Tight at the Top
The top four teams in The Valley standings entering this week are separated by only 1.5 games.  Illinois State holds a half game lead over UNI in the win column entering Tuesday’s action, while SIU is one game back and Missouri State 1.5 games behind the Redbirds. 

As of Feb. 7, only the Big East and Ohio Valley conference has a race this tight at the top with four teams sitting within 1.5 games of the regular season title. 

UNI currently has the MVC’s longest winning streak, sitting at five-straight heading into Tuesday’s game vs. Evansville. The Panthers have been taking care of business during a four game homestand within just seven days, winning the first three games by double figures and by a margin of +22.0 per game.  

Home Sweet Home
Southern Illinois enters the week as the only Valley team remaining perfect at home this season, sitting at 7-0 following Friday’s win over Missouri State.  

Collectively, the league has won 64.7 percent of the time (33-18) at home during league play this year. Notably, the top four teams in the league standings have combined for a full-season 32-5 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)

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

ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Feb. 8) has two MVC teams in the field of 64. Illinois State represents The Valley’s AQ and is a 14 seed at No. 3 seed Indiana. Missouri State is a No. 11 seed playing Iowa at Oklahoma.  UNI is included among the “Next Four Out” entering play this week.

The MVC is one of just nine leagues receiving multiple bids, joining the Power Five leagues, American, Big East and West Coast. 

Elite Defense
Missouri State has continued their dominance on the defensive end, as they rank in the Top 25 nationally in five different categories. MSU is currently 21st in blocked shots, 19th in blocked shots per game, 13th in field-goal percentage defense, 20th in offensive rebounds per game, 7th in scoring defense and 15th in three-point field goal defense. 

Holding Below
Out of the 20 opponents that qualify, Missouri State has held 17 out of 20 opponents under their scoring average entering their games against the Lady Bears. Across all 20 games, MSU is holding opponents to an average of 16.7 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.

NET Update
The NCAA NET Report (Feb. 7) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-130.  Missouri State leads the way at No. 41 with UNI (46), Southern Illinois (80), Drake (93), Loyola Chicago (110) and Illinois State (126) rounding out the schools in the Top 130.  The Valley sits 10th as a league. 

Team                        NET
Missouri State           41
UNI                           46
Southern Illinois       80
Drake                       93
Loyola                    110
Illinois State           126
Indiana State         170
Valparaiso             241
Bradley                  270
Evansville              285
MVC                        10

Tough Non-Con Schedules
Four Valley teams played non-conference schedules that rank top 60 nationally.  Missouri State played the 25th toughest schedule according to the NCAA, while UNI (27), Drake (46) and Southern Illinois (58) also played top 60 non-conference schedules. 

HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Sitori Tanin of Loyola Chicago has nine games this season where she came off the bench to rebound at least 25% of opponent misses and block at least 4% of opponent two-point attempts, the most in Division I this season.


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 27 MVC wins away from Cindy Scott of Southern Illinois.  

Warren is two wins away from tying Hutchison on the all-games coaching wins list, entering the week with 275 career wins. 

MOST COACHING WINS (MVC GAMES)
Name, School                             (Years)         Wins
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)       201
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois   (1983-98)       199
Tanya Warren, UNI             (2008-present)     172
Jill Hutchison, Illinois State       (1983-99)       170

MOST COACHING WINS (ALL GAMES)
Coach, School, Years                                  Wins
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)    353
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)  319
Jill Hutchison, Illinois State (1983-99)        277
Tanya Warren, UNI (2008-present)            275

BU: Lucky 14
Bradley used its 14th starting lineup of the season, all in the last 16 games, Sunday against Evansville, the most starting combinations of any team in the nation. Sunday’s starting five snapped the team’s 16-game skid by combining for 74 points in Bradley’s 77-67 win against Evansville.

DU: Assist U
Drake continues to be one of the top assist teams in the nation, entering this week ranking 9th nationally with 18.6 assists per game. The Bulldogs have finished the last five seasons ranking top five nationally in assists per game, including leading the nation in 2020-21 and 2017-18.  The last time Drake did not finish a season ranked in the top five nationally was in 2015-16 (finished 6th). 

UE: Feit Climbs Record Book
In the span of just six games, junior Abby Feit became the 21st member of the 1,000-point club at UE and has risen to 18th all-time in program history with 1,060 points, Feit looks poised to move up another spot soon as she sits just six points off of Latasha Austin for 17th. Feit also sits in the top five in program history in career blocks with 101, just three behind Kaylan Coffman for fourth.

ILS: Block Party
Sophomore Kate Bullman’s eight blocks versus Evansville (2/4) tied ISU’s single-game blocks record, previously reached twice before by Hannah Green in 2017 and Leslie Farrell in 1988. She is one of 13 players in NCAA Division I and the only player in the MVC this season with an 8+ block game. She is also only the ninth player in Valley history with an 8+ block game. The Grayslake, Ill.-native’s leads the league with 33 blocks in conference play and is one of three players this year to have a streak of four games with 4+ blocks in a row.

INS: Next Level
Indiana State guard Del’Janae Williams has taken her talents to a new level since the start of conference play, as her stats have increased in every major category since the Sycamores began MVC contests. Williams has scored in double-figures in seven of Indiana State’s nine Valley games this season, including three games with 20-plus points with a career-high 27 at Bradley. She ranks inside the top five in the conference in points (15.6), assists (3.6) and steals (2.1) during conference play while also grabbing 4.1 rebounds per game against conference foes.

LUC: Home Sweet Home
After dropping a pair of hard-fought decisions on the road in Iowa last weekend, Loyola returns to the friendly confines of Gentile Arena this week to open a three-game homestand that includes matchups with Illinois State (February 10), Bradley (February 12), and Indiana State (February 15).  Currently off to their best start at home since the 1985-86 season (8-1), the Ramblers have been a tough out in Rogers Park, where they are allowing only 51.8 points per contest, while outscoring opponents by just over 15 points per game and limiting opposing offenses to just 34 percent shooting. 

MSU: Jackson Stepping Up
With the absence of Jasmine Franklin, fifth-year senior Abi Jackson has stepped up in a big way for the Lady Bears in the post. Since taking over in the starting lineup, Jackson has averaged 13.7 ppg and 7.9 rpg, both of which lead the team. She also leads the team in blocks this season with 45 total blocks she ranks in the top 25 nationally in blocks (23rd) and blocks per game (20th). Jackson has recorded double digit scoring performances in eight of 10 games since stepping into the starting lineup consistently at the start of conference play. Prior to Franklin’s injury, Jackson was averaging just 8.2 ppg and 5.7 rpg. 

UNI: Moving Up
Senior point guard Karli Rucker moved up the all-time scoring list for UNI on Sunday afternoon. With 1,703 career points, Rucker passed former guard Diane Roberts by two points for fourth place among all Panther players. Rucker has a chance to move into third place over former guard Madison Weekly by scoring 62 more points over eight remaining regular season games.

SIU: Brockmeyer Nears 1,000 
Graduate forward Abby Brockmeyer currently sits at 968 career rebounds, needing 32 more to eclipse 1,000. Only two players in SIU history have reached the 1,000-rebound mark: Sue Faber (1,014) and record holder Dyana Pierre (1,218). Brockmeyer is averaging 10.1 rebounds per game this season. 

VU: Reaching 1,000
Valpo’s Carie Weinman reached 1,000 points for her collegiate career with a layup early in the 4th quarter on Sunday at UNI. Weinman, who scored 191 points in one season at Denver and has now scored 811 points in her time at Valpo, is the second Valpo player to reach the milestone this year, joining Shay Frederick. Grace White, who is sitting at 940 career points (277 at Denver; 663 at Valpo), could join the duo this season as well.