NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Preseason favorite Missouri State finally opened league play with a 2-0 mark at UNI over the weekend. Bradley and Drake are each off to strong starts through three weekends of MVC action sitting a 5-1.
Bradley brings a season-best five-game win streak into the weekend home series against Loyola. The Braves are 5-1 or better to start Valley play for just the second time in program history. Last year, Bradley started 7-0 for the best start to conference play in school history.
Drake is no stranger to strong starts in Valley play under head coach Jennie Baranczyk. This year marks the seventh-straight season the Bulldogs sit at least 5-1 in Valley play to start the season after winning 4-straight entering this weekend’s series at Missouri State.
NET Update
The latest installment of the NCAA NET Report (Jan. 18) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including four in the Top 75. Missouri State leads the way at No. 24 with Drake (50), Bradley (69), Illinois State (74) and UNI (76), rounding out the schools in the Top 100.
The Valley joins the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC as the only leagues nationally with five teams in the NET Top 100.
With 5 wins in the NET Top 100, Missouri State joins South Dakota State as the only teams from the non-Power Five to have at least 5 top 100 wins. All Division I games for MSU have featured Top 76 NET teams. The Lady Bears have played the 13th toughest schedule in the nation. Missouri State's average opponent NET rank sits 2nd nationally (52 average).
Conference NET
The Valley ranks eighth nationally in the NCAA’s conference NET report (Jan. 18). The Valley sits behind the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, Big East and American entering this week.
1,000-Point Club
The Valley has six active players in the 1,000-point club. UNI’s Megan Maahs can become the seventh active player to reach the milestone this weekend at Indiana State, sitting 8 points shy of 1,000.
Current MVC Players in 1,000-Point Club
1,337 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,284 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,217 - Karli Rucker, UNI
1,146 - Lasha Petree, Bradley
1,120 - Brice Calip, Missouri State
1,002 - Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
Approaching 1,000-Point Club
992 - Megan Maahs, UNI
Climbing the Chart
Bradley senior Gabi Haack moved into 17th position in MVC history with 246 career triples after hitting nine during the series with Evansville over the weekend. Haack will enter the weekend five shy of moving all the way up to 14th position on the list.
MVC Career Three-Pointers
13. 256 - Kourtney Mennen, Indiana State 1999-03
14. 250 - Laura Spanheimer, Creighton 2002-05
15. 249 - Kylie Giebelhausen, Southern Illinois 2014-18
16. 248 - Michelle Nason, Western Illinois/Bradley 1992, 93-95
17. 246 - Gabi Haack, Bradley 2017-present
18. 242 - Liza Fruendt, Missouri State 2014-18
Warren’s Win Count
Tanya Warren owns 249 victories as UNI’s head coach. With her next victory, Warren would become the fourth coach in conference women’s basketball history to join the league’s official 250-Win Club.
Coach, School, Years Wins
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98) 353
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02) 319
Jill Hutchison, Illinois State (1983-99) 277
Tanya Warren, UNI (2008-present) 249
Polling
Missouri State is receiving votes once again in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll. The Lady Bears sit 28th with 43 points this week. MSU holds steady at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll (Jan. 12), marking its 25th-straight appearance in the poll.
BU: 20-20 Vision
Junior Lasha Petree scored a game-high 20 points in the series opener at Evansville for her fourth consecutive 20-point performance. The leading scorer in the MVC at 20.8 points per outing, Petree has eight 20-point efforts this year and 24 in her career. The four-game streak of 20+ points is tied for the second longest streak in program history and was the longest by a Brave since Sara Bailey had a 10-game streak between the 2000-01 and 2001-02 campaigns. Petree is the only Bradley player to score at least 20 points in four consecutive MVC contests.
DU: Assist U
Drake’s ability to share the basketball is once again evident in 2020-21 as the Bulldogs sit No. 1 in the nation in assists going into the week with 277. As a team, Drake is averaging 21.3 assists per game which ranks No. 3 behind Baylor and UConn. Drake is the only team in the country to rank in the top three of Assists Per Game each of the previous four seasons.
UE: Getting to the Line
Evansville has gotten the job done in terms of getting to the free throw line this season. The Aces are 25th in the nation in total points derived from the foul line with 23.4% of Evansville’s points coming via free throws. In addition, Evansville is also 25th in the nation in free-throw rate with 22.1% of its two-point attempts resulting in trips to the free-throw line.
ILS: Efficiency is Key
Illinois State has been one of the most efficient teams in the Valley this year, shooting 44.8% (226-of-505) from the floor and 39.6% (65-of-164) from deep, ranking second and first in those categories, respectively. The ‘Birds have shot over 40% from the floor in all but one game this year with eight Redbirds shooting above 40% on the season.
INS: Building Off A Win
Last season Indiana State ended an 11-game losing skid to Northern Iowa dating back to Jan. 25, 2015. The Sycamores defeated the Panthers 65-63 in Terre Haute on Feb. 13, 2020 and a victory on Friday would give the Trees their first two-game winning streak against UNI since a season sweep during the 2014 campaign.
LUC: Let’s Try This Again
For the second time in as many weekends, Loyola found itself idle after having its series with Southern Illinois postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Saluki program. The Ramblers’ road matchup with Valparaiso that was scheduled for January 27 will now be played this Tuesday, January 19, ending what will be a 17-day break without head-to-head competition for the Maroon & Gold. Valparaiso has had the upper hand in the series of late, winning six of the last seven meetings between the two teams as MVC rivals. Loyola will be in search of its first win inside the Athletics-Recreation Center since the 2012-13 season, when both programs were members of the Horizon League.
MSU: 2-0 Again
With a sweep at UNI in its opening series, Missouri State is off to a 2-0 start in MVC play for the fourth consecutive season. The Lady Bears started 2-0 in 2018, 10-0 in 2019 and 4-0 in 2020. MSU is now 49-7 in Valley play since the 2017-18 season began, including a 25-4 mark on the road.
UNI: Points of Interest
Karli Rucker has scored at least 10 points in each of her previous 10 conference games since last February. Her 111 league points this year rank second behind MVC Preseason Player of the Year Lasha Petree (124).
SIU: COVID Update
The Salukis last played on Jan. 9 when they dropped the season series at Bradley. Due to a positive COVID-19 test within SIU’s Tier 1 personnel, Southern’s series at Loyola and against Valparaiso were rescheduled. Southern tentatively is scheduled to return to play on Jan. 27 at Missouri State.
VALPO: Road Success
Friday’s win over the Redbirds continues a recent trend for Valpo away from home in MVC play. Dating back to last year, Valpo is now 4-2 in its last six MVC road contests. This comes after Valpo started its tenure in the MVC 4-19 in its first 23 conference road games.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Missouri State's Brice Calip and Drake's Grace Berg.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Brice Calip, Sr., G, Missouri State
Missouri State’s Brice Calip averaged 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, six assists and three steals while shooting 56 percent to lead the Lady Bears to a pair of wins at UNI. Calip led all scorers with 20 points on Friday, hitting her only three-point attempt of the weekend and going 5-for-6 at the foul line with six rebounds, three steals and six assists without a turnover. Saturday, Calip tallied 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with seven boards, six assists and three steals while making all three free throw tries. With 12 assists and just two giveaways on the weekend, Calip jumps to the head of the MVC line in assist-to-turnover ratio (6.0) after leading the league last season, and now has a double-figure scoring game to her credit in six consecutive calendar years for MSU dating to 2016.
Other Notable Performances: Gabi Haack (BRAD); Grace Berg (DU); Abby Feit (UE); JuJu Redmond (ILS); Karli Rucker (UNI); Caitlin Morrison (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Grace Berg, RSo., F, Drake
Drake’s Grace Berg continues to play well in her first season as a Bulldog. Berg helped the Bulldogs complete their second-straight series sweep with two big home wins over Indiana State. She averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 60.0 percent (15-of-25) from the floor and 75.0 percent (3-of-4) from three. In the first win, Berg scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out three assists in just 25 minutes. In the finale, she scored a game-high 22 points, her fifth 20-plus game of the season, along with handing out a career-high five assists to go with two blocks and two steals, also in just 25 minutes. Berg is third in the MVC in scoring with a career-high 16.3 clip while leading the league in shooting at 50.9 (career-high) and is second in free throw shooting at 86.7 percent.
Other Notable Performances: Rylie Stephens (UE)