Illinois State (3-0), Missouri State (2-0) and Southern Illinois (2-0) remain perfect after the first two weeks of league play. Missouri State and Southern Illinois will travel to UNI and Drake this week, while Illinois State will host Loyola and Valpo. 

Best Starts in MVC?
Below is a look at the best league starts for Illinois State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois (includes each school’s top performance only):

Rec. Team (Year)                       Loss     Final
18-0 S. Illinois (86-87 &87-88)     N/A    1st (18-0)
16-0 Missouri St. (20-21)              N/A    1st (16-0)
9-0   Illinois St. (06-07)                 UE     2nd (13-5)

Lady Bears’ MVC Streak
Missouri State won its 21st straight MVC regular season game vs. Valpo, which is the second-longest conference win streak in program history and fourth longest in Valley history.

The streak is also the fourth longest active conference win streak in the NCAA entering this week’s action.

Consecutive MVC Wins (League History)
1.    47, Drake     2/26/16 to 1/27/19
2.    37, Southern Illinois    1985-86-1986-87
3.    24, Missouri State    1/9/99 to 2/5/00
4.    21, Missouri State    3/1/20 to present

Consecutive Conference Wins (Active NCAA)
1.    45, UConn                AAC, Big East
2.    28, Princeton            Ivy League
3.    24, FGCU                 Atlantic Sun
4.    21, Missouri State    MVC

Murray State to Join MVC
Murray State accepted an invitation from the Missouri Valley Conference during a special meeting held Jan. 7.  The Racers become the 11th member of the MVC beginning July 1, 2022.  Murray State is the second MVC school from the state of Kentucky (Louisville was a league member from 1964-1975).   With Belmont previously admitted in September, this marks the first time since 1976-77 that the MVC had added two schools in the same season (Creighton, Indiana State).  The MVC has never expanded by three schools in the same season.

NET Update
The NCAA NET Report (Jan. 10) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-110.  Missouri State leads the way at No. 23 with UNI (51), Drake (81), Southern Illinois (100) and Loyola Chicago (101) rounding out the schools in the Top 110.  The Valley sits 11th as a league. 

Team                    NET
Missouri State         23
UNI                          51
Drake                      81
Southern Illinois    100
Loyola                   101
Illinois State          186
Indiana State        204
Valparaiso            239
Bradley                 254
Evansville             263
MVC                        11

Polling
Missouri State is receiving votes in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, garnering 15 votes and sitting 29th in the voting.   The Lady Bears were also receiving votes in last week’s USA Today/WBCA Coaches Top 25 (Jan. 4). MSU received two votes in the poll. 

HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Drake enters this week’s action as the only team in NCAA Division I shooting over 47% from the field with over 65% of their baskets assisted.  The Bulldogs are also the only team nationally to rank top 4 in both statistics entering the week.  The Bulldogs have led The Valley in FG% and assists each of the last seven seasons. 



BU: Record Road Stretch Ends
By opening the Missouri Valley Conference slate with three consecutive road games, Bradley completed a nine-game stretch that saw the Braves play on the road a program-record eight times … Thursday’s home game against Loyola Chicago will come 54 days after the Braves completed their season-opening, 3-game home sweep with a 64-57 win against Wisconsin Nov. 19.

DU: Playing Shorthanded
Drake played a pair of road games down four players, three who are starters. Drake took an early lead against Loyola but fell short in the second half and were unable to top the Ramblers 30 points in the third quarter. The Bulldogs fell by 10 against Valpo.   

UE: Scoring Threats
The Aces have had multiple players show a capability to lead the team in scoring this season. On the year, Evansville has had 11 scoring performances of 20-or-more points,  scored by Je’Naiya Davis, Abby Feit, and Myia Clark. The next closest Valley school is Illinois State with eight 20+ point performances.

ILS: Best Valley Start Since 07-08
Illinois State’s 3-0 record in the Valley is its best start in conference play since the 2007-08 campaign in which the Redbirds went 8-0 to begin MVC action. After going 1-5 in November to start this season, the Redbirds have turned it around, winning six of their last eight contests while currently on a four-game winning streak.

INS: Pound the Paint
Indiana State made its presence felt on the interior Sunday afternoon in a 73-57 win over Bradley. The Sycamores corralled 17 offensive rebounds and were plus-10 on the glass against the Braves (37-27). Indiana State turned those offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points and had 46 points in the paint, its fourth game with 40-plus paint points this season. ISU is 3-1 in those four games.

LUC: Streak Snapped
Loyola rode a second-half surge to a 63-46 win over Drake this past Friday at Gentile Arena.  The victory was the Maroon & Gold’s first over the Bulldogs since January 24, 2014 and snapped a streak of 15 straight Drake triumphs in the all-time series.  Loyola shot a blistering 62.5 percent (20-for-32) in the second half and put up 30 points in the third quarter, its top output for a frame since it erupted for 34 points in the fourth quarter of a clash with city-rival DePaul back on December 20, 2018.

MSU: Elite Defense
Missouri State enters the week currently ranking in the top 10 nationally in three defensive categories, including:  Field Goal Percentage Defense (7th, 33.6%), Scoring Defense (6th, 49.9 ppg) and Three-Point Field Goal Defense (6th, 23.4%). 

The Lady Bears are one of just two teams nationally ranking in the top 10 in all three of those categories, joining #21 North Carolina (10th in scoring defense, 4th in FG% defense and 7th in 3-pt FG% defense).

UNI: Out of the Gate
UNI split their first MVC weekend on the road, losing a close game to Valpo 60-58 on Friday and beating Loyola 58-54 Sunday.  Panther center Grace Boffeli had the first double-double of her collegiate career on Friday night against the Beacons. Boffeli made 13 points and grabbed 13 boards in the loss. 

UNI returns home for a game for the first time in over a month as Missouri State comes to Cedar Falls.  The Panthers were last in the McLeod Center on December 6th.      

SIU: Back to Business
The Salukis will return to action Thursday against Drake, marking their first game since Jan. 2 after the postponement of a contest against Missouri State. This is the second 10+ day layoff for Southern this season, as the cancellation of a game against IUPUI due to COVID concerns with the Jaguars led to a 15-day gap between games in November. The Salukis came out of that layoff with a 78-61 victory over Southeast Missouri St. on Nov. 30 where Southern shot an even 60% from the field.

VU: What A Rally!
Friday’s win over UNI marked the 11th time in the four-year tenure of head coach Mary Evans that Valpo has rallied from down double digits to win. The 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter ties the program’s largest comeback in the final period since the move to quarters — Valpo previously rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter in a 66-64 win over Loyola on Jan. 24, 2020. Ironically, the two-point final margin in that win was secured by a 3-point play from Shay Frederick, just like the decisive basket in Friday’s game.