TOURNEY CENTRAL
Neutral Colors
For the 15th-straight season, the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played at a neutral site after using institutional home arenas as hosts for the first 22 league tournaments.
Valley Postseason History
The MVC has seen an average of four league teams participate in postseason play in the last 22 seasons where postseason action took place, including six teams reaching postseason play in 2020-21. Missouri State reached the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in program history, including second-straight, and equaled a league-high with a No. 5 seed, while Bradley made the NCAA field for the first time in program history. The Valley has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids in 13 different seasons, including three out of the last four seasons.
Best Spot
The top seed has won the conference tournament in 19 of 34 seasons and a team that has won or shared the regular-season title has gone on to win the tournament title 22 times. Top seeds have six runner-up finishes.
Teams seeded No. 2 have won the tournament six times and finished as the runner-up 13 times (included Drake in 2021).
Missouri State was the first No. 3 seed to win the tournament title in 2016. The No. 3 seed has been a runner-up nine times.
Teams seeded No. 4 have won three times, while the No. 5 seed and No. 8 seed has won twice. Seeds No. 7 (Missouri State, 2006) and No. 9 (Evansville, 2009) have won the tournament just once.
Worst Spot
Seeds No. 6 and No. 10 have yet to win an MVC Tournament. Teams seeded sixth have just one runner-up finish. The No. 10 seed has won just three MVC Tournament games in league history (No. 10 Wichita State defeated No. 7 Missouri State in 2009, 52-51; No. 10 Southern Illinois defeated No. 7 Evansville in 2013, 83-74 in overtime; No. 10 Evansville defeated No. 7 Illinois State in 2016, 61-59 ot).
Chalk It Up
Since the league moved to a neutral-site tournament in St. Charles in 2007-08, just four times have the top-four seeds in the bracket advanced to semifinal Saturday of the championship – in 2013, the bracket produced chalk with top-four seeds Wichita State, Creighton, Illinois State and UNI – in 2008 (Illinois State, Evansville, Drake and Creighton) - 2016 (UNI, Drake, Missouri State and Southern Illinois) and 2018 (Drake, Missouri State, UNI and Southern Illinois).
Three of the top-four seeds advanced to Saturday in 2009, 2015 and 2019, while only two of the top-four seeds advanced in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021).
When They’re All Here
Here’s a look at how teams have fared, by seed, since the tournament expanded to include all 10 teams in 2006:
Seed W L Best Result
No. 1 28 8 08, 11, 13, 15 , 17 & 18 Champion
No. 2 18 13 2014 and 2019 Champion
No. 3 17 14 2016 Champion
No. 4 11 14 2012 Champion
No. 5 11 13 2010 and 2021 Champion
No. 6 6 15 2007 Final
No. 7 19 14 2006 Champion
No. 8 10 15 2007 Champion
No. 9 11 14 2009 Champion
No. 10 3 15 2009 & 2013 Quarterfinal
Unlikely Repeat
Just seven times in conference history has there been a repeat winner of the MVC Tournament. Missouri State won four-straight titles from 1991 through 1994, while Wichita State won three consecutive titles from 2013-15. Drake won back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998 and 2017 and 2018, Missouri State repeated in 2003 and 2004 and UNI accomplished the feat in 2010 and 2011.
Title Town
The league has had nine different regular-season champions in the past 16 seasons (SIU-2007, DU/UE/ILS-2008, ILS-2009, ILS-2010, UNI-2011; MSU-2012; WSU/CU-2013; INS/WSU-2014; WSU-2015; UNI-2016; DU-2017; DU-2018; DU-2019; MSU-2020, MSU-2021; SIU-2022). Bradley, Loyola and Valparaiso are the only league teams not to have won a regular-season MVC championship.
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 finished .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 (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Drake - 9 (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
MSU - 8 (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Illinois State - 6 (12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Southern Illinois - 5 (15, 16, 17, 18, 22)
Bradley - 3 (19, 20, 21)
Indiana State - 3 (13, 14, 18)
Loyola – 1 (16)
Evansville - 1 (14)
Top of the Heap
Missouri State has won the most MVC Tournament titles (11) of any Valley school, claiming their last title in 2019. Drake has claimed seven tournament titles and Illinois State has four tournament championships, including the league’s first tournament in 1983.
Evansville, UNI and Southern Illinois each have two MVC Tournament titles in program history, while Bradley won its first in 2021.
Indiana State, Loyola and Valparaiso are the only Valley schools not to have earned a tournament championship.
There’s Always a Chance
The lowest-seeded team to ever win the MVC Tournament was the No. 9 Evansville Purple Aces squad in 2009. Previously, there were a pair of No. 8 seeds – Illinois State in 2005 and Drake in 2007 – to claim MVC Tournament titles. Just one No. 7 seed (Missouri State in 2006) has ever won the MVC Tournament title.
Separation Factor
Since the start of the 1992-93 season when the Gateway Conference merged with the Missouri Valley Conference, the regular-season title has been decided by just one game on 13 occasions (including this season). In 2011, when UNI won the league with a 17-1 record, the Panthers became the first MVC team to win the regular-season title by five games, as their closest opponents (Illinois State, Missouri State and Creighton) all featured league records of 12-6.
Six times the league title has been won by a three-game margin, four times by two games, 12 times by one game and five times by identical winning records. This season, Missouri State (16-0) secured the regular-season league title by four games over second-place Drake (13-5).
Salukis Capture Title
Southern Illinois claimed the MVC regular season title with Thursday’s win at Loyola.The Salukis claim the program’s first title since 2006-07. The Salukis will head to Moline, Ill. for the MVC tournament as the top seed, and will be seeking a MVC tournament crown for the first time since 1990.
Proven...
Southern Illinois was predicted to finish eighth in the MVC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll and on Thursday became just the third team in league history picked sixth or lower to win the MVC regular season women’s basketball race. The Salukis were also the last team to do so, winning the 2006-07 title after being picked 7th.
Team (Year) Rec. Poll
Southern Illinois (2021-22) 15-3 8th
Southern Illinois (2006-07) 16-2 T-7th
Creighton (2001-02) 16-2 6th
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. Southern Illinois joined Missouri State in the 20-win club with Thursday’s win at Loyola and UNI joined them with a win Saturday at Evansville.
20-Win Seasons (since 1982-83)
21 - Missouri State
18 - Drake
12 - Illinois State
10 - Southern Illinois
6 - UNI
5 - Indiana State
3 - Evansville
3 – Bradley
NET Update
The NCAA NET Report (Mar. 6) has six Valley teams that rank in the top-135. Missouri State leads the way at No. 44 with UNI (57), Southern Illinois (73), Drake (85), Loyola Chicago (111) and Illinois State (131) rounding out the schools in the Top 135. The Valley sits 10th as a league.
HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Loyola and top ranked South Carolina are the only two teams in the nation who have held more than ten opponents to an effective FG% of 35% or less this season.
South Carolina: 15
Loyola: 11
Dayton: 10
Georgia Tech: 10
Nebraska: 10
North Carolina: 10
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 57.8 percent of the time (52-38) at home during league play this year. Notably, the top three teams in the league standings (SIU, MSU, UNI) combined for a full-season 35-3 record at home.
BU: Title Game Rematch
Bradley will open the 2022 Hoops in the Heartland Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Thursday by facing No. 7 Drake in a rematch of the 2021 MVC Tournament championship game … Only four members of Bradley’s 2021-22 active roster appeared in last season’s title game and, while senior point guard Tatum Koenig played 35 minutes in last year’s championship game, the trio of Chloe Rice (6), Tete Danso (4) and Isis Fitch (3) combined for 13 minutes of action.
DU: Sharp Shooters
Drake is at the top of the field goal percentage list in The Valley once again this season. The Bulldogs enter the tournament leading The Valley in FG%, shooting 45.5% 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: Eight Wins
Evansville reached eight wins during the regular season, its most in more than five years. The last time the Aces grabbed eight regular season victories came during the 2016-17 season. Evansville also garnered the nine seed at Hoops in the Heartland, its best seed since 2016-17.ILS: Meeting Expectations
With the 2021-22 regular season wrapping up, the Redbirds finished with a 12-6 Valley record for the second year in a row and fourth in the conference standings, exactly where they were predicted in the MVC Preseason Poll. Illinois State has met or finished better than expected in all five seasons under head coach Kristen Gillespie.
INS: Out of the Gates
Indiana State has jumped out to double-digit leads in the first half of each of its last two games. The Sycamores shot 50 percent or better from the floor in the opening 20 minutes against both Drake and Northern Iowa, while forcing both opponents into 12 or more turnovers in the first half. Despite jumping out to large leads, Indiana State didn’t have a marquee first-half scorer in either game, with five different Sycamores scoring five or more points in the opening half against both Northern Iowa and Drake.
LUC:Senior Moment
Paced by a game-high 16 points from Allison Day, Loyola closed the 2021-22 regular season with one of its most memorable victories in recent memory, racing past two-time defending MVC regular season champion Missouri State by a final count of 60-42 on Senior Day at Gentile Arena. The win was only the Ramblers’ second over the Lady Bears since joining The Valley and snapped a 17-game skid against Missouri State. Saturday’s victory saw Loyola improve to 18-11 overall (10-8 MVC), marking the program’s highest win total since the 1988-89 campaign.
MSU: Tourney History
MSU has played in 14 of the 28 Valley tournament championship games and 16 of the 35 title games since the inception of the Gateway Conference Tournament in 1983.
Missouri State leads the conference with 11 conference tournament titles, a .691 conference tournament winning percentage and 47 overall victories in the conference tournament. The Lady Bears will look to win their first MVC Tournament title since 2019.
UNI: Comeback Win
UNI had their biggest come from behind win on Thursday against Indiana State. The Panthers faced down a 16 point deficit at the beginning of the second half against the Sycamores. But a 25-point run that spanned the 6th minute of the third quarter to the 8th minute of the 4th quarter propelled UNI to the 61-55 win.
SIU: Another Top 5 Scorer
Abby Brockmeyer currently sits at 1,546 career points, good for fourth all-time at SIU. Brockmeyer is just the seventh Saluki to score 1,500 career points.
VU: Beating the Champs
Valpo closed the regular season on a high note Saturday with a victory over MVC regular season champion Southern Illinois. It marks the first time Valpo has defeated its conference’s regular season champion since it delivered Green Bay the Phoenix’s only loss of the 2007-08 Horizon League campaign.
ESPN Bracketology
The latest ESPN.com women’s basketball bracketology from Charlie Creme (Mar. 7) 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 Iowa. Missouri State is among the last four in the field and is in the “First Four” as an 11 seed playing Florida State.
The MVC is one of 11 leagues receiving multiple bids, joining the Power Five leagues, American, A-10, Big East, Summit and West Coast.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Player and Newcomer of the Week are Illinois State's DeAnna Wilson and Drake's Katie Dinnebier.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
DeAnna Wilson, Jr, F, Illinois State
Illinois State forward DeAnna Wilson put up a game-high 22 points paired with a career-high 17 rebounds in ISU’s lone game of the week, a 62-53 victory over I-74 rival Bradley to close the regular season. It was the junior’s team-leading seventh double-double of the year and the first time a Redbird has gone for 20+ points and 17+ rebounds since Kenyatta Shelton had 22 and 22 in Dec. 2010. Wilson ranks sixth in the Valley in scoring (13.5 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.6 rpg).
Other Notable Performances: Grace Berg (DU); Abby Feit (UE); Allison Day (LUC); Brice Calip (MSU); Emerson Green (UNI); Abby Brockmeyer (SIU); Shay Frederick (VU)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Katie Dinnebier, Fr., G, Drake
Drake freshman Katie Dinnebier had a career night against Indiana State as she recorded 20 points. Her explosive second half helped the Bulldogs not only take the lead from Indiana State, but also helped make a number of plays to help Drake. She drew two charges from Indiana State’s offense that helped Drake regain momentum. She averaged 14.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and two steals over the weekend.
Other Notable Performances: Sierra Morrow (BU); Myia Clark (UE); Riley Blackwell (LUC); Mariah White (MSU)