NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Six of the 10 Valley women’s basketball teams hit the midway point of the conference season last week. Missouri State continues to sit at the top of the standings at 7-0, marking the fifth time in program history the Lady Bears have won its first seven league games. (10-0 in 2018-19, 11-0 in 2003-04, 10-0 in 1999-00, 12-0 in 1995-96).
Loyola sits second at 5-2, marking the Ramblers best start to Valley play since opening the 2015-16 season 6-2 in league play.
Bradley, Drake, and Illinois State sit in a tie for third at 6-3 in Valley play. The Braves are 6-3 or better at the turn in back-to-back years for the first time in school history, while Illinois State sits 6-3 for the first time since 2011-12. This is the seventh-straight season Drake has been 6-3 or better at the turn.
UNI owns a 5-4 record midway through its MVC schedule. This is the active-league-high 11th year in a row where the Panthers have a winning mark through the first half of league play.
Streaks in League Play
Three of the five MVC series this week are among the longest current winning streaks vs. an MVC opponent. Missouri State is riding a 14-game win streak over Indiana State, while UNI is on a 13-game win streak over Evansville. Drake is also riding a 13-game streak vs. Loyola.
Elite Company
Missouri State is once again putting together an impressive NCAA Tournament resume. The Lady Bears join Stanford, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M as the only teams with at least five quad 1 wins this season (Lady Bears 5-1 vs. Q1) as of Feb. 1. The Lady Bears sit 9-2 overall vs. Q1 and 2 combined.
Conference NET
The Valley ranks 8th nationally in the conference NET report. The Valley sits behind the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac-12, Big Ten, Big East and American entering this week.
NET Update
The latest installment of the NCAA NET Report (Feb. 1) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including four in the Top 75. Missouri State leads the way at No. 27 with Drake (51), Illinois State (70), UNI (71), and Bradley (89), 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 26th with 64 points this week. MSU holds steady at No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll (Jan. 26), marking its 27th-straight appearance in the poll.
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 8 (NET) 5 (NET)
2019-20 8 5
2018-19 14 3
2017-18 24 2
BU: Doing it All
Junior Lasha Petree continues to lead the MVC in scoring at 19.3 points per game and has been Bradley’s top scorer in 11 of 16 contests this year. She also continues to show her versatility on the defensive end, collecting a league-best 37 blocks to go with her team-high 32 steals. Through games of Jan. 31, Petree is the only player in the nation with 30 or more three-pointers, 30 blocks and at least 30 steals. Her 118 career blocked shots currently rank 23rd in MVC history.
DU: In-State Win
Drake stopped a two-game losing streak with a big 96-79 win over in-state rival UNI last week in the Bulldogs’ lone game. The Bulldogs led from start to finish to avenge last season’s loss to the Panthers in Cedar Falls in what ended up being the final game for each school due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Drake won its fifth-straight at the Knapp Center in the series and have totaled an impressive 200 points in the past two games in Des Moines.
UE: Another Double Figure Game
With 19 points on Wednesday in a win over Indiana State, sophomore Abby Feit recorded her 33rd double figure scoring performance in just 43 career games. Feit has reached double-figures in seven of Evansville’s eight wins over the last two seasons.
ILS: Lockdown Defense
The ‘Birds held Bradley to just a 29.0% (18-of-62) field goal percentage on Wednesday, marking the seventh time this season ISU has held an opponent to under 35% shooting and the third time this season for under 30% shooting.
Illinois State leads the Valley and is ranked in the top-30 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (23rd, 30.0), field goal percentage defense (26th, 35.2%) and scoring margin (30th, 14.5).
INS: Top 25 Matchups
As it stands now, Friday’s and Saturday’s games against #25 Missouri State will mark the first Top-25 matchup of the season for the Blue & White. The Sycamores are 3-10 all-time against Top-25 opponents, including a pair of losses last season to the Lady Bears. Indiana State’s last victory over a ranked opponent came on Dec. 21, 2014 when they earned a road win over #25/25 St. John’s, 73-67, in two overtimes.
LUC: This is 40
In both of its wins over Southern Illinois this past weekend, Loyola held the Salukis to under 40 percent shooting from the field. Dating back to a 59-52 win over Indiana State on January 2, the Ramblers have held their opposition below the 40-percent mark in five of their last six contests, going 5-1 during that stretch. Since head coach Kate Achter’s arrival in Rogers Park prior to the 2016-17 season, Loyola is 37-22 (.627) when limiting opponents to under 40 percent efficiency.
MSU: Calip in Rare Company
Brice Calip is one of nine players nationally through Jan. 31 with at least 190 points, 60 rebounds, 50 assists and 35 steals. The senior has played the fewest games of any player on that list and has at least three steals in eight consecutive contests. Additionally, Calip’s 3.0 MVC-leading assist-to-turnover ratio this season is on pace to break Amy Nelson’s 29-year-old school record of 2.67.
UNI: There’s The Wolf
Cynthia Wolf scored a career-high 18 points Wednesday at Drake and became UNI’s fifth different leading scorer within its last five games (Karli Rucker, Kam Finley, Maya McDermott, Bre Gunnels, Cynthia Wolf). Wolf is the league’s most efficient shooter in conference play (68.9%). Plus, Wolf’s overall shooting percentage of 58.2% would rank sixth in single-season Panther history.
SIU: Nearing a Milestone
Abby Brockmeyer has tallied two double-doubles in her last three games and now has 22 double-doubles for her career. Brockmeyer’s 22 career double-doubles are the most of any active Missouri Valley Conference player. The Raymond, Ill. native also inched closer to becoming the first player in program history to amass 1,000 career points/700 rebounds/100 steals/100 blocks and 100 assists. She is just one steal shy of reaching that milestone.
VALPO: Double Figure Quarters
Valpo has been feeding the hot hand so far in MVC play, as four different players have combined to score 10+ in a quarter 12 times through Valpo’s first seven MVC games. Less than halfway through the conference schedule, that is already the most double-digit quarters in conference play since the women’s game moved to quarters. This past weekend, Valpo had five such quarters over the two games versus Missouri State - Shay Frederick scored 10+ in the second quarter and the fourth quarter on Saturday, Grace White and Carie Weinman both reached double digits in the third quarter on Sunday and Caitlin Morrison posted a 14-point fourth quarter in the series finale.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Missouri State's Brice Calip and Illinois State's Terrion Moore.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Brice Calip, Sr., G, Missouri State
Brice Calip continued to fill the stat sheet in three Missouri State wins last week, averaging 15.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.7 steals. Calip sunk three free throws with 0.8 seconds left Sunday to give MSU a 74-73 win at Valpo, finishing the game with 23 points on 9-for-9 foul shooting, seven assists without a turnover and five steals. The senior had seven assists and three steals with 11 points in Wednesday’s victory against Southern Illinois, and scored 12 points with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals Saturday at Valpo. Calip shot 20-for-22 at the foul line for the week and improved her league-leading assist-to-turnover ratio to 3.0, on pace for MSU’s single-season record. The last MVC player to win three-straight Player of the Week awards was Sara Rhine of Drake at the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
Other Notable Performances: Grace Berg (DU); Abby Feit (UE); JuJu Redmond (ILS); Adrian Folks (INS); Bre Hampton-Bey (LUC); Abby Brockmeyer (SIU); Carie Weinman (VALPO)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Terrion Moore, Jr., G, Illinois State
Junior Terrion Moore poured in season-highs in points (20) and rebounds (6) while also playing lockdown defense, holding the Valley’s leading scorer, Lasha Petree, to 3-of-18 (16.7%) shooting in Wednesday’s 66-54 win over I-74 rival Bradley. Moore, who also added two steals and an assist in ISU’s lone game last week, scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half, recording a game-high +19 plus-minus.
Other Notable Performances: Courtney Becker (DU); Sydney Thurwalker (UE); Bre Hampton-Bey (LUC); Quierra Love (SIU); Lauren Gunn (VALPO)