This week, the MVC schedule features four different Thanksgiving week tournaments. Missouri State will play a pair of Power Five opponents at the San Juan Shootout, Drake will have three games at the Nugget Classic in Reno, Nevada, Illinois State will play two at the UC Irvine Thanksgiving Tournament and Indiana State has two games at the Georgia Southern Tournament.
Bradley, Evansville, Missouri State and Northern Iowa enter the week with 3-1 records to pace The Valley in non-league action two weeks into the schedule.
New Three-Point FG Queen
Bradley’s Gabi Haack has set the Bradley career scoring record, the Bradley career record for games started and now the Missouri Valley Conference record for career three-point field goals. With her next three-point basket, Haack will become the third student-athlete in Missouri Valley Conference men’s or women’s basketball history to make 300 treys, joining Creighton’s Kyle Korver (371, 1999-2003) and Southern Illinois’ Shane Hawkins (314, 1994-98).
MVC Career Three-Pointers
Rank Name (Years) 3FGM
1. Gabi Haack, Bradley (2017-present) 299
2. Dayna Finch, Creighton (2001-04) 294
1,000 Point Club
The Valley now has eight active players in the 1,000-point club after this past week’s action. Missouri State’s Jasmine Franklin joined the club in Saturday’s win over USC, becoming the 30th Lady Bear to score 1,000 points.
Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
1,713 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,535 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,474 - Karli Rucker, UNI
1,388 - Brice Calip, Missouri State
1,356 - Mariah White, Missouri State
1,112 - Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
1,104 - Gabby Walker, Southern Illinois
1,020 - Jasmine Franklin, MIssouri State
HerHoopStats Stat of the Week
Missouri State’s Jasmine Franklin is averaging 15.5 pts, 14.5 rebs, 2.3 steals, and 2.5 blocks so far this season. Franklin is currently the only player in NCAA Division I averaging at least 15 points, 14 boards, two steals, and two blocks in 2021-22.
No player has averaged 15 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and two steals for a full season dating back to 2009-10, as far back as the HerHoopStats.com database goes.
Polling
MSU is continuing to receive votes in this week’s USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll (Nov. 23). The Lady Bears sat No. 31 with 12 points.
Power Five Pairs
After handling Wisconsin, 64-57, in the finale of Bradley’s season-opening, 3-game home stand last Friday, the Braves will get another crack at a Big Ten Conference team this Friday, when the Braves visit Minnesota … Bradley has not played two Power 5 conference teams in the same season since 2015-16, when the Braves lost at No. 24 Iowa (60-53) after falling at home to No. 17 Oklahoma (79-46) … The Braves have not beaten two Power 5 opponents in the same season since tipping off the 1994-95 campaign with an 83-78 win at Missouri, followed by a 74-55 home victory against Northwestern.
The Challenge Continues
After falling to South Dakota and Iowa State within three days of each other, the Bulldogs were preparing to take on in-state foe Iowa. Sunday’s meeting between the two teams was cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests within the Iowa program. Drake’s challenging three-game week was cut short, but gives them more time to prepare for the Nugget Classic in Reno, Nev.
The first contest will be against host Nevada, followed by San Francisco and Idaho. Idaho is the only opponent in Reno that the was picked in the top three in their conference preseason poll. Idaho was picked to finish third in the Big Sky conference.
Feit Leading the Way
To open the season, junior Abby Feit continued to impress and lead the Aces. After tying a career-high with 29 points against EIU on Saturday, Feit sits fifth in the nation in double doubles, sixth in points per game, 13th in total points, and 14th in made field goals.
The Golden State
Illinois State will make the journey out to California over break to participate in the UCI Thanksgiving Classic. The Redbirds will face a pair of entirely new opponents, taking on host UC Irvine on Friday before concluding the trip versus Sacramento State on Saturday.
They Cannot Score
Through the first three games of the 2021-22 season, the Sycamores defense has been among the Valley’s best allowing opponents to score just 54.0 points per game. The strong defensive presence has allowed Indiana State to sit +13.0 in the scoring margin on the season as the Sycamores are limiting the opposition to just a 34.2% field goal percentage and a 27.3% three-point percentage on the year.
Home Cooking
The Maroon & Gold will look to protect their unblemished home record this week when they welcome St. Francis (Ill.) and Miami (Ohio) to Gentile Arena. Wednesday’s pre-Thanksgiving clash against the Fighting Saints will mark the first regular season meeting between Loyola and St. Francis since 1987, while the Ramblers and Redhawks will matchup for just the second time in Sunday’s weekend finale. Despite its limited history with Miami (Ohio), Loyola is quite familiar with battling MId-American Conference (MAC) foes, as it is set to face a member of the league for the 11th time since head coach Kate Achter’s arrival in Rogers Park in 2016-17.
Power Up!
Missouri State is now 34-5 in its last 39 true road games and the Lady Bears’ victory at USC marked the ninth consecutive season that they have defeated a Power Five opponent. MSU is 6-4 against Power Five teams since the beginning of the 2019-20 season.
The Lady Bears head to San Juan, Puerto Rico this week to participate in the San Juan Shootout. MSU will take on No. 25 Virginia Tech on Friday, Nov. 26 and LSU on Saturday, Nov. 27.
Down Go the Shockers
UNI guard Nicole Kroeger had a day behind the arc against Wichita State on Saturday. In the third quarter, Kroeger had four three point shots fall one after the other in a span of under five minutes. Kroeger last scored four or more three pointers against Drake in the 2019-2020 season.
Saturday’s 87-55 win against Wichita State was UNI’s 7th win in a row against the Shockers.
Schedule Update
SIU’s non-conference game against IUPUI, originally scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 24 has been postponed due to COVID-19-related concerns within the Jaguars program. The Salukis will next be in action against the Southeast Missouri St. Redhawks in Cape Girardeau, Mo. at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Southern’s home opener will now be on Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. against Quincy University.
Standing Out vs. Top Teams
Fifth-year wing Grace White led the way for Valpo in its game at a Michigan State team receiving top-25 votes nationally last week, leading all players with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and pacing Valpo with six rebounds. That should be no surprise, however, given her previous performances against Big Ten Teams. In six career games in the Brown and Gold versus Big Ten opposition, White has averaged 15.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.