The top four teams in The Valley standings entering this week are separated by only two games.  Illinois State holds a game lead over UNI entering this week’s action, while Belmont and Missouri State sit two games back of the Redbirds. 

MVC NOTEBOOK PDF

Streaks-a-Plenty
Illinois State, Belmont and Missouri State each enter the week riding winning streaks of five or better.  The first place Redbirds have won 10-straight and is one of 12 teams nationally riding a win streak of 10+ games.  Belmont has won six straight games, while Missouri State has won five in a row.
 
The Redbirds have had six previous instances of winning at least 10 straight games in a season since 1981-82 (1983-84; 1984-85; 1988-89; 2007-08; 2008-09; 2009-10).

The Valley is one of just three leagues nationally to have three teams riding winning streaks of 5+ entering this week, joining the Atlantic 10 (Rhode Island 10, UMass 8, George Washington 5) and Mid-American Conference (Bowling Green 9, Ball State 7, Toledo 5).    

Nothing But NET
The NCAA NET Report (Feb. 7) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including six of the 12 sitting in the top 130.  Drake leads the way at No. 53 with UNI (62), Illinois State (85) and Belmont (92), rounding out the schools in the Top 100. Missouri State (103) and Murray State (126) rank in the top 130.  

Only eight leagues have six or more teams in the Top 130 of the NET (ACC, American, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MVC, Pac-12 and SEC).

Sharing the Rock
Drake enters the week currently ranking second in the nation in assists per game, averaging 20.8 per game. 

NCAA Assist Leaders
1  Iowa (Big Ten)        20.9
2  Drake (MVC)           20.8
3  Oklahoma (Big 12) 20.7
4  UConn (Big East)    19.9

Warren’s Climb to the Top
UNI Head Coach Tanya Warren continues her pursuit to becoming the MVC’s all-time leader in games coached.   Warren is scheduled to coach her Valley-record 507th game Sunday at Valparaiso. 

MOST GAMES COACHED
Name, School                             (Years)         Games
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois   (1983-98)       506
Tanya Warren, UNI             (2008-present)     505

Warren Approaching 300
UNI Head Coach Tanya Warren also continues her pursuit for 300 career wins.  Warren would become the third coach in Valley history to join the club along with Cindy Scott of Southern Illinois and Cheryl Burnett of Missouri State. 

MOST COACHING WINS (ALL GAMES)
(Since 1982-83)
Name, School (Years)                                      No.
Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)          353
Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)        319
Tanya Warren, UNI (2008- present)                298

Sharpshooter
Illinois State’s Mary Crompton continues her move up The Valley career three-point field goal list.  The graduate student moved into a tie for 3rd on The Valley’s all-time list Sunday. Crompton passed Indiana State’s Brittany Schoen on the list following her two three-point buckets Sunday and will pass Rishonda Napier of SIU on her next connection.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Career)
    1.    314 - Gabi Haack, Bradley    2017-22
    2.    294 - Dayna Finch, Creighton    2001-04
    3.    277 - Rishonda Napier, Southern Illinois    2014-17
            277 - Mary Crompton, Illinois State    2018-pres.
    5.     276 - Brittany Schoen, Indiana State    2008-12

Double Trouble
Entering this week, UNI’s Grace Boffeli and Murray State’s Katelyn Young lead The Valley in double-doubles with eight.  Boffeli ranks sixth in The Valley in scoring at 15.9 ppg, while leading the league in rebounds per game (8.6). Young leads the league in scoring (20.5 ppg) and ranks third in rebounds (8.2 rpg). 

Number of Double-Double games
8 Young, Katelyn - Murray St.
8 Boffeli, Grace - UNI
7 Bair, Maggie - Drake
7 Taylor, Kennedy - Missouri St.
7 Wilson, DeAnna - Illinois St.
7 Earnest, Leah - Valparaiso
5 Tomancova, Barbora - Evansville
5 Feit, Abby - Evansville
5 Green, Indya - Missouri St.

30 Something
Murray State’s Katelyn Young leads The Valley with four 30+ point performances this season.  Young has accounted for four of the league’s eight 30 point games this season, while also leading the way with 10 20-point outings this season. 

Number of 30-Point games
4 Young, Katelyn - Murray St.
1 Harvey, Sydni - Belmont
1 Jones, Ashley - Southern Ill.
1 Robinson, Paige - Illinois St.
1 Saunders, Ali - Valparaiso

Number of 20-Point games
10 Young, Katelyn - Murray St.
10 Robinson, Paige - Illinois St.
8 Wells, Destinee - Belmont
7 Jones, Ashley - Southern Ill.
6 Feit, Abby - Evansville
6 Bartley, Madison - Belmont
5 Boffeli, Grace - UNI
4 Thomas, Aniya - Missouri St.
4 McDermott, Maya - UNI
4 Filer, Josie - UIC
4 Bair, Maggie - Drake
4 Crompton, Mary - Illinois St.
4 Clark, Myia - Evansville

BEL: Six Game Streak
Belmont’s current six-game winning streak is its longest of the season. The Bruins have held their last six opponents to 35 percent shooting or below and their last five opponents under 60 points.Belmont’s average margin of victory over its last six outings is 20.2. Madison Bartley has led Belmont in scoring for six-straight games. She has tallied six 20-point performances this season, four of which have taken place over the last six games.

BU: First Meeting
The Braves and Bruins met for the first time in school history at the Renaissance Coliseum on Sunday. Bradley finished the first quarter up 20-17. The Braves were outscored in the second and third quarters and made a final push in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to get the team its first conference win. Caroline Waite was the top scorer for the Braves with 15 points, two assists and one steal. 

DU: Keeping Pace
Drake earned a split last week to stay within striking distance of the MVC’s top spot. The Bulldogs started the week with another nail-biting loss to UNI (2/1). Drake fell to UNI by a 49-47 margin in the McLeod Center as a heroic floater by the Panthers’ Maya McDermott proved to be the difference. The Bulldogs bounced back in a major way with an 87-48 blowout over Evansville in Des Moines. Drake’s win over the Purple Aces included several individual and team landmarks including a 17-rebound performance from sophomore forward Anna Miller, Maggie Bair’s second-straight double-double, a season-high 14 team assists, and the team’s second-most rebounds in a game with 61. The Bulldogs are 13-7 overall and 8-4 in conference play. 

UE: Feit Reaches 1,500 Points
Senior Abby Feit became the fourth player in program history to reach 1,500 points in Evansville’s Monday night non-conference contest with UT-Martin. Feit finished tied for the game-high with freshman guard Kynidi Mason Striverson as both recorded 12 points. 

UIC: Approaching 1,000
UIC’s Josie Filer is on pace for the career milestone of scoring 1,000 total points in her collegiate career. Leading the Flames in both scoring (12.7 PPG) and rebounds (6.6 RPG) in her lone season with the team, Filer is only 70 points away from the milestone. 

ILS: Single Digit Quarters
For the 35th time, and 22nd time against an MVC foe under Kristen Gillespie, the Redbirds held an opponent to score single digits in the first quarter. As they held Bradley to four first-quarter points last Thursday, the Redbirds move to 28-7 all-time when allowing single digits in the first 10 minutes. The four points allowed match the lowest first-quarter points allowed under Kristen Gillespie for ISU (Jan. 15 at Belmont; 2022 Hoops in the Heartland Quarterfinals v. Loyola). 

INS: Road Warrior
Indiana State forward Chelsea Cain has seen success away from the friendly confines of Hulman Center, posting a double-double in each of the Sycamores’ last three road games. Cain had 16 points and 11 rebounds at Illinois State, 11 points and 10 rebounds at Bradley and 14 points and 10 rebounds at Northern Iowa. Over the three-game stretch, she is averaging 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

MOST: Fresh Performance
According to HerHoopStats.com, Jade Masogayo is currently the only freshman in NCAA Division I averaging at least 7.0 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, 1.5 blocks per game and 1.5 assists per game this season. Masogayo ranks 50th nationally in blocks per game and 54th in the country in total blocks, while also leading the Lady Bears with a .537 field goal percentage on the year.

MUR:  20 Wasn’t Enough
Despite scoring 20-plus points in the three of four quarters Sunday at Illinois State, it was the eight-point third quarter that proved to be the difference in the game. Murray State shot just 17.6-percent in the stanza, while Illinois State shot 70.6-percent in addition to outscoring the Racers by 19.

UNI: .500 Once Again
Northern Iowa secured its 15th consecutive year at .500 or better in Missouri Valley Conference action. UNI’s current run of 15 seasons in a row is already the league’s longest active streak among all women’s and men’s basketball programs.  

SIU: Wide Margin
The Salukis bounced back in a big way on Saturday, putting together a well-rounded effort against the Beacons at home in their 77-47 victory. The 30-point differential was the second largest in a win this season for SIU, only being topped by its 58-point win against Chicago State on Dec. 1. This was the 11th time the Salukis have reached 70 points, and the 47 points were the fewest Southern has given up in a game this season. 

VU: Connecting from Deep
Senior Olivia Brown continued to connect from deep last week, going 5-for-11 from 3-point range over Valpo’s two games. Brown currently paces all MVC players in Valley-only play with a 3-point percentage of .500. Overall this year, Brown is hitting at a .449 clip from deep - a mark which would rank third in a single season in program history.

HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Missouri State’s Kennedy Taylor had 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists against UIC on Saturday.  She’s the only player in Division I to reach all three of those marks in a game this season. This was the first 25/15/6 game by an MVC player since Stephany Neptune of SIU on March 4th, 2010.