Southern Illinois moved within one win of at least a share of the regular season title with Saturday’s win over Evansville. SIU has won 14 MVC games for the first time since going 16-2 during the Salukis’ last regular season title run in 2006-07.

Missouri State is trying for a third-straight regular season crown and continues to sit one game back of SIU with two games remaining. The Lady Bears have won at least 13 Valley games in five-straight seasons.

The 2021-22 regular season wraps up with games this Thursday and Saturday.  The full bracket for Hoops in the Heartland will be released Saturday afternoon following the conclusion of the games.  The tournament will be held at TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois on March 10-13.

Seed Ranges
Below are the seed ranges heading into the final week of the regular season.

Team                Possible Seeds
Southern Illinois    1-2
Missouri State       1-2-3
UNI                        2-3-4
Illinois State           3-4
Loyola                    5-6-7
Valparaiso             5-6-7
Drake                    5-6-7-8
Indiana State        7-8
Evansville            9-10
Bradley                9-10

MVC Tiebreaker
In the event of a tie for any position within the standings, ties shall be broken utilizing the following factors, in order:
• Head-to-head competition
• If three or more teams are tied, regular-season competition among the tied teams shall be pooled into a “mini round-robin.” Teams shall be ranked according to their position (composite record among tied teams) in such a round robin.
• The NCAA NET ranking on the morning after the final regular-season game.

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 Win Seasons
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.  Southern Illinois can reach the 20-win plateau with just one more win, while UNI is two wins shy. 

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. 28) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-135.  Missouri State leads the way at No. 40 with UNI (54), Southern Illinois (71), Drake (83), Loyola Chicago (112) and Illinois State (132) rounding out the schools in the Top 135.  The Valley sits 10th as a league. 

HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Drake is shooting 53.9% on two-pointers this season, which ranks as the fifth-best in Division I. The Bulldogs have been in the top 10 for eight straight seasons (since 2014-15). The only teams to be in the top 10 in 2Pt% each of the last eight seasons are Drake and UConn.


Home Sweet Home
Southern Illinois finished as the only Valley team perfect at home this season, going 11-0 overall and 9-0 in league play. The last time SIU finished a MVC slate perfect at home was in 1995-96.
 
Collectively, the league has won 61.7 percent of the time (50-31) at home during league play this year. Notably, the top three teams in the league standings (SIU, MSU, UNI) have combined for a full-season 35-3 record at home. 

Best MVC Home Records (Since 2007-08)
    1.    2007-08    61-29 (.678)
    2.    2009-10    58-32 (.644)
    3.    2010-11    57-33 (.633)
    4.    2011-12    56-34 (.622)        
    5.    2012-13    53-37 (.589)
           2019-20    53-37 (.589)

Most Wins, Non-Champion?
Eight teams have finished the conference season with a 15-3 mark but did not win the regular-season title. Three teams have won 16 games but did not win the regular season title, the last coming a year ago.

Most MVC Wins by Non-MVC Champ
16-2    Drake (2nd), Illinois State (1st, 17-1) 84-85
16-2    Drake (2nd), Southern Illinois (1st, 18-0) 85-86
16-2    Missouri State (2nd), Drake (1st, 17-1) 18-19
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), ILS (1st, 16-2) 88-89
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), MSU (1st, 17-1) 91-92
15-3    Southern Illinois (2nd), MSU (1st, 16-2) 95-96
15-3    Drake (2nd), Creighton (1st, 16-2) 01-02
15-3    Creighton (2nd), MSU (1st, 16-2) 03-04
15-3    Drake (2nd), WSU (1st, 17-1) 14-15
15-3    UNI (2nd), Drake (1st, 18-0) 16-17
15-3     Missouri State (2nd), Drake (1st, 18-0) 17-18

Warren Moving Up
UNI Head Coach Tanya Warren continues her pursuit up The Valley list for coaching wins in league contests. Warren moved into third on the all-time list with her 171st Valley victory Friday vs. Loyola.  Warren passed Illinois State’s Jill Hutchison and now sits 24 MVC wins away from Cindy Scott of Southern Illinois.  

Over the weekend, Warren passed Hutchison on the all-games coaching wins list.  Warren enters the week with 278 career wins. 

MOST COACHING WINS (ALL GAMES)
Coach, School, Years                                  Wins
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)    353
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)  319
Tanya Warren, UNI (2008-present)            278
Jill Hutchison, Illinois State (1983-99)        277

Top Five Finishes
UNI is the only Valley team to have finished in the top-five of the league standings for the past 10 seasons. Below is a list of top-five finishes over the last 10 seasons. 

UNI will finish .500 or better for a 14th season in a row to extend the best active streak by any MVC basketball program (women’s & men’s).

Top-Five MVC Finishes, Last 10 Seasons
UNI - 10 (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
MSU - 8 (12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Drake - 9 (12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
Illinois State - 5 (12, 13, 19, 20, 21)
Southern Illinois - 4 (15, 16, 17, 18)
Bradley - 3 (19, 20, 21)
Indiana State - 3 (13, 14, 18)
Loyola – 1 (16)
Evansville - 1 (14)

ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Feb. 28) has two MVC teams in the field of 64. Southern Illinois represents The Valley’s AQ and is a 14 seed at No. 3 seed Oklahoma. Missouri State is a No. 10 seed playing Ole Miss at Iowa State.    
 
The MVC is one of just 10 leagues receiving multiple bids, joining the Power Five leagues, American, Big East, Summit and West Coast. 

BU: Freshman Scoring
With fifth-year senior Gabi Haack no longer available due to her season-ending knee injury, freshman guard Caroline Waite leads the team at 13.3 ppg.  Waite’s norm through her 23 games is the third-best scoring average ever by a Bradley freshman, but the best since Judy Burns averaged 18.1 ppg 40 seasons ago.  The top scoring underclassman (Fr/So) in The Valley, Waite is the league’s sixth-leading scorer overall, while no other underclassman in the league ranks among the top 22.

DU: Sharp Shooters
Drake has moved back to the top of the field goal percentage list in The Valley this season.  The Bulldogs enter the final weekend of the regular season leading The Valley in FG%, shooting 45.3% from the field.  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
Despite falling behind against SIU, the Aces were able to battle their way back within 10 points late in the fourth quarter. Much of the late run was due to Evansville’s ability to be efficient from the field. Evansville finished the game shooting 51.1% (23-45) from the field, the second-best shooting performance of the season for the Aces.

ILS: Bullman Breaking Through
After spending her freshman season playing out of position at mostly center instead of her natural four-spot, Kate Bullman has stepped into a much more significant role. The Grayslake, Ill.-native has been a real spark for ISU during conference play, averaging 6.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game (up from her 1.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks the first 10 games of the year). Bullman’s 44 blocks in MVC play is the most in the league.

INS: Finding Range Down Under
Eight of Natalia Lalic’s team-leading 37 3-pointers have come during a recent three-game stretch for Indiana State. The Australia native came off the bench to hit four treys against Valparaiso and added one more in her return to the starting lineup at Southern Illinois. Lalic connected from deep three times in the Sycamores’ most recent game at Missouri State, making one in three of the four quarters against the Lady Bears. She has made nearly 35 percent of her 3-point attempts during conference play, ranking inside the top 10 in the Valley.

LUC: High Five
Loyola extended its win streak to five games last Friday, using a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to surge past Valparaiso, 66-52, at the Athletics-Recreation Center.  The Ramblers five straight wins in league play are their most in Valley play in program history, while the Maroon & Gold’s 17 victories on the year are tied for their most since 2012-13.  Loyola’s win over the Beacons also carried major seeding implications for the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference Championship.  With a win in one of its final two games or a Valparaiso loss, the Ramblers will clinch an opening-round bye in the conference tournament.    

MSU: Career Night
With two wins to close out their regular season in Springfield, the Lady Bears finished the 2021-22 season with a 13-1 home record. In the Coach Mox era, Missouri State improved to 36-2 at home. 
 
With their performances against Evansville on Thursday, Abi Jackson and Mya Bhinhar both set career highs with Jackson dropping 31 points and Bhinhar dishing out 11 assists. Jackson’s 31 points were the most points by a Lady Bear since Liza Fruendt scored 33 points against Valparaiso on January 19, 2018, while Bhinhar’s 11 assists were the highest assist total for a Lady Bear since Casey Garrison recorded 13 assists against Tulsa on December 8, 2009.

UNI: Moving Up the List
Senior point guard Karli Rucker moved into 3rd in all-time Panther scoring on Friday. With 1,778 career points, Rucker moves past former point guard Madison Weekly (2013-2017) for the honor.  

SIU: Unbeaten at Home
The Salukis have finished the regular season undefeated at home for the first time since the 1986-87 season, and just the third time in program history. The last time SIU finished a MVC slate perfect at home was in 1995-96.

VU: Moving Up the Charts
Senior guard Shay Frederick moved up another spot on Valpo’s career scoring chart in the contest against Loyola, ending the game in eighth place in program history with 1,230 career points. She also dished out seven assists against the Ramblers, giving her 134 helpers this year - the most by a Valpo player since 2000, and seventh-most in a single season in program history.