Power Five Up Ahead
This week, the MVC schedule features nine more games against Power Five schools:
Nov. 16 #7 Iowa State at UNI
Bradley at Wisconsin
Nov. 17 Oklahoma State at Missouri State
Nov. 19 Evansville at Illinois
Southern Illinois at Northwestern
#22 Nebraska at Drake
Nov. 20 Indiana State at Purdue
Wisconsin at Illinois State
Belmont at #4 Iowa
The conference sits 0-6 against Power Five opponents after the first week of play. Last season, the MVC earned six wins over members of Power Five conferences during the regular season.
Top 25 Chances
Valley women’s basketball teams went 0-3 vs. AP Top 25 opponents during the first week with Belmont and Drake taking #7 Louisville and #4 Iowa down to the wire. This week’s schedule features four more chances at AP Top 25 wins as UNI hosts #7 Iowa State and #20 Creighton, Drake hosts #22 Nebraska and Belmont goes to #4 Iowa.
AP Polling
Belmont and Drake are receiving votes in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll after both teams took top 10 teams down to the wire on Sunday. The Bruins sit 30th with seven votes this week, while the Bulldogs are 39th with two votes.
Naismith Watch List
Belmont’s Destinee Wells was named to the 2023 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Watch List. Wells is one of just 50 players to appear on the prestigious national player of the year watch list. The 2022-23 Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year is one of only two players from non-power conference teams to be selected to the Naismith Trophy’s preseason watch list, joining South Dakota State redshirt senior forward Myah Selland.
BEL: Scheduling Tough
The Bruins continue their non-conference gauntlet with a challenging five-game road stretch beginning Wednesday evening at Middle Tennessee. Belmont travels to top-five ranked Iowa next Sunday before heading to the Sunshine State for the ultra-competitive Gulf Coast Showcase (Nov. 25-27), where the Bruins will see Villanova and potentially Baylor.
BU: Popovec-Goss Era Begins
Bradley tipped off a new era of program history with their game at Missouri last Thursday, marking the first game with Kate Popovec-Goss as head coach. The Braves lost to the Tigers, then followed that up by shooting right with a South Dakota program that had made the Sweet 16 a year ago. Last year’s Freshman of the Year Caroline Waite scored a season-high 17 points against the Coyotes, hitting three shots from distance to go with a 4-4 mark at the line. The Braves travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday before hosting McNeese State at Carver Arena on Saturday.
DU: Intense Opening Week
Drake experienced both the thrill of victory and agony of defeat in their opening week of the 2022-23 season. The Bulldogs started the year with an 80-67 blowout win over Green Bay (11/7) before coming up just short in a overtime thriller to in-state rival and No. 4 Iowa (11/13). Drake stars Grace Berg and Katie Dinnebier has remarkable performances as Berg matched her career-high with 20 points in the Bulldogs’ debut and Dinnebier netted a new career-high 24 points against the Hawkeyes. Drake will continue their difficult non-conference slate with another home matchup against a ranked foe when the No. 22 Nebraska Cornhuskers visit Des Moines on Nov. 19.
UE: Clark Enters Record Book
On Monday, fifth-year guard Myia Clark put her name in the UE record book. Clark hit eight three-pointers in the Aces 89-81 win over the Colonels, tying Courtney Felke for the most in a single-game in program history.
UIC: Good to Be 2-0
UIC improved to 2-0 with a resounding 87-62 win over crosstown rival Chicago State. The Flames won the first two games of their season for the first time since 2015-16, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that both games were on the road. UIC had not won two consecutive road games to begin a campaign since the 1979-80 season.
ILS: Flyin’ High
Thursday’s win over Dayton marked ISU’s first program win over the Flyers since 1980-81, breaking a two-game losing streak in the series, as well as ISU’s first road win over Dayton in three attempts. Mary Crompton scored a career-high 27 points in the win.
INS: Comeback Kids
Indiana State rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter in its season-opening win over Saint Louis, with the Sycamores overturning the deficit in the final eight minutes of the game. The win was the largest comeback that Indiana State has overcome in head coach Chad Killinger’s tenure, surpassing the 13-point deficit Indiana State overcame at Drake last season. The Sycamores used a combination of timely shooting and stifling defense in the final minutes of the game, hitting nine of their last 15 shots, including four 3-pointers, while forcing seven SLU turnovers in the fourth quarter.
MOST: Approaching 100
MSU’s lone returning starter, Sydney Wilson, is just one win away from 100 winning games played in her Lady Bear career. The next win Wilson plays in will mark her 100th career victory and will break her tie with Secelia Winkfield (1990-93) for fifth place in career wins at MSU.
MUR: Double Digits
Two games into the new season, all five Murray State starters are currently averaging double digits. Katelyn You leads the way at 15.0 with Hannah McKay and Macey Turley following at 10.5 and Alexis Burpo and Jordyn Hughes adding 10.0 per game each.
UNI: Hosting Top Teams
UNI gets ready for a tough week in the McLeod Center. The Panthers welcome two AP Top 25 teams to Cedar Falls in the same week for the first time under Head Coach Tanya Warren. UNI will play No. 7 Iowa State on Wednesday evening while taking on No. 20 Creighton on Sunday afternoon. Along with playing two Top 25 teams this week, the Panthers also have four preseason Top 25 AP teams in the non-conference portion of the season for the first time in school history.
SIU: Week Ahead
Southern Illinois fell to Middle Tennessee in their season opener on Saturday but look to bounce back Wednesday against IUPUI. SIU then goes on the road Saturday to take on Big Ten opponent, Northwestern, in Evanston.
VU: 2-0 Start
With wins over Central Michigan and Southern Miss in the first week of action, Valpo started the season 2-0 for just the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2012-13. Notably, this is the program’s first 2-0 start in which both wins have come over D-I teams. A win on Wednesday would improve Valpo’s record to 3-0, a mark which has only been accomplished by the 2009-10 team.
1,000 Point Club
The Valley has five active players in the 1,000 point club as the season gets going. With her 20-point performance versus seventh-ranked Louisville Sunday, Destinee Wells became Belmont’s 33rd 1,000-point scorer. In only 58 career games, she has scored 1,004 points.
Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
1,722 - Macey Turley, Murray State
1,187 - Abby Feit, Evansville
1,158 - Sydni Harvey, Belmont
1,055 - Katelyn Young, Murray State
1,004 - Destinee Wells, Belmont
HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
According to HerHoopStats.com's Calvin Wetzel (@cwetzel31), During the opening week of play, four players in the country had a game shooting at least 70% from three on 9+ attempts. Two of those players are from the MVC.
