NOTEBOOK (PDF)

A Look at the Standings
Missouri State and Drake have secured the top two seeds in the upcoming MVC Tournament (Mar. 12-15). Drake is 14-3 in league action going into their final regular season game at UNI Friday. Missouri State is in front of Drake with a 14-2 record in MVC action. The Lady Bears close their regular season at home against Valpo and Loyola. Drake needs to win at UNI and have Missouri State lose both games to secure its fourth-straight outright MVC regular season title. A Bulldogs’ win over the Panthers and the Lady Bears’ splitting their final two games would give the MVC co-champions. If the two teams share the title, MSU would be the No. 1 seed in the Quad Cities based off its sweep of the season series. Two wins by the Lady Bears secures them the outright title.  

Milestone Win
Missouri State's victory at Bradley was a milestone win for the program. It made Missouri State the first MVC program and 34th in NCAA Division I women’s basketball to reach 900 victories. 

Spoiler Alert
The Lady Bears ended Bradley’s perfect home record Sunday, the seventh time this season that Missouri State has handed a team its first home loss, doing so against Minnesota, Boise State, Oklahoma, South Dakota, UNI, Drake and Bradley. Four of those ended home court win streaks of at least 13 games. Additionally, it was Missouri State’s 11th true road victory of the season, one shy of the school record set in 1991-92.

Most Wins, Non-Champion?
Eight teams have finished the conference season with a 15-3 mark but did not win the regular-season title. Three teams have won 16 games but did not win the regular season title, the last coming a year ago.

Most MVC Wins by Non-MVC Champ
16-2    Drake (2nd), Illinois State (1st, 17-1) 84-85
16-2    Drake (2nd), Southern Illinois (1st, 18-0) 85-86
16-2    Missouri State (2nd), Drake (1st, 17-1) 18-19
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), ILS (1st, 16-2) 88-89
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), MSU (1st, 17-1) 91-92
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), MSU (1st, 16-2) 95-96
15-3    Drake (2nd), Creighton (1st, 16-2) 01-02
15-3    Creighton (2nd), MSU (1st, 16-2) 03-04
15-3    Drake (2nd), WSU (1st, 17-1) 14-15
15-3    UNI (2nd), Drake (1st, 18-0) 16-17
15-3     Missouri State (2nd), Drake (1st, 18-0) 17-18

It’s Been Awhile
Illinois State made history Thursday night, upsetting No. 17/21 Missouri State at Redbird Arena for ISU’s first win over a ranked opponent in 28 years. ISU’s previous last win over a ranked opponent occurred on Jan. 9, 1992, as the Redbirds defeated No. 20 Southwest Missouri State, 79-73, in Normal, Illinois.  The Lady Bears ended the year in the Final Four that season. 

Rise of The Valley
The 2019-20 season has marked one of the highest RPI rankings the Missouri Valley Conference has recorded in its history showcasing how The Valley is becoming one of the best mid-major leagues in the country. The league posted a top-15 RPI  for the first time since 2012-13 during the 2018-19 season and has increased to 8th this year.

Year        MVC RPI        Top 100 RPI Teams
2019-20               8                         5
2018-19              14                         3
2017-18              24                         2
2016-17              17                         2
2015-16              21                         2
2014-15              21                         1                
2013-14              19                         1

First Year Success
 Missouri State first-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton has moved into a tie for first place on The Valley coaching list for most wins in a first year.  Coach Mox’s 24 wins ties Creighton’s Jim Flanery and Illinois State’s Stephanie Glance for first place on The Valley list.  Coach Mox can surpass The Valley record with a win vs. Valpo Thursday.

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. 

Lisa Stone won the league’s Coach of the Year award in her first season (2001).

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
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, MSU (2019-20)    14-2                            24-4
Lisa Stone, Drake (2000-01)                      16-2                            23-7
Connie Yori, Creighton (1992-93)              12-4                             20-8

Back-to-Back 20 Win Seasons
For the first time in program history Bradley has back-to-back 20-win seasons with the Braves picking up win #20 last Thursday against Southern Illinois.  With a 20-7 overall record, Bradley is one victory from matching the highest season win total in program history set by the 2008-09 squad (21-10 overall).  The 40 wins over the last two years are the most in a two-year stretch in program history, surpassing the 39 wins during the 1979-80 (20) and 1980-81 (19) teams.  

With at least three games remaining, the Braves need one more victory to become the first team in Missouri Valley Conference history to post an improved overall win total in five consecutive seasons

1,000 Point Club
The Valley now has 10 active players in the 1,000 point club. UNI’s Karli Rucker entered the club over the weekend vs. Loyola and now sits with, 1,005 career points.   

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. Rhine and Hittner became 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. 

Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
2,167 - Sara Rhine, Drake
2,104 - Becca Hittner, Drake
1,494 - Alexa Willard, Missouri State
1,378 - Nicole Martin, Southern Illinois
1,166 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,141 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,120 - Abby O’Connor, Loyola Chicago
1,104 - Grace Hales, Valparaiso
1,085 - Chelsea Brackmann, Bradley
1,005 - Karli Rucker, UNI

Taking Down the Panthers
Friday’s win was Valpo’s first over UNI since joining the Valley. Combined with the Crusaders’ win at Illinois State, it was Valpo’s second top-100 RPI win in a two-week span after going nearly seven years (Detroit; March 9, 2013) since its last win over a top-100 opponent.

Sustained Success
With SIU’s win over Evansville on Feb. 23, the Salukis clinched a winning record for the sixth-straight season under seventh-year head coach Cindy Stein. It’s the longest streak of winning seasons for the program since 1997, when Southern capped off an impressive run of 14-straight winning seasons under then head coach Cindy Scott. 

Valley Runnin’ Deep
The Valley currently has eight teams at 15 wins or more on the season.  The Valley joins the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 as the only conferences with 8 or more teams sitting with 15 or more wins.

Teams with 15 Wins (Mar. 2)
11 - Big Ten
10 - ACC, SEC
8 - Missouri Valley, Big 12, Pac-12
7 - Big East, Conference USA

The last time The Valley had 8 teams reach at least 15 wins on the season was the 2011-12 season when the MVC sent seven teams to the postseason (1 NCAA, 4 WNIT, 2 WBI). It also happened  in 2010-11 and 2009-10.  

The Valley has never had 8 teams reach 16 wins.

RPI Update
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Mar. 3) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-75, including three in the top 50.  Missouri State sits No. 9 in the RPI, Drake comes in at No. 26 and Bradley No. 41. Illinois State (61)  and UNI (75) also appear in the Top 75.

The Valley joins the Power Five leagues, the Big East  and Conference USA as the only leagues to have five or more Top 75 teams.

Top Five Finishes 
UNI is the only Valley team to have finished in the top-five of the league standings for the past 10 seasons. The Panthers won the MVC in 2010-11 (17-1) and 2015-16 (15-3), finished in second place once (2016-17, 15-3), finished in third place three times (2013-14, 13-5; 2017-18, 13-5; 2018-19, 12-6), had two fourth-place finishes (2014-15, 12-6; 2012-13, 10-8) and two fifth-place finishes (2011-12, 9-9; 2009-10, 10-8).

Top-Five MVC Finishes, Last 10 Seasons
UNI - 10 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
MSU - 8 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Drake - 7 (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Illinois State - 5 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019)
Southern Illinois - 4 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
Indiana State - 3 (2013, 2014, 2018)
Bradley - 2 (2010, 2019)
Loyola – 1 (2016)
Evansville - 1 (2014)

In Good Company
Drake is one of five teams nationally ranking in the Top 10 in assists per game, field-goal percentage and scoring offense this season. The Bulldogs are joined by #2 Baylor, #3 Oregon, #6 Maryland and #19 Iowa in the club (AP Rank).     

Team      FG% (Rank)    PPG (Rank)    APG (Rank)
Baylor        50.7% (1)    83.3 (5)    22.6 (1)
Drake        48.4% (6)    82.8 (6)    21.6 (2)
Oregon    50.7 (2)    86.0 (1)    20.9 (3)
Iowa        49.0% (3)    79.9 (10)    20.1 (5)
Maryland        47.5% (10)    83.7 (4)    18.3 (8)

Home Sweet Home
Missouri State (13-0) remains perfect at home this season.  The Lady Bears ended Bradley’s  school record 18-game streak on Sunday. Missouri State is riding a JQH Arena record 13-game win streak (10th nationally). 

Collectively, the league has won 60.5 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 five teams in the league standings have combined for a full-season 60-7 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 eighth nationally in the NCAA’s conference RPI report (Mar. 2).  The Valley sits behind the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big East and Ivy 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.    Ivy League
8.     Missouri Valley

Impressive Resume
Missouri State enters the week as one of only 13 teams with 12 or more Top 100 RPI wins this season.    The Lady Bears are 12-3 (80%) vs. the RPI Top 100 and join DePaul and UConn as the only non Power Five team on the list.

Only Baylor, Louisville, Missouri State, Northwestern, Oregon, South Carolina, UCLA and UConn have a win percentage of .800+ vs. Top 100.

Most Top 100 RPI Wins (Mar. 2)
17 - Louisville, South Carolina
16 - Baylor
15 - Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon
13 - DePaul, Iowa, Texas A&M, UCLA, UConn
12 - Indiana, Missouri State, 

ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Mar. 3) has two MVC teams in the field of 64. Missouri State remains a No. 5 seed playing Georgia Tech in Iowa City, while Drake is a No. 8 seed playing Michigan in Columbia, SC. Bradley sits as one of the “First Four Out” this week. The MVC is one of 10 leagues receiving multiple bids.

Poll Position
Missouri State remained in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll, coming in at No. 23 this week, moving down two spots.   

The Lady Bears continue to appear in the latest USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll, sitting at No. 21 this week.