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Missouri State continues to sit at the top of the standings at 11-0 after sweeping Bradley in Springfield over the weekend. The Lady Bears can lock up the regular season title with one more win to get to 12 league victories.  The worse MSU could finish would be 12-4 (.750) in league play (series with Indiana State was cancelled due to COVID-19).

Drake remained in second place despite a pair of losses at Illinois State.  The Bulldogs (10-5 MVC) currently sit two games ahead of third place Loyola (8-5 MVC) in the win column as the Ramblers earned a split at UNI.

Illinois State climbed up to fourth following its two wins over Drake.  The Redbirds (9-6 MVC) hold a two-game lead over UNI (7-6 MVC) in the win column entering this week.

Bradley fell to sixth in the standings at 8-7, following its two losses at Missouri State. Southern Illinois (5-8 MVC), Valparaiso (4-7 MVC), Evansville (2-11 MVC) and Indiana State (1-10 MVC) round out the standings. 

To date, the league has played 65 games of the Conference’s 90-game regular-season schedule and is currently scheduled to play 86 of the 90.

Still Perfect
Missouri State is now 11-0 in MVC play for the third time in school history. The Lady Bears got to 11-0 in 2004 and 12-0 in 1996.  Missouri State is currently one of nine teams nationally still sitting perfect in league play this season.   

Elite NCAA Resume
Missouri State is once again putting together an elite NCAA Tournament resume.  The Lady Bears are one of 14 teams with at least five Quad 1 wins this season (as of Feb. 22).  Missouri State is 11-2 vs. Quad 1 and 2 combined.  Only Stanford, Louisville, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech and Missouri State have 11+ wins vs. Q1&2.

The Lady Bears have played the 8th toughest schedule in the nation and joins Stanford as the only teams nationally with at least 8 road Quad 1/2 wins.    
 
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 7th nationally in the conference NET report.  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 (Feb. 22) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-90, including eight in the Top 150.  Missouri State leads the way at No. 24 with Drake (50), Illinois State (69), UNI (76), and Bradley (81), rounding out the schools in the Top 90.

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 90.

The Valley joins only the Power Five leagues in having eight teams ranking in the Top 150.

Streaks in League Play
Missouri State will put its 14 game win streak vs. Loyola on the line this weekend as the Lady Bears host the Ramblers. The Ramblers last win over the Lady Bears was on Jan. 12, 2014 (63-61).

UNI will put its 13 game win streak vs. Evansville on the line this weekend as well.  The Aces last win vs. UNI was on Jan. 8, 2014 (59-50)

Polling
Missouri State moved up to No. 23 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll.  MSU moved up to No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll (Feb. 16), marking its 30th-straight appearance in the poll. 

BU: Model of Consistency
Senior Gabi Haack scored her 1,500th career point Saturday at Missouri State in what was her 102nd consecutive start. One of just six players in Bradley history with 100 career starts, Haack’s streak is second in school history behind Heather Best’s (1995-99) record of 107 consecutive starts.  Haack is now second in school history in career minutes played (3561) and also ranks second in BU history with 83 outings with 10 or more points.  The Bradley record for career double-digit scoring efforts is 85 held by Connie Griffith (1977-81).  In addition, Haack broke into the top 10 in MVC history in career three-pointers over the weekend and is currently tied for eighth in league history (262) along with taking over third in Bradley history in career made free throws (324).  

Climbing the Chart
Bradley senior Gabi Haack moved up to No. 8 in MVC history with 262 career triples after adding three to her total over the weekend.  Haack passed Creighton’s Kelsey Woodard and UNI’s Jacqui Kalin and now sits alongside Missouri State’s Jaleshia Roberson.  Haack enters the week five away from the league’s Top 5. 

MVC Career Three-Pointers
    1.    294 - Dayna Finch, Creighton    2001-04
    2.    277 - Rishonda Napier, Southern Illinois    2014-17
    3.    276 - Brittany Schoen, Indiana State    2008-12
    4.    271 - Kari Koch, Missouri State    2002-06
    5.    266 - Lindsay Whorton, Drake    2004-08
    6.    265 - Jenni Lingor, Missouri State    2002-05
    7.    263 - Kelsey Luna, Indiana State    2006-10
    8.    262 - Jaleshia Roberson, Missouri State    2008-12
            262 - Gabi Haack, Bradley    2017-present
    10.    261 - Kelsey Woodard, Creighton    2007-11
             261 - Jacqui Kalin, UNI    2007-10; 2012-13
 
DU: Streak Snapped
Drake had its 15-game winning streak over Illinois State snapped. The Bulldogs’ impressive streak was the longest current winning streak in the Valley over an MVC opponent. Drake will look to bounce back from the pair of the losses to the Redbirds on Wednesday at UNI in its final road game of the season. 

UE: Newman Sets Record
Junior Anna Newman set a new program record in Friday’s 57-43 win over Valparaiso. Newman hit 15 free-throws, breaking the previous record of 14, which was set by Latasha Austin twice, most recently against Uni on Feb. 23, 200. The 15 free throws were six more than Newman had ever hit prior to Friday night.

ILS: Showing Depth
The Illinois State bench went a combined 6-for-6 from three-point range and 9-for-16 (60%) from the floor in ISU’s lasting outing, a 81-71 victory over Drake. The Redbird bench outscored the Bulldog bench, 30-20, with freshman Kate Bullman finishing with 10 points and redshirt freshman Maya Wong and junior Kayel Newland each chipping in nine.

INS: Taking Care of the Glass
The Sycamores find themselves at second in the conference in offensive rebounds per game, pulling down 13.0, partially thanks to Jamyra McChristine’s Valley-leading 3.6 offensive boards per game which is also 31st in the nation. McChristine is third in the Valley in total rebounds per game at 7.1. 

LUC: Party Like It’s 1984
Loyola secured a crucial road split at UNI this past weekend, winning a thrilling 66-64 overtime contest on Saturday afternoon inside the McLeod Center.  Allison Day scored a career-high 22 points in the win, while Ellie Rice’s bucket with five seconds remaining proved to be the difference.  The victory, which snapped a 10-game skid to the Panthers, marked Loyola’s first on the road over UNI since joining the Missouri Valley Conference and the program’s first road win in Cedar Falls since an 80-62 triumph back on December 22, 1984. 

MSU: Winning Seniors
Missouri State’s senior class is proving to be one of the winningest in school history, with four players appearing in at least 85 victories so far in their MSU careers. Brice Calip played in her 89th victory on Sunday to move into 10th place on the school’s all-time list, while Emily Gartner (87), Elle Ruffridge (87) and Abby Hipp (85) are all close behind on the winning games played chart.

UNI: Double Duty
Cynthia Wolf recorded her second collegiate double-double within UNI’s 78-51 win over Loyola. Wolf scored all of her 13 points within the first half on near-perfect shooting (6-of-7) and finished the game with 12 rebounds. 

SIU: Sycamore Sweep
The Salukis swept the Indiana State Sycamores over the weekend and have now won eight-straight games at the Hulman Center. Southern did so in stellar fashion as it shot over 50-percent from the field in each of its two wins. It marked the first time since Jan. 4-6, 2007 that SIU has made over half of its shots in back-to-back games. Southern also set season-bests in three-pointers made (10), three-point field goal percentage (52.6%), assists (24) and points (84) during its two wins.  

VALPO: Knocking Down Triples
Valpo rebounded from Friday’s loss to Evansville with a 15-point win on Saturday, thanks in large part to connecting on 14 triples in the victory. Valpo has now connected on 14 or more 3-pointers in a game 17 times in program history, eight of which have come in the three-year tenure of head coach Mary Evans.

Hoops In the Heartland 
The Missouri Valley Conference will conduct its 14th neutral site postseason women’s basketball tournament when the event takes the hardwood at TaxSlayer Center in the Quad Cities, on Thursday-Sunday, March 11-14, 2021.  The MVC Tournament, also known uniquely as “Hoops in the Heartland” to Valley fans, will be played at TaxSlayer Center in the Quad Cities for the sixth-straight year, despite last year’s event being cancelled due to COVID-19. (TOURNEY CENTRAL)

All nine games of the 2021 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be available live on ESPN+ via the ESPN app.

This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Southern Illinois' Makenzie Silvey and Illinois State's Terrion Moore.

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Makenzie Silvey, Sr., G,  Southern Illinois
Makenzie Silvey led the Salukis to a sweep of the Indiana State Sycamores over the weekend. The senior from Glen Carbon, Ill. had her way with the Sycamores all weekend, as she averaged a robust 23.5 points on 55.6-percent (20-of-36) shooting, which including 50-percent (7-of-14) from behind the arc. The two-time All-MVC selection also added 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 32.1 minutes per game. Silvey went for a game-high 26 points on an efficient 11-of-18 from the field and added six boards, six assists and steal in 29 minutes of work in SIU’s 84-69 win on Friday. She followed with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting in Southern’s 76-52 win on Saturday.

Other Notable Performances: Gabi Haack (BU); Grace Berg (DU); Anna Newman (UE); Terrion Moore (ILS); Caitlin Anderson (INS); Allison Day (LUC); Jasmine Franklin (MSU); Nicole Kroeger (UNI); Carie Weinman (VU)
 
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Terrion Moore, Jr., G, Illinois State
Junior Terrion Moore averaged 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals in Illinois State’s sweep of Drake over the weekend, helping the Redbirds snap the Bulldogs’ 15-game winning streak in the series that dated back to 2014. Moore posted 10 points in Friday’s 76-68 win over Drake, grabbing five boards, picking up three steals and recording a game-best +14 plus/minus. The junior then paced the Redbirds in Saturday’s rematch, going off for a team-high 18 points, shooting 50% (4-of-8) from behind the arc while also adding four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Moore’s +17 plus/minus in Saturday’s victory was again a game high. In her debut season with ISU, Moore is currently ranked fifth in the Valley with 2.0 steals per contest, and 15th in scoring with 11.2 points per game.

Other Notable Performances: Grace Berg (DU); Rylie Stephens (UE); Bre Hampton-Bey (LUC); Abi Jackson (MSU); Molly Sheehan (VU)