Race to the Finish
The race for The Valley’s regular season title continues to be highly contested as the top three teams in The Valley standings are separated by 1.5 games entering the final four games of the regular season.
Southern Illinois took over the top spot in the standings following Sunday’s win over Illinois State and now holds a game lead over Missouri State and a 1.5 game lead over Illinois State. SIU is the only Valley team with only two league losses.
Southern Illinois and Missouri State are both riding MVC-best five game winning streaks heading into this week’s action.
Home Sweet Home
Southern Illinois enters the week as the only Valley team remaining perfect at home this season, sitting at 9-0 overall and 7-0 in league play. The Salukis will close out the home slate vs. Evansville and Indiana State this weekend. The last time SIU finished a MVC slate perfect at home was in 1995-96.
The league was on pace for one of its best home court win percentages in league play with a winning percentage of .667 (42-21) before the road teams went a perfect 9-0 over the weekend. It was the best road performance by Valley teams since Jan. 13-15, 2017 when teams finished a MVC weekend 8-1.
Something to Prove
Southern Illinois was predicted to finish eighth in the MVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll and is looking to make history down the stretch. Only twice in league history has a team picked sixth or lower gone on to win the MVC regular season women’s basketball race.
Team (Year) Rec. Poll
Southern Illinois (2006-07) 16-2 T-7th
Creighton (2001-02) 16-2 6th
20 Wins Again
Missouri State registered its fifth-consecutive 20-win season with Sunday’s win over Bradley. The impressive streak began in 2017-18. The streak is tied for the second-longest streak in league history for consecutive 20-win seasons.
Consecutive 20-win seasons since 1982-83
1. Drake (1996-97 through 2000-01) 6
MSU (1990-91 through 1995-96) 6
Drake (2014-15 through 2019-20) 6
4. Illinois St. (2006-07 through 2010-11) 5
So. Illinois (1982-83 through 1986-87) 5
MSU (2017-18 through current) 5
Speaking of 20 Wins
Since the start of the 1992-93 season only three 20-win MVC teams have been left out of the postseason. Last season, Missouri State was the lone Valley team to reach 20 wins and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
20-Win Seasons (since 1982-83)
21 - Missouri State
18 - Drake
12 - Illinois State
9 - Southern Illinois
5 - Indiana State
5 - UNI
3 - Evansville
3 – Bradley
NET Update
The NCAA NET Report (Feb. 22) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-125. Missouri State leads the way at No. 40 with UNI (53), Southern Illinois (71), Drake (86), Loyola Chicago (116) and Illinois State (125) rounding out the schools in the Top 125. The Valley sits 10th as a league.
ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Feb. 22) has two MVC teams in the field of 64. Southern Illinois represents The Valley’s AQ and is a 13 seed at No. 4 seed Notre Dame. Missouri State is a No. 11 seed playing Virginia Tech at LSU.
The MVC is one of just nine leagues receiving multiple bids, joining the Power Five leagues, American, Big East and West Coast.
1,000 Point Club
The Valley now has 15 active players in the 1,000-point club. Nine of the 10 Valley programs have a 1,000-point scorer entering this week’s action.
Valpo’s Grace White surpassed 1,000 career points during the week. White became the third Beacon to hit the 1,000-point milestone for her career this season. Frederick did so in December, while Weinman reached the mark last month.
Current MVC Players in 1,000 Point Club
1,905 - Makenzie Silvey, Southern Illinois
1,811 - Gabi Haack, Bradley
1,756 - Karli Rucker, UNI
1,627 - Brice Calip, Missouri State
1,532 - Mariah White, Missouri State
1,475 - Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois
1,221 - Shay Frederick, Valparaiso
1,147 - Bre Hampton-Bey, Loyola Chicago
1,122 - Jasmine Franklin, Missouri State
1,103 - Allison Day, Loyola Chicago
1,103 - Abby Feit, Evansville
1,078 - Juliunn Redmond, Illinois State
1,068 - Carie Weinman, Valparaiso
1,005 - Maddie Petersen, Drake
1,000 - Grace White, Valparaiso
HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Loyola Chicago’s Julia Hoefling posted six blocks, five assists, two steals, and only one turnover in 29 minutes in a 64-40 Rambler win over Indiana State. The last player to post at least six blocks, five assists, two steals and 0 or one turnover in under 30 minutes was UConn’s Breanna Stewart in 2016.
BU: Iowa Homecoming
Bradley’s weekend trek to UNI and Drake will serve as a bit of a homecoming for five team members – Abbie Draper (Waverly), Sasha Koenig (West Branch), Tatum Koenig (West Branch), Chloe Rice (Marion) and Caroline Waite (Ames) … Since the program’s all-time leading scorer, Gabi Haack, went down with a season-ending knee injury Jan. 1, Iowans Tatum Koenig (218 points), Waite (162), Draper (94) and Rice (87) have stepped up as the team’s top four scorers the last 14 games.
DU: Sharp Shooters
When Drake and Illinois State meet on Friday, it will feature the top two shooting teams in the MVC. The Redbirds currently lead The Valley in FG%, shooting 45.2%, while the Bulldogs rank No. 2 at 44.9%. Drake has led the league in FG% seven-straight seasons, which is the longest such stretch in league history (men or women).
UE: Shooting Efficiently
This past weekend, Evansville put on two of its best offensive shooting efforts in recent memory. The Ace shot above 40% from the field in both games this weekend, the first time Evansville has finished 40%+ from the field in back-to-back conference games since Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, 2020.
ILS: At the Stripe
Illinois State leads the Valley in free throw percentage (76.5%) while attempting the third-most free throws on the season at 439 attempts. JuJu Redmond is the MVC’s best shooter from the free throw line, having made a Valley-high 94 free throws on the year while shooting an MVC-best 85.5% from the charity stripe (ranked 42nd nationally). Redmond has been perfect from the line in ISU’s last three games and has made 29 free throws in a row.
INS: Rebound Machine
Indiana State forward Mya Glanton pulled down double-digit rebounds in each of the Sycamores’ two games last weekend. The sophomore post player grabbed 12 boards against Loyola Chicago and followed that with 14 against Valparaiso as part of a career day that also featured her scoring 25 points. The two games marked her two best rebounding games against a Valley opponent in her career, with the Valpo game marking her first 20-point, 10-rebound game in conference play.
LUC: Four & Wanting More
Following three wins last week, Loyola extended its current win streak to four games, a run that dates back to a 56-41 win over Bradley on February 12 at Gentile Arena. The four-game tear matches the Ramblers’ longest win streak in Valley play in program history, a feat previously accomplished during the 2015-16 season. With a win over Valparaiso on Friday night, Loyola would have it first five-game win streak in league play since the 2012-13 campaign when it was a member the Horizon League.
MSU: Holding Below
Out of the 24 opponents that qualify, Missouri State has held 20 out of 24 opponents under their scoring average entering their games against the Lady Bears. Across all 24 games, MSU is holding opponents to an average of 15.2 points below their scoring average prior to facing the Lady Bears. Missouri State has held eight opponents to 20+ points below their scoring average prior to facing the Lady Bears, including Power Five opponents USC and Missouri.
UNI: .500 Once Again
Northern Iowa has secured its 14th consecutive year at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference action. UNI’s current run of 14 seasons in a row is already the league’s longest active streak among all women’s and men’s basketball programs.
SIU: 1,000 Rebound Club
SIU’s Abby Brockmeyer became just the 7th player in Valley history to reach 1,000 career rebounds in Southern’s win at Bradley Friday. Brockmeyer finished the game with her eleventh double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing 15 boards. She is the first MVC player to eclipse 1,000 rebounds since SIU’s Dyana Pierre in 2016.
VU: Taking Advantage of Charity
Shay Frederick broke the Valpo program record for makes without a miss at the foul line Sunday against Indiana State, connecting on a perfect 14-for-14. It surpassed Lauren Kenney’s 13-for-13 day at the line against Florida State in November 2008. Frederick’s 14 free throws are tied for third-most in a single game overall in program history, while she is one of just four players in the nation this year to have a perfect game from the foul line with at least 14 attempts.