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The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament will return to Vibrant Arena in Moline, Ill., for the eighth-straight year.  The Valley becomes the only Division I stand-alone women’s basketball event to be held in the same city eight or more consecutive years.
 
In fact, Hoops in the Heartland 2023 will match the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 Conference Tournaments, as the only Division I stand-alone women’s basketball championships to be held at a neutral site for more than 15 consecutive years.
 
Affectionately coined “Hoops in the Heartland,” the four-day event (Mar. 9-12) will showcase all 12 Missouri Valley Conference schools as they compete for the Valley’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The 2023 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament title game on Sunday, March 12, will be aired on ESPNU at 1PM CT for the second consecutive season. The first 10 tournament contests will be shown exclusively on ESPN+.
 
Co-Champs
For the first time since the 2013-14 season and for only the eighth time in 40 seasons, the MVC women’s basketball race finished with co-champs.  Illinois State won the program’s eighth regular season title and first since 2009-10, while Belmont won the title in its first year as a league member.  Both teams finished The Valley season 17-3 in league play.     

Multi-Champs
This is the 40th season of Valley women’s basketball with only eight of those seasons having a co-champion. There have been four seasons with co-champs and three seasons with tri-champs.

MVC Seasons With Multi-Champions
2022-23  Illinois State/Belmont (17-3)
2013-14 Wichita State/Indiana State (14-4)
2012-13 Creighton/Wichita State (15-3)
2002-03 Creighton/Indiana State (13-5)
2000-01 Missouri State/Drake (16-2)

MVC Seasons With Tri-Champions
1987-88 Eastern Ill./Illinois St./Indiana St. (14-4)
1989-90 Southern Ill./Illinois St./Missouri St. (14-4)
2007-08 Illinois St./Evansville/Drake (13-5)

Nothing But NET
The NCAA NET Report (Mar. 5) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-100, including six of the 12 sitting in the top 140.  Drake leads the way at No. 53 with UNI (64), Belmont (79) and Illinois State (86), rounding out the schools in the Top 100. Missouri State (112) and Murray State (140) rank in the top 140.  

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, Southern Illinois, Missouri State, UNI and Drake all reached 20 wins, with all four teams reaching the NCAA or WNIT field. Illinois State, Belmont and UNI each have over 20 wins this season, while Drake and Missouri State are one win away from 20 victories entering Hoops in the Heartland. 

Neutral Colors
For the 16th-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 23 seasons where postseason action took place, including five teams reaching postseason play in 2021-22. Illinois State and Missouri State represented The Valley in the NCAA field a year ago, while Drake, UNI and Southern Illinois made the WNIT. The Valley has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids in 14 different seasons, including four out of the last five seasons.

Best Spot
The top seed has won the conference tournament in 19 of 35 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.

Missouri State was the first No. 3 seed to win the tournament title in 2016. The No. 3 seed has been a runner-up 10 times (including UNI in 2022). 

Last year, Illinois State became the fourth No. 4 seed to win the title, 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).  
This year’s field will feature a 12 team field for the first time with the No. 11 and No. 12 seeds making a first appearance. 

Chalk It Up
Since the league moved to a neutral-site tournament in St. Charles in 2007-08, five times 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) - 2018 (Drake, Missouri State, UNI and Southern Illinois) and 2022 (Southern Illinois, Missouri State, UNI and Illinois State).

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    29    9    08, 11, 13, 15 , 17 & 18 Champion
No. 2    19    14    2014 and 2019 Champion
No. 3    19    15    2016 Champion
No. 4    14    14    2012 and 2022 Champion
No. 5    11    14    2010 and 2021 Champion
No. 6    6    16    2007 Final
No. 7    20    15    2006 Champion
No. 8    11    16    2007 Champion
No. 9    11    15    2009 Champion
No. 10    3    16    2009 & 2013 Quarterfinal
No. 11    0    0    ??
No. 12    0    0    ??

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 10 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; WSU2015; UNI-2016; DU-2017; DU-2018; DU-2019; MSU-2020; MSU-2021; SIU-2022; ILS/BEL-2023). Bradley and Valparaiso, along with new members Belmont, UIC and Murray State, are the only league teams not to have won a regular-season MVC championship.

Top Five Finishes
UNI and Drake are the only Valley teams 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 15th season in a row to extend the best active streak by any MVC basketball program (women’s & men’s).

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 five tournament championships, including the league’s first tournament in 1983 and last year (2022). 

Evansville, UNI and Southern Illinois each have two MVC Tournament titles in program history, while Bradley won its first in 2021. 

Indiana State and Valparaiso, along with new members Belmont, UIC and Murray State, 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 14 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, 14 times by one game and five times by identical winning records. This season, Illinois State (17-3) and Belmont (17-3) each secured the regular-season league title by one game over second-place UNI (16-4).

Sharpshooter
Illinois State’s Mary Crompton continues her move up The Valley career three-point field goal list.  The graduate student sits tied for second on The Valley’s all-time list with Creighton’s Dayna Finch. Crompton is 20 triples shy of first place.

3-Point Field Goals Made (Career)
    1.    314 - Gabi Haack, Bradley    2017-22
    2.    294 - Dayna Finch, Creighton    2001-04
        294 - Mary Crompton, Illinois State    2018-pres.

BEL: Championship Season
Belmont won its sixth conference regular season championship in seven seasons with its 70-67 come-from-behind victory at Valparaiso.

The Bruins have won nine total regular season conference crowns – five in the Ohio Valley Conference (2021-22, 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17) and three in the ASUN Conference (2006-07, 2005-06, 2003-04). Belmont has won a combined 16 conference championships, including regular season and tournament titles, in its NCAA era.

The Bruins have won 20 or more games for eight-straight seasons. Belmont is one of only three non-power conference programs (Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State) to post eight consecutive 20-win campaigns.

BRAD: Road Win
For the first time since February 2021, the Bradley Braves have won an MVC game on the road. Bradley defeated Evansville 61-51, also giving the Braves their first MVC win of the season. Alex Rouse stepped up to lead the team with 16 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals. Caroline Waite once again had a double digit scoring game with 12 points, and Isis Fitch claimed another double-double on the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.    

DU: Fiery Finish
The Drake University women’s hoops team came through in the clutch during their final homestand of the 2022-23 regular season. The Bulldogs took care of business in their first game of the weekend, an 83-63 rout of Missouri State (3/2). Drake then throttled Southern Illinois 91-68 to secure the no. 4 seed and a first round bye in next week’s Hoops in the Heartland MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Bulldogs finish the regular season with records of 19-9 overall and 14-6 in MVC play. All 14 of their league wins have come by at least 12 points. Drake will start their run at a postseason championship next Friday, Mar. 9 against the winner of the Missouri State/Bradley first round matchup. 

UE: Nine Seed for Aces
Evansville heads into Hoops in the Heartland following a resurgent 11-win campaign for the Aces. With the 11 wins, Evansville earned the No. 9 seed in the 12-team tournament, matching its highest seed since the 2016-17 season, albeit more impressively with the extended field.

UIC: On McCloud Nine
As Conference Play comes to a close, the Flames finish their first season under head coach Ashleen Bracey with their best season in over nine seasons. The Flames finish 17-14 and 9-11 in Missouri Valley Conference Play and a No. 6 seed in Hoops in the Heartland. Bracey and her coaching staff secured the biggest win based turnaround by a first-year coach in MVC league history with 15 wins.  

ILS: Special Season
Illinois State has won 20+ games in a season for the first time under Kristen Gillespie, and first time as a program since the 2012-13 season which saw ILS finish 24-11.

Illinois State won their first regular season championship as a program since 2009-10. The Redbirds hold the no. 1 seed heading into Hoops in the Heartland next weekend. 

The Redbirds also have 17 conference wins in the regular season. The last time ILS held 17 or more conference wins in a season came during the 1984-85, as ILS finished 17-1 in GC play that year. 

INS: Williams’ Career Night
Indiana State senior guard Del’Janae Williams had a game to remember against Bradley, as she set career-best marks in multiple offensive statistics. Williams had a career-high 30 points, the first 30-point game for a Sycamore since 2014, while also setting career-best marks with 11 field goals and seven 3-pointers. She shot better than 50 percent both overall and from 3-point range. In addition, she led Indiana State with eight rebounds and five assists against Bradley, becoming the first Sycamore to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in a game this season.

MOST: Postseason Time
Missouri State heads into Hoops in the Heartland as the No. 5 seed. The Lady Bears own a 48-22 overall record in the conference tournament between the Gateway/Missouri Valley Conference, beginning in 1982-83. MSU is 62-20 in its last 82 games away from home.  

MUR:  All-Time Leader
With three three-pointers Thursday at Valpo, Macey Turley is now the program’s all-time leader in career made 3-pointers. The senior now has 265 for her career, passing the previous record of 264 set by Mariah Robinson.

UNI: Three Seed is Familiar
For the second year in a row, the Panthers enter Hoops in the Heartland as the number 3 seed in the tournament. Last year as the three seed, UNI made it all the way to the Championship Game after wins over Valparaiso and Missouri State. The Panthers would end up falling in the championship game to Illinois State, making it their first appearance in the final day of Hoops in the Heartland since 2018. This is the fifth year UNI comes into Hoops in the Heartland as the number 3 seed over the past decade. As the three seed, UNI has made it to the final day of the tournament twice and into the semifinal round all but one year.  

SIU: Block Party
The Salukis are 16 blocks away from setting a single-season program record. SIU currently has 139 blocks on the year. The record was set in 2010-11, when Southern posted 155 total blocks. Individually, Promise Taylor has set a new program record with over 83 blocks this season. Taylor surpassed CiCi Shannon, who had 82 blocks in 2011.   Taylor currently sits fifth on The Valley all-time single season list. 

VU: Improving 2nd Time Around
Looking at the nine opponents Valpo faced twice within MVC play, the Beacons averaged an improvement of 8.1 points/game in scoring margin from the first matchup to the second matchup. The Beacons fared better the second time around against seven of those nine foes, including four double-digit improvements.

HerHoopStats.com Stat of the Week
Aniya Thomas of Missouri State is one of two players in Division I this season averaging at least 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game with less than 3 turnovers per game.