ST. LOUIS -- The 2025-26 women's basketball season officially begins on Monday, Nov. 3.
MVC Season Preview --
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Opening Week Schedule
| Monday, November 3 |
Time (CT) |
| Drake at Eastern Illinois |
12:00 PM |
| Robert Morris at UIC |
4:00 PM |
| Belmont at No. 6 Oklahoma |
4:30 PM |
| Indiana State at IU Indy |
5:30 PM |
| North Dakota State at UNI |
6:00 PM |
| Dayton at Illinois State |
6:30 PM |
| Trevecca at Murray State |
7:00 PM |
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| Tuesday, November 4 |
Time (CT) |
| Lewis at Southern Illinois |
11:00 AM |
| Valparaiso at DePaul |
6:00 PM |
| Judson College at Bradley |
6:00 PM |
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| Thursday, November 6 |
Time (CT) |
| Evansville at SEMO |
11:00 AM |
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| Friday, November 7 |
Time (CT) |
| Murray State at Southern Indiana |
5:00 PM |
| UIC at Indiana |
6:00 PM |
| Brown at Belmont |
6:30 PM |
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| Saturday, November 8 |
Time (CT) |
| Valparaiso at Detroit Mercy |
12:00 PM |
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| Sunday, November 9 |
Time (CT) |
| Illinois State at RVIllinois |
12:00 PM |
| Creighton at Drake |
2:00 PM |
| Evansville at Iowa |
2:00 PM |
| UNI at Saint Louis |
4:00 PM |
Conference News & Notes
- The MVC finished the 2024-25 season as the seventh-best Confernece in Division I, whilesending a record-tying seven teams to the postseason.
- Five Valley programs finished inside of the Top 100 of the NET at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season - Belmont (51), Murray State (52), Missouri State (65), Drake (71) and UNI (93).
- The 2026 Credit Union 1 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be held March 12-15 at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. This year’s event marks the 40th tournament in Valley history.
- In a poll of the league’s head coaches, communications directors and a media panel, Belmont was selected as preseason favorites to win the 2026 MVC crown. Murray State was picked second, while Illinois State and Drake finished in the top four of the voting.
- UNI’s Tanya Warren is the winningest coach all-time in MVC women’s basketball history for league games (218) and overall victories (339).
- Murray State’s Haven Ford and Halli Poock were named to the 2026 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, presented by Her Hoop Stats.
- Illinois State head coach Kristen Gillespie is two Conference wins away from recording career win No. 100 in Valley contests. When she reaches this milestone, she will be just the 10th coach ever in the league to reach triple-digit MVC wins.
- Belmont is coming off one of its most historic seasons, reaching the 2025 Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT) championship game. The Bruins’ 39 games played were the most in any season in program history.
- Collectively, The Valley will play more than 20 games in the non-conference slate against teams that made an appearance in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, as 10 MVC programs are facing at least one team from the tournament field.
- For the second-straight year, Murray State broke The Valley’s single-season team scoring average, replacing its 2023-24 record (84.5) with 86.8 points per game in 2024-25.
- Drake’s Katie Dinnebier finished her senior year and the 2024-25 campaign as the nation’s statistical leader with 285 3-point field goal attempts. It marked the second-straight year, and 12th time in league history, that a Valley player has ranked at the top of Division I in a statistical category.