NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Power Five Ahead
The Missouri Valley Conference has two wins over Power Five opponents this season. UNI took down Iowa State, 57-53, in Cedar Falls and Drake claimed an 83-80 win at home over the Cyclones as well.
This week, the MVC schedule features four games against Power Five schools, including #20 Kentucky (Evansville), Nebraska (Drake), Purdue (Valparaiso) and Illinois (Indiana State).
Marathon Matchup
Drake equaled program history in its four-overtime, 108-100 loss to Creighton on Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Knapp Center. It was just the second four-overtime game in Drake history and the third in MVC/Gateway History (see below). The Bulldogs’ back-and-forth marathon against the former MVC rival is the longest game in the NCAA this season. The 208 combined points is the fourth most points ever scored in a MVC game.
Most Points (Both Teams, MVC/Gateway)
228 – Bradley at Milwaukee (112-116, 2OT), 12/4/12
218 – Drake vs. UNI (112-106, 4OT), 1/23/93
212 - Creighton vs. Indiana State (110-102), 3/5/95
208 - Drake vs. Creighton (108-100, 4OT), 12/3/17
208 - Indiana State at Missouri State (107-101, 4OT), 1/28/89
Elite Defense
Illinois State is ranked eighth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 52.2 points per game, and sits fifth nationally in field-goal percentage defense (31.4%). Only North Texas, Clemson, Green Bay and Illinois State appear in the Top 10 nationally in both categories.
Alone In the Books
Southern Illinois senior Kylie Giebelhausen recorded a career-high seven steals in the win over Marshall and, in doing so, eclipsed the century mark for career steals. She became the first player in program history with 1,000 points, 100 blocks and 100 steals.
Senior Leaders
Seven league seniors are leading their respective teams in scoring, including Evansville’s Hannah Noe (18.2 ppg), Valpo’s Dani Franklin (16.2 ppg), Missouri State’s Liza Fruendt (15.6 ppg), Southern Illinois’ Kylie Giebelhausen (14.7 ppg), UNI’s Kennedy Kirkpatrick (13.4 ppg), Illinois State’s Hannah Green (12.8 ppg) and Indiana State’s Ashley Taia (10.2 ppg).
Double Your Pleasure
UNI’s Megan Maahs is the only MVC player averaging a double-double this season. The sophomore is averaging 10.4 points and 11.0 rebounds per game (20th nationally). Maahs has a league-best three double-doubles on the season. Below are players with multiple double-doubles this season.
No. Player, Team
3 Megan Maahs, UNI
2 Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
Home Sweet Home
Currently three MVC teams remain perfect at home: Bradley (3-0), Evansville (2-0) and Valparaiso (2-0) have unblemished records on their home courts this season. Evansville and Valparaiso will look to improve to 3-0 at home on Saturday (UE vs. Morehead State and Valpo vs. Chicago State).
Road Warriors
Southern Illinois claimed its third road win of the season over the weekend, beating Marshall 64-59. The win was the Salukis’ first win at Marshall since 1993 and was the program’s first win against a Conference USA opponent since 1996. SIU is the lone MVC team with a winning record on the road this season and holds three of the conference’s five road wins.
The RPI Ratings Game
The first installment of the Collegiate Basketball News Women’s Basketball RPI Report (Dec. 4) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-200, led by Drake at No. 163 and UNI at No. 171.
Home Court Streak Snapped
Drake’s 21-game home winning streak was snapped in Sunday’s four overtime loss to Creighton. The impressive streak started on Feb. 5, 2016 with a win over Wichita State, included a 13-0 mark during the 2016-17 season and wins over Milwaukee, Liberty and Iowa State this season. The streak was the third longest active streak in the NCAA behind UConn and Montana and the fourth longest in MVC history.
Longest Home MVC Winning Streaks
31 – Missouri State (Dec. 18, 1990 – Dec. 11, 1992)
30 – Missouri State (Jan. 8, 1993 – Nov. 20, 1994)
23 – Creighton (Dec. 22, 2001 – Mar. 1, 2003)
21 – Drake (Feb. 5, 2016 – Dec. 3, 2017)
Non-Conference
The Valley currently holds a combined non-conference record of 26-42 (.382), but has finished at or above .500 in non-conference action in 17 of the past 25 seasons, including six of the last 10.
Against the Field
The MVC holds a winning record against four leagues in non-conference play, including the Big 12 (2-1) , Big South (2-1), Southland (1-0) and WAC (3-0). The MVC holds at least a .500 mark against two other conferences: Big Sky (1-1) and Mountain West (1-1).