NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Preseason favorite Missouri State completed its season series against Drake and UNI with a 4-0 record for the second consecutive season and has now swept the Iowa schools eight times in school history, with the previous seven occurrences leading to regular season conference titles. The last time MSU swept UNI and Drake in back-to-back years was 1993 and 1994.
Bradley occupies the second spot in the standings at 6-2, following a split with Loyola over the weekend. UNI, Drake and Illinois State all sit in a three-way tie for third in the standings entering this week at 5-3.
Wednesday’s schedule features Bradley at Illinois State and UNI at Drake as all four teams hit the mid-way point of the league schedule.
Warren Joins Elite Club
Tanya Warren claimed her 250th career win as UNI’s head coach Friday with a win over Indiana State. Warren became the fourth coach in conference women’s basketball history to join the league’s official 250-Win Club. Warren added to her total with another win over the Sycamores.
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) 251
1,000-Point Club
The Valley now has seven active players in the 1,000-point club. UNI’s Megan Maahs joined the club Friday night at Indiana State, scoring 11 points in the win. Maahs is the 26th Panther in program history to surpass 1,000 career points.
Current MVC Players in 1,000-Point Club
1,409 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,284 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,244 - Karli Rucker, UNI
1,170 - Lasha Petree, Bradley
1,145 - Brice Calip, Missouri State
1,013 - Megan Maahs, UNI
1,002 - Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
Rise of The Valley
The 2019-20 season tied the highest RPI ranking the MVC has recorded in its history showcasing how The Valley is becoming one of the best mid-major leagues in the country. The league also saw five teams in the Top 100 of the RPI for the first time since the 1998-99 season. In 2018-19, the league posted a top-15 RPI for the first time since 2012-13 a year after seeing the league’s worst RPI in 2017-18 (24). The Valley is looking to match or surpass last year’s record numbers in 2020-21.
Year MVC RPI Top 100 RPI Teams
2020-21 7 (NET) 5 (NET)
2019-20 8 5
2018-19 14 3
2017-18 24 2
Conference NET
The Valley ranks seventh nationally in the NCAA’s conference NET report (Jan. 25). The Valley sits behind the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten, and Big East entering this week.
The Valley finished the 2019-20 season with a league-best conference RPI of 8th.
NET Update
The latest installment of the NCAA NET Report (Jan. 25) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including four in the Top 75. Missouri State leads the way at No. 23 with Drake (56), UNI (67), Illinois State (72) and Bradley (86), 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.
Polling
Missouri State is receiving votes once again in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll. The Lady Bears sit 27th with 49 points this week. MSU holds steady at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll (Jan. 19), marking its 26th-straight appearance in the poll.
BU: Dynamic Duo
Lasha Petree and Gabi Haack continue to rank one-two in scoring in the MVC and the pair make up one of just six combos in the nation in which both individuals have 30 or more made three-pointers this season. Petree and Haack have combined for more three-pointers this season (73) than 206 other teams in the country through Sunday’s games. Haack, who is fifth in the nation in total three-pointers (43), has hit a three-pointer in 19 consecutive contests for the third longest streak in school history and moved into a tie for 15th in MVC history in career three-pointers, while Petree is the only player in the nation to have 30 or more blocks (35) and make at least 10 three-pointers (30).
DU: So Close
Drake came back from double-digit deficits in each game at Missouri State. The Bulldogs erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit in the opener and trailed by three with 2.2 seconds left and the basketball. However, Sarah Beth Gueldner’s basket at the buzzer was a two-pointer as Missouri State held on for a 73-72 win. Drake was within three points late in third quarter of the finale before Missouri State went on a 15-1 run to help pull away for the series sweep.
UE: Stephens Scoring Streak
In her first collegiate season, freshman Rylie Stephens has already made an impact on the Aces. After starting the conference season with three combined points in two games at SIU, Stephens has scored six-or-more points in five-straight games, averaging 10.8 points per game during that stretch.
ILS: Balanced Birds
Illinois State is currently one of only five teams in the country to have six different players lead them in these six statistics categories: points (Redmond, 14.1), rebounds (Wilson, 6.1), assists (Saylor, 2.8), steals (Moore, 1.9), blocks (Bullman, 1.1) and threes (Crompton, 2.9). Other programs to accomplish this include Arkansas, Butler, Coastal Carolina and Oklahoma.
INS: In-State Rivalry
Indiana State and Evansville meet for the 58th time on Wednesday evening when the Trees hit the road. The Sycamores hold a 39-18 series advantage and earned the season sweep over the Purple Aces last season, including a 70-58 victory in Evansville. Indiana State has won five of the last six meetings over Evansville.
LUC: All Starts on Defense
Across its matchups with Valparaiso and Bradley, the Ramblers limited their opposition to a combined 33.7 percent (55-of-163) clip from the field. On the individual front, Ellie Rice was tasked with defending two of the MVC’s top individual scorers in Valparaiso’s Shay Frederick and Bradley’s Lasha Petree, both of whom entered the week in the top 10 on the league’s scoring chart. Rice held Frederick to just four points (2-9 FGs) before limiting Petree to only 6-of-25 (.240) from the field in the Maroon & Gold’s two meetings with the Braves.
MSU: Nice Resume
Missouri State is once again putting together a really impressive NCAA Tournament resume. The Lady Bears join Louisville, South Carolina, Texas A&M and West Virginia as the only teams nationally with seven Top 100 NET wins this season. Every single game the Lady Bears have played against a D1 opponent has been a Top 68 NET team and Missouri State sits No. 4 nationally with an average opponent NET ranking of 55.
UNI: Shots Fired
The Panthers shot 62.7% from the field in Friday’s 95-69 win. It was the best shooting percentage for UNI since posting a 67.3% clip January 15, 2011 at Drake.
SIU: Set to Return
The Salukis are slated to play their first game in 18 days when they travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on the No. 25 Missouri State Lady Bears on Wednesday. Southern last played on Jan. 8-9 at Bradley. The Salukis split with the Lady Bears a year ago, as Southern upset Missouri State at the buzzer in Carbondale on Jan. 17 for SIU’s first win over a ranked opponent since 1991. The Lady Bears, however, got their revenge with an 88-57 win in Springfield on Feb. 15.
VALPO: Facing Ranked Foes
This week marks Valpo’s third and fourth straight meetings with Missouri State where the Lady Bears have carried a national ranking into the matchup. It also will mark three straight meetings at the ARC that Missouri State has been nationally ranked, which doubles the number of nationally ranked conference foes which visited Valpo prior to January of last year - Northern Illinois was ranked in a Mid-Con matchup at the ARC in February 1993, while Green Bay was in the top-25 in consecutive visits to Valpo in 2011 and 2012 during Valpo’s time in the Horizon League.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Missouri State's Brice Calip and UNI's Maya McDermott.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Brice Calip, Sr., G, Missouri State
Missouri State’s Brice Calip averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 4.0 steals in Missouri State’s home sweep of Drake, helping the Lady Bears to a 4-0 start in league play for the third consecutive season. Friday, the senior tallied 13 of her 15 points in the second half, adding five boards, five assists and four steals while matching a career high with a trio of three-pointers. Saturday, she scored five of her 10 points over a 16-second span of the third quarter, sparking a decisive 17-2 run after Drake closed within three points. Calip finished with 10 points and four boards, tying season highs with six assists and four more steals.
Other Notable Performances: Gabi Haack (BRAD); Grace Berg (DU); Abby Feit (UE); Maya Chandler (LUC); Maya McDermott (UNI)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Maya McDermott, Fr., G, UNI
UNI’s Maya McDermott scored a career-high 20 points in Friday’s win over Indiana State without missing a field goal, going 6-for-6 from the field, 3-for-3 from deep and 5-for-5 from the line in a 95-69 win over the Sycamores. The freshman also added a pair of assists and a block in just 15 minutes on the court. McDermott followed up that performance with nine points, on 4-for-6 shooting, and seven assists to lead the Panthers to an 88-53 win over Indiana State on Saturday. For the weekend, McDermott averaged 14.5 points and shot 75% (9-for-12) from the field, 66.7% (4-for-6) from three and 7-for-7 at the free-throw line, while playing only 15.5 minutes per contest.
Other Notable Performances: Grace Berg (DU); Sydney Thurwalker (UE); DeAnna Wilson (ILS); Maya Chandler (LUC)