The 2024-25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season begins on Monday (Nov. 4), and four of the Missouri Valley Conference's 12 programs will be in action.
Five women’s basketball teams in the league will face Power 5 opponents during opening week, highlighted by a pair of top-25 matchups.
2024-25 OPENING WEEK SCHEDULE
Monday, November 4
Drake at North Dakota State - 11 AM CT
Valparaiso at Liberty - 12 PM CT
Western Kentucky at Indiana State - 6 PM CT
Southern Illinois at Auburn - 6 PM CT
Tuesday, November 5
Evansville at IU Indy - 5:30 PM CT
La Crosse at UNI - 6 PM CT
Cincinnati at UIC - 7 PM CT
Wednesday, November 6
Illinois State at Northwestern - 7 PM CT
Thursday, November 7
Saint Louis at Drake - 6 PM CT
SIUE at Murray State - 6 PM CT
St. Francis (Ill.) at Bradley - 6 PM CT
Indiana State at No. 8 Iowa State - 6:30 PM CT
Belmont at No. 13 Kansas State - 6:30 PM CT
Saturday, November 9
UNI at Green Bay - 1 PM CT
Belmont at Wichita State - 2 PM CT
Purdue Fort Wayne at Valparaiso - 7 PM CT
Sunday, November 10
Tulsa at Missouri State - 2 PM CT
Wright State at Evansville - 2 PM CT
Eastern Kentucky at Southern Illinois - 2 PM CT
MID-MAJOR TOP 25
Drake, UNI and Belmont were featured in the preseason (Oct. 29) CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. The Bulldogs open the season at No. 6 in the poll, while the Panthers check in at No. 12 and the Bruins at No. 15. Murray State and Missouri State are also receiving votes.
1,000-POINT CLUB
Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, five Valley programs feature at least one player in its schools’ 1,000-point club since their institution has been a member of the MVC (career point totals may vary).
Maya McDermott, UNI - 1,311 points
Katie Dinnebier, Drake - 1,291 points
Katelyn Young, Murray State - 1,287 points
Grace Boffeli, UNI - 1,243
Leah Earnest, Valparaiso - 1,099
Maya Wong, Illinois State - 1,067
Anna Miller, Drake - 1,063
Emerson Green, UNI - 1,001
WELCOME BACK
Four of the league’s six postseason specialty award winners from last season return this year, including the Player of the Year (Katie Dinnebier, Drake), Defensive Player of the Year (Anna Miller, Drake), Newcomer of the Year (Lacy Stokes, Missouri State) and Freshman of the Year (Jailyn Banks, Belmont).
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
MVC women’s basketball sent a record-tying seven programs to the postseason in 2023-24 as Drake (NCAA), Belmont (WBIT), Missouri State (WBIT), UIC (WNIT), Illinois State (WNIT), Murray State (WNIT) and UNI (WNIT) represented the league.
The MVC previously had seven teams reach postseason play in 2012. The Valley sent six teams to the postseason in 1999, 2010, 2021 and 2023.