scoring League
Drake enters this week ranking 6th nationally in scoring offense, while Missouri State ranks 16th. The Bulldogs are averaging 82.8 points per game, while the Lady Bears average 77.9.
Drake has led the league in scoring five straight seasons and is looking for its sixth-straight year leading the league in that category.
The Valley as a whole is averaging 69.0 points per game this season, ranking tied for 6th nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Points Per Game (By Conference)
1. Big 12 73.0
2. Pac-12 70.0
Big Ten 70.0
SEC 70.0
MAC 70.0
6. Missouri Valley 69.0
Summit League 69.0
Solid from Deep
Missouri State enters this week ranking 6th nationally in Three-Point FG Percentage (38.9%).
The Valley as a whole is shooting 33.1% from behind the arc this season, ranking 3rd nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Three-Point FG Percentage (By Conference)
1. Big Ten 33.4%
2. Big East 33.2%
3. Missouri Valley 33.1%
4. WCC 33.0%
5. Big 12 32.8%
Sharing the Rock
Drake enters the week averaging 22.3 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 22.6
2. Drake 22.3
3. Oregon 20.9
4. Iowa 20.2
5. Marist 20.0
Sharp Shooters
The Valley has three of the nation’s top 10 teams in free-throw percentage this season. Valpo currently leads the league and sits 3rd nationally (78.9%), while UNI sits 7th (78.4%) and Drake 8th (78.3%).
Missouri State’s Alexa Willard leads The Valley and ranks No. 8 nationally hitting 89.4% of her attempts.
The Valley as a whole is shooting 71.3% from the line this season, ranking 4th nationally among NCAA DI Conferences.
Free-Throw Percentage (By Conference)
1. Pac-12 72.8%
2. Mountain West 72.7%
3. Summit League 71.7%
4. Missouri Valley 71.3%
5. NEC 71.0%