MVC Women's basketball Weekly Notebook March 5, 2024

Belmont Bruins

- With Sunday afternoon’s 80-55 rout of Evansville, Belmont finished the regular season an impressive 13-2 at home. The Bruins last won 13 home games in a single season in 2019-20.

- Sunday’s win was Belmont’s 200th at the Curb Event Center. The Bruins are 200-67 (.749) all-time in the Curb since the arena opened prior to the 2003-04 season.

- The Purple Aces were the fifth team Belmont has swept during the regular season – Indiana State, Murray State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois are the others.

- The Bruins have held opponents under 65 points 19 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 13 occasions.

- Leading the Valley in both scoring (61.3 PPG) and field goal percentage (38.9) defense, Belmont is limiting opponents to 59.9 points per game through 18 MVC contests. The Bruins have held their opponent under 60 points in half of their 18 MVC games.

- Belmont is among only 10 programs who have won 20-plus games for nine-straight seasons – UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast.

- Junior forward Tessa Miller has scored in double figures in 23 of 29 games this season and distributed at least three assists 18 times. She has surpassed 20 points in three of her last five outings.

- Redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones has dished out at least four assists in 20 of 29 games this season. Only seven steals shy of tying the Bruins’ NCAA era career steals record, Jones has accumulated 237 steals in a little over three seasons.

- Jones is only 22 points away from becoming Belmont’s 35th 1,000-point scorer.

Bradley Braves

The Braves saw 2 road losses this weekend at Missouri State (70-44) and Southern Illinois (70-54).

Against the Lady Bears, Sophomore Reagan Barkema set two career highs. She set a new career high in rebounds, grabbing nine boards. Barkema also set a new career high in blocks, recording two against the Bears. She had the most rebounds by one player in the game. Junior Nika Dorsey shot 50% from the field and 50% from three. Dorsey had the most threes on the Braves. Bradley got more than half their points in the paint, scoring 24 from down low.

Against the Salukis, After a 29-point performance this afternoon, Freshman Halli Poock continued to cement herself in Bradley history. Scoring 414 points so far this season, she passes Lasha Petree to become the second-highest-scoring freshman in Bradley Women's Basketball history! Petree had 397 points in her Freshman campaign (2018-19). Poock is 75 points behind Judy Burns for the most points in a freshman season in Bradley Women's Basketball history.

Poock made five three-pointers, shooting 55.6% from the three-point arc. Sophomore Reagan Barkema made two of her shots, both from the arc. Poock and Barkema were the only two Braves to make a three-pointer. The Bradley three-point defense was lock down, holding Southern Illinois to 3-15 from deep, only allowing 20% of their three-pointers to fall. As a team, Bradley made 90% of their free throws. The Braves and Salukis were tied in defensive rebounds, both grabbing 26 boards. Senior Isis Fitch set a new season high, tying her career high in steals, picking four pockets against the Salukis.

Drake Bulldogs

The Bulldogs capped off their 2023-24 home schedule with another two-game sweep of UIC (2/29) and Valpo (3/2) over the weekend. The Bulldogs took down the Flames and the Beacons in convincing victories as Drake secured the 10th regular season conference championship in program history. MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson was in attendance on Saturday and presented Drake with their first regular season title trophy since 2019 following the Dogs’ win over Valparaiso. Drake also celebrated Senior Day and honored veteran leaders Anna Brown, Taylor McAulay, and Grace Berg.

Illinois state redbirds

The Redbirds went 1-1 this weekend with a loss against Missouri State (62-67) and win over SIU (75-66 OT).

Against the Salukis, Led by 20-point efforts from Dowell and Wong, Illinois State overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to win in overtime Thursday. Illinois State fought back to tie the game at 60 before the end of regulation, before outscoring Southern Illinois 15-6 in overtime.

Dowell went 10-for-17 from the field to finish with a career-best 25 points. She added three assists to go with her 10 rebounds in the win. Wong put up just her second-career 20-point performance, finishing the night with 20 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists.

Illinois State led for most of the game, including 28-23 in a slow first half. The Salukis held a 21-16 advantage before Illinois State closed the first half on a 12-2 run and gained the lead.

The Redbirds nursed a two-possession lead for most of the third quarter, until the Salukis closed the third strong to lead 46-45. Southern Illinois took a 50-48 lead with 5:13 to play in regulation but Illinois State used a 6-0 run to jump ahead 54-50 and force a Saluki timeout. Southern Illinois answered with a 9-3 run to lead 59-56 with 31 seconds to play.

With Illinois State's back against the wall, Dowell and Wong converted crucial buckets in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime. Wong hit a floater with 14 seconds left to tie the game at 60.

Illinois State took over from there, outscoring Southern Illinois 15-6 in overtime. Dowell and Wong combined for 13 of the 15 Illinois State points in overtime to lead Illinois State to the win.

Against the Lady Bears, Dowell averaged 26.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists across two outings for Illinois State this week. She is the first freshman in the MVC this season to put up 25-plus points in consecutive games.

Dowell's 28 points are tied for the second most by a freshman in the MVC this year.

Dowell put up her 10th double-figure scoring performance in MVC play and her second-career 20-plus point outing. Overall, she has 13 double-figure outings this season, the most by a true freshman in the Kristen Gillespie era.

Maya Wong climbed to 302 career free throws Saturday, becoming the 7th player in program history to hit 300 career free throws. She also inched closer to 1,000 career points, of which she is four points shy of achieving.

Indiana state sycamores

The Sycamores saw two home wins this weekend to Murray State (87-70) and Belmont (74-67).

Against the Racers, Indiana State closed the road portion of its schedule at 6-9 overall and 4-6 in conference play. Indiana State was plus-seven in the 20 minutes that Savannah White was on the court for. Indiana State's 13 turnovers were its fewest in a conference game this season and the team's fewest since its road win at Central Michigan in early December. Despite the loss, Indiana State's strong numbers from behind the arc in conference play continued. The Sycamores were 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) on 3-point attempts. The first quarter proved to be the difference Sunday, as Indiana State was even with Murray State (59-59) across the last three quarters. Indiana State registered its seventh game with five or more blocks this season.

Against the Bruins, all of Bella Finnegan's 14 points came in the first half. Finnegan broke out of a shooting slump with a game-high four 3-pointers, shooting 57.1 percent from distance. Indiana State went 17-for-19 (89.5 percent) from the free throw line, continuing its strong trend of shooting well from the charity stripe. Nearly half of Indiana State's scoring production came from its bench, with the Sycamores totaling 27 bench points Friday. Each of Indiana State's four freshmen got on the scoresheet Friday, with all four also grabbing at least one rebound. Despite the loss, Indiana State found success from a distance. The Sycamores knocked down seven 3-pointers and shot the ball at a 41.7 percent clip from behind the arc (7-for-17). Friday's loss was Indiana State's first on a Friday this season. The Sycamores are now 3-1 in Friday games, all of which have come in conference play.

Missouri state Ladybears

• 1. According to HerHoopStats, Lacy Stokes is one of just five players in NCAA Division I and the only player in the MVC this season to post a stat line of at least 25 points, 7 assists and 7 steals in a game, which she accomplished in Saturday’s win against Illinois State. The other four players on the list include Caitlin Clark, Ashley Austin, Ja’Naiya Quinerly and Hannah Hidalgo.
• 2. Missouri State secured its seventh consecutive 20-win season with its victory against Illinois State on Saturday. The Lady Bears have accomplished the feat under three different head coaches (Kellie Harper, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and Beth Cunningham).
• 3. This season, Missouri State has held 15 opponents to 65 points or less. In two seasons under head coach Beth Cunningham, the Lady Bears are 30-0 when allowing 65 points or less.

Murray state Racers

• Vs. Evansville
• In A Nutshell
• Murray State women's basketball best Evansville 85-59 to earn their 10th Missouri Valley Conference win of the season, Friday.
• The Racers came out to a slow start as they were outscored 20-15 by the Aces in the first quarter. They came back and outscored Evansville 24-8 in the second quarter to take the lead.
• Murray State extends their lead in the third and fourth quarter by outscoring the Aces 21-12 and 25-19.
• The Racers are now 10-7 in MVC play and are sitting at sixth in the conference standings. They are 17-9 overall this season.
• Kate the Great
• Katelyn Young was two rebounds away from her 11th double-double of the season with 22 points and eight rebounds.
• Young is averaging 19.08 points per game this season.
• Bigs in double figures
• Hannah McKay (14) and Ava Learn (11) both posted double-figure points along with Young.
• Vs. Belmont
• In A Nutshell
• Murray State women's basketball wins over Indiana State on senior day to wrap final home game of the season on top, Sunday.
• MSU took advantage of a fast start by outscoring the Sycamores 28-11 in the first quarter. Through close second through fourth quarters, the Racers took the edge with a 87-70 win.
• The Racers are now 18-9 on the season and 11-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
• Kate the Great
• Katelyn Young posted 27 points on her senior day. Young is averaging 19.4 points per game.
• Bigs in double figures
• Hannah McKay (13) and Ava Learn (13) both posted double-figure points along with Young. McKay was one rebound away from posting a double-double with nine rebounds.

northern iowa panthers

• Tanya Warren became the Valley's all-time wins leader in conference games after the 89-87 comeback victory over Murray State. The 18-point comeback was the largest comeback in the Tanya Warren era.
• Emerson Green became the 30th member of UNI's 1,000-point club with a basket against Valparaiso.
• Maya McDermott finished the regular season with a perfect free throw percentage inside the McLeod Center. McDermott was 39-for-39 from the stripe at home.
• UNI is two conference wins away from 500 all-time conference victories.

Valparaiso beacons

The Beacons made double-digit 3-pointers in both of their games last week, going 11-of-28 from 3-point range at UNI before finishing 11-of-20 from deep at Drake. Valpo has now hit at least 10 triples seven times this year, while its 55% clip from behind the arc against the Bulldogs was a season-high percentage from deep.

Olivia Brown came off the bench to hit her first five 3-point attempts Saturday at Drake and finished 5-of-7 from deep, a season high for 3-pointers made for the fifth-year guard and just one off her career best. Brown now leads all Valley players both overall (.424) and in MVC-only play (.500) in 3-point percentage.