NOTEBOOK (PDF)
And We’re Off
The league’s 90-game conference slate begins on Friday. In the new format, most MVC teams will face one another in a two-game series on back-to-back days at the same site. Each institution will play four road series and four home series and will also face their designated ‘travel partner’ in a single-game, home-and-home series.
COVID Changes
The MVC has postponed the UNI-Missouri State series this weekend due to positive COVID-19 test results among Missouri State’s Tier I personnel, which consists of student-athletes, coaches, managers and staff. The Conference will announce make-up dates for the series/games at a later date.
The league also postponed the Illinois State-Valparaiso women’s basketball series (Jan. 1-2) due to positive COVID-19 test results among Valparaiso’s Tier I personnel.
Illinois State, however, will now face UNI on Jan. 1-2 at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and both games will be played at 2 p.m. CT. ISU and UNI were originally scheduled to face one another on Jan. 15-16 in Cedar Falls.
Quick Starts Crucial
Since 1982-83, just three teams (Missouri State, champions in 1998-99, 1994-95 and 1990-91; Drake, champions in 1996-97 and co-champions in 1987-88; and Evansville, a 2007-08 co-champion) have won at least a share of the regular-season title without winning its regular-season opener. In fact, 15 of the last 20 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with Evansville in 2007-08, Missouri State in 2004-05, UNI in 2010-11, Missouri State in 2011-12 and UNI in 2015-16 serving as the only five exceptions.
Title Town
The league has had nine different regular-season champions in the past 14 seasons (SIU-2007, DU/UE/ILS-2008, ILS-2009, ILS-2010, UNI-2011; MSU-2012; WSU/CU-2013; INS/WSU-2014; WSU2015; UNI-2016; DU-2017; DU-2018; DU-2019; MSU-2020). Bradley, Loyola and Valparaiso are the only league teams not to have won a regular-season MVC championship.
Top 25 Success
The Valley finished non-conference play 2-2 vs. AP Top 25 Teams this season, with Missouri State beating #12 Maryland in the season opener and UNI besting #22 South Dakota State.
The last time The Valley had a pair of AP Top 25 wins during the non-conference portion of the season was back in 2002 when Drake beat No. 18 Iowa State and UNI beat No. 24 Iowa State.
Power Five Wins
The MVC secured five wins over Power Five programs during the shortened non-conference schedule. The Valley registered a 5-9 vs. Power Five teams after going 9-12 in 2019-20. The Valley went 4-4 vs. the Big Ten, 1-1 vs. the SEC, 0-3 vs. the Big 12 and 0-1 vs. the ACC. Missouri State and Valpo each had two wins, while Drake had the other.
Still Perfect
Only 26 Division I schools are still unbeaten. Of those 26, only 20 sit 3-0 or better on the year. Illinois State finished non-conference play 3-0 and will enter league play as one of those 20 teams.
For Starters
The 18-game conference schedule begins with five games on Jan. 1. Here’s a look at how current MVC members have fared in conference-opening games in the last five seasons. Southern Illinois has the current longest winning streak in MVC openers, having won its last seven conference debuts and sits 7-0 in openers under coach Cindy Stein. SIU’s last league opening loss was on Jan. 3, 2013 vs. Creighton.
Team ALL H A Streak
Bradley 2-3 1-2 1-1 W1
Drake 4-1 1-1 3-0 W3
Evansville 1-4 1-1 0-3 L3
Illinois State 3-2 3-2 0-0 W2
Indiana State 1-4 1-1 0-3 L4
Loyola 2-3 1-1 1-2 L1
Missouri State 4-1 1-1 3-0 W3
UNI 3-2 2-0 1-2 L2
Southern Illinois 5-0 2-0 3-0 W7
Valparaiso 0-3 0-1 0-2 L3
Polling
Missouri State sits No. 24 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll after a week off during the holiday break. MSU also sits No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 poll (Dec. 29). This marks the first time in program history the Lady Bears finished the non-conference schedule ranked in the AP Top 25 for two consecutive seasons.
Mid-Major Top-25 Poll
The December 29th edition of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 has Missouri State No. 3 behind Gonzaga and South Dakota State. Drake sits No. 15 this week, while UNI is 24th. Bradley is receiving votes in the poll this week.
Climbing the Chart
Bradley senior Gabi Haack enters Valley play ranked 24th in MVC history with 228 career triples. Haack sits one behind Illinois State’s Kristi Cirone and two behind UNI’s Amber Sorenson and Drake’s Lizzy Wendell.
MVC Career Three-Pointers
18. 236 - Julie Rittgers, Drake 1991-95
19. 235 - Kiersten Miller, Drake 1994-98
235 - Teri Oliver, Southern Illinois 2009-12
21. 230 - Amber Sorenson, UNI 2012-16
230 - Lizzy Wendell, Drake 2014-17
23. 229 - Kristi Cirone, Illinois State 2005-09
24. 228 - Gabi Haack, Bradley 2017-present
25. 221 - Jackie Stiles, Missouri State 1998-01
BU: Haack vs. the Bulldogs
Senior Gabi Haack has averaged 19.0 points per game in six career games against Drake. Haack has scored 13 or more points in all six career outings vs. Drake and is the only player in Bradley history to average better than 15.0 ppg in the series. She enters the MVC-opening series with 114 career points against the Bulldogs and needs just four points to break the Bradley career scoring mark vs. Drake of 117 shared by Sara Bailey (10 games) and Shelli Braud (eight games).
DU: Home Sweet Home
After playing six of its seven non-conference games on the road, Drake returns home to begin Missouri Valley Conference action. The Bulldogs host Bradley for a doubleheader, Jan. 1-2, with the league’s block schedule format being used for the 2021 conference slate. The game with the Braves is the first of five home contests for Drake, which logged nearly 2,700 miles during non-conference play, in the month of January.
UE: Newman’s New Mark
Evansville junior Anna Newman recorded a career-high 12 assists as part of her first career double-double on Tuesday afternoon against Bellarmine. The 12-assist performance is the first time an Ace has recorded 10-or-more assists since Ashley Austin recorded 10 assists against Creighton on Feb. 12, 2009.
ILS: Lights Out
Illinois State sophomore Mary Crompton has been outstanding in the first three games of the year, averaging 15.0 points and going 14-of-23 (60.9%) from the field and 12-of-18 (66.7%) from deep. She is currently ranked nationally third in three-pointers made per game (4.0) and three-point field goal percentage (66.7%).
INS: Dialing It Up
During the 2019-20 campaign, the Sycamores struggled to shoot the ball from behind the arc, ranking ninth in the Valley while connecting at a clip of 28%. Fast forward to 2020-21 and the Trees ended the non-conference the third-best team in the Valley from three-point land, shooting 35.1% from three through the first five games. A big contributor to that number is newcomer Essy Latu who leads the MVC with 3.2 threes per game and is third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 41.0%.
LUC: Enter The Valley
After splitting four non-conference matchups, Loyola raises the curtain on its 18-game MVC slate this weekend when it welcomes Indiana State. The Ramblers and Sycamores played a pair of tightly contested games last season, with Loyola prevailing in both tilts to run its win streak in the series to four games. The two teams were also scheduled to meet in the opening game of the MVC Tournament, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MSU: Lady Bears MVC History
This season is Missouri State’s 29th in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Lady Bears have finished third or better in the final league standings 21 times in 28 seasons, including each of the last six years, winning 12 or more games each time. MSU is 47-7 in Valley play the last three seasons and 81-17 in the last 98 league contests.
UNI: Climbing the Panther Charts
Karli Rucker is ranked No. 16 on the All-Time Scoring list for the Panthers, now with 1,106 points in her career. She is 24 points behind Kerry Dawson in the 15th spot.
Megan Maahs jumped three players to the No. 4 spot all-time on the all-time rebound list. She has 749 rebounds and is nine rebounds behind the No. spot (Deb Drenth – 758).
SIU: Chasing A Milestone
Abby Brockmeyer ranks 29th in school history with 984 career points. She is 16 points shy of becoming the 28th member of SIU’s 1,000-point club. The Raymond, Ill. native could also become the first player in program history to amass 1,000 career points/700 rebounds/100 steals/100 blocks and 100 assists. In addition to needing 16 points, she is seven steals shy of reaching the necessary milestones.
VALPO: Winning Non-Con
The victory over Xavier secured that Valpo would close non-conference play with a winning record, as the Brown and Gold finished its seven-game slate at 4-3. Valpo has now finished above .500 in pre-conference action in consecutive years after doing so just once in the previous 10 seasons.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Drake's Maggie Bair and Loyola's Bre Hampton-Bey.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Maggie Bair, So., F, Drake
Drake sophomore Maggie Bair ended the non-conference season with her top effort of the season. In the Bulldogs non-conference finale against in-state rival Iowa State, she scored 12 points, pulled down 10 boards and had a new career-high five blocks against the Cyclones. Coming off the bench, Bair is averaging a career-high 5.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks while playing career-best 12.0 minutes per game. She is second in the MVC in blocks with 13.
Other Notable Performances: Anna Newman (UE); Allison Day (LUC)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Bre Hampton-Bey, Sr., G, Loyola
Making only her second appearance as a Rambler, Loyola senior guard Bre Hampton-Bey provided a lift off the bench in the Ramblers’ 73-64 home setback to Mid-American Conference (MAC) preseason favorite Central Michigan on December 21 in Rogers Park. Out of Toledo, Ohio, Hampton-Bey added 12 points (3-8 FGs, 6-6 FTs), five rebounds, and two assists in the matchup with the Chippewas.
Other Notable Performances: Grace Berg (DU)