With three and a half weeks left of the conference season Drake pulls ahead of Belmont with a two game lead in conference play.
National Leaders -UNI’s Maya McDermott leads the nation in free throw percentage. Four other MVC student-athletes are in the Top 90, including Murray State’s Katelyn Young (19th, 88.7), Drake’s Katie Dinnebier (23rd, 88.0), Illinois State’s Maya Wong (59th, 84.7), and Murray State’s Haven Ford (90th, 82.1). Murray State’s 78.8 percentage as a team ranks 12th, while Drake is right behind (13th, 78.7).
MVC in the Non-Con - The Valley finished the non-conference portion of the schedule at 58-63, which included four wins over Power Five programs. Belmont was dominant, beating Georgia 76-50, Drake handled Iowa State 85-73, Belmont beat Northwestern 83-61, and Missouri State beat BYU 56-55.
In the NET -- Belmont (69) leads six MVC teams that rank in the Top 120 of the NCAA NET rankings (through Feb. 25). Drake (71), UNI (101), Murray State (103), Missouri State (110), and Illinois State (120) are in the Top 120.
Select Company - Katie Dinnebier of Drake is one of just three NCAA Division I women’s basketball players to average better than 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. She’s the only player to average better than 10.0 points (18.3), 6.0 assists (6.9) and 2.5 assists (2.5).
Mid-Major Top 25 -Drake and Belmont continue to appear in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (Feb. 27). Drake sits No. 8 in last week’s poll, while Belmont at No. 14, while Missouri State enters the rankings at 23rd. Murray State (4), Illinois State (2) also received votes this week.
20 Somethings - Since the start of the 1992-93 season only three 20-win MVC teams have not participated in postseason play. All five 20-win MVC teams in 2022-23 reached post-season play. Drake picked up its 20th victory of the season on Feb. 17 with a win at Belmont. Belmont picked up No. 20 on Feb. 25 at Murray State. The Bulldogs enter this week with a two-game lead over Belmont in the MVC regular-season race. Illinois State (18) and Missouri State (18) could reach 20 wins this week.
1000-Point Scorers - 11 Active MVC players to eclipse 1,000 career points (through 2/11/2024).
Career Leaders -- Total Points*
- Katelyn Young, Murray State 2,161
- Grace Berg, Drake 1,773
- Chelsea Cain, Indiana State 1,474
- DeAnna Wilson, Illinois State 1,449
- Jaida McCloud, UIC 1,286
- Maya McDermott, UNI 1,182
- Katie Dinnebier, Drake 1,153
- Olivia Brown, Valparaiso 1,134
- Grace Boffeli, UNI 1,155
- Hannah McKay, Murray State 1,099
- Leah Earnest, Valparaiso 1,008
- Emerson Green, UNI 999
- *includes games at previous schools
Warren Ties All-Time Record - UNI’s Tanya Warren has passed Cheryl Burnett (Missouri State) with 203 conference wins in her tenure in the MVC to match the league’s all-time record. Her 317 total wins as an MVC coach rank third-best all time in league history.
Coaching Wins, MVC Games Only
- 203 -- Tanya Warren, UNI (2008-present)
- 201 -- Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)
- 199 -- Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)
Big Number Quarters - Murray State has scored at least 25 points in 31 quarters this season, and 10 quarters with at least 30 points. Overall, Valley teams have exploded for 25 or more points in 122 quarters, 2 with 26 quarters of 30 or more. Conference-wide, the most popular quarter for a 25+plus is the fourth (39), while half of the 26 30+plus point quarters have come in the third period.
It’s a Steal -- Katie Dinnebier of Drake leads five MVC student-athletes who rank in the Top 120 of the NCAA in steals per game. Dinnebier has 2.52 steals per game to lead the MVC and rank No. 35 nationally. Southern Illinois leads the league and ranks 10th in the NCAA with 11.6 steals per game, leading eight MVC schools who rank in the Top 140 in SPG.
Block Party -- A pair of MVC student-athletes continue to climb the league’s all-time chart for career blocks. Anna Miller of Drake has 197 rejections and ranks sixth all-time in MVC history. Kate Bullman of Illinois State enters the week with 176 career blocks to rank ninth all-time in the MVC.
Bench Play -- Murray State continues to lead the nation in scoring from its bench, averaging 37.1 points from its non-starters. Six MVC teams rank in the Top 105.
Becky Hammon Update - Drake’s Katie Dinnebier has been named a Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Semifinalist. She is one of 10 semifinalists for the 2024 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.
NCAA LEADERS
HERHOOPSTATS.COM STAT OF THE WEEK
According to HerHoopStats.com’s Calvin Wetzel (@cwetzel31), Sandra Frau-Garcia is the only bench player (no starts) in the country to average 4+ assists per game, and if she maintains that pace, would be the only one to do so over a full season since at least 2009-10.
MVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Belmont Bruins
- With Sunday afternoon’s win at Murray State, Belmont (20-7, 13-3 MVC) secured its ninth consecutive 20-win season. Only nine other programs can say the same – UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Iowa, NC State, Indiana, South Dakota State and Florida Gulf Coast.
- The Bruins have swept three MVC teams this season – Murray State, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois.
- Belmont is 9-5 away from the Music City and 8-4 in true road games this season.
- The Racers, who are one of the top scoring teams in the country, have been held under 70 points just twice this season, their two run-ins with the Bruins.
- Belmont has held opponents under 65 points 17 times this season and kept teams under 60 points on 12 occasions.
- Leading the Valley in both scoring (61.6) and field goal percentage (39.1) defense, the Bruins are limiting opponents to 60.1 points per game through 16 MVC contests. Belmont has held its opponent under 60 points in half of its 16 MVC games.
- Junior forward Tessa Miller has reached double figures in 21 of 27 games this season and has distributed at least three assists 16 times. She has surpassed 20 points in two of her last three outings.
- Redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones moved into sole possession of fifth place on the Bruins’ career steals top-10 list. With 231 steals she is second in Belmont’s NCAA era.
Bradley Braves
The Braves saw 2 home losses this weekend at Illinois State (68-50) and Indiana State (74-67).
Against the Redbirds Junior Alex Rouse had a season-high in assists, leading the team and dishing out five. Rouse finished tied for second in points for the Braves, scoring seven, as well as grabbing the second-most rebounds with eight. Poock tied her career high in rebounds, grabbing five boards. Poock finished tied for first in points scored, draining 11, as well as third in rebounds and second in assists. Senior Isis Fitch was tied for the lead in points, scoring 11 and led the Braves in rebounds, grabbing 10. Fitch shot 50% from the field, the highest percentage for Bradley. Fitch recorded her first double-double of the season.
Against the Sycamores, the second half saw an even tighter back-and-forth game. The Braves were only outscored by two in the third, and four in the fourth quarter. However, this was enough to create separation between the Braves and Sycomores, with the foul game ending as time expired. Freshman Halli Poock led the team in scoring, dropping 27 points. This was Poock's second-highest-scoring game this season, the most points she's ever scored inside of Renaissance Coliseum. Poock shot an impressive 8-9 from the free throw line. Her team followed her success at the charity stripe, shooting a team 19-23 of their free throws. The Braves outstole the Sycomores, 8-4. Senior Isis Fitch and Poock both had two steals for the Braves, with four of their teammates collecting one. Fitch had another double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, the most on Bradley. This tied Fitch's season-high in points scored for the Braves.
Drake Bulldogs
The Bulldogs improved to 22-5 overall and 15-1 in conference play after a pair of pivotal victories over two rivals. The Bulldogs started the weekend with a comeback victory over Missouri State (2/22) before gritting through a back-and-forth second half to take down UNI (2/25). Anna Miller averaged a double-double in the two games including a 21-point, 19-rebound performance against the Panthers. Her 19 boards marked a new career high and matched the highest total in a single game in the MVC this season. Drake will conclude their 2023-24 home schedule next weekend when UIC and Valpo come to town.
Evansville Aces
The Aces saw two home loss this weekend against Illinois State (50-78) and Indiana State (66-69).
Against the Sycamores, the Purple Aces kept the Sycamores on their toes through 40 minutes but didn't make their last shot in the 69-66 loss. UE had a strong game on defense, outrebounding Indiana State 42 to 38 and defending the arc to the tune of only 18.2%. Evansville's post players led the way again as forward Maggie Hartwig had another 22-point game while forward Nevaeh Thomas had her fourth double-double of the season.
It was a quick start early for both teams, but the Aces took a 5-2 lead as guard Julia Palomo made the first three of the game. UE didn't hold onto the lead for long as it was traded between the two teams four times in the first five minutes. Following the media timeout, neither team could find a basket on the floor as the game remained 8-7 Sycamores for three minutes. Evansville was able to keep it close under the glass, tying the game on a three-point play from Thomas with two minutes remaining. Indiana State was back in front briefly but layups from Palomo and Hartwig had the Aces up by two after one.
UE's offense was quiet in the second quarter, with only 13 points through 10 minutes of play. Evansville's first points of the quarter came from Thomas in the paint over two minutes in and would be one of only two baskets made in the first five minutes. The Aces' other nine points of the quarter came during two minutes following a timeout. UE couldn't make another shot in the final two minutes as the Sycamores ended the half on an eight-point run for an 11-point deficit.
Against the Redbirds Following a close game at Indiana State on Thursday, the Purple Aces weren't able to keep up their production in a visit to the Redbirds. UE's production was led by forward Nevaeh Thomas with 16 points and six rebounds. Guard Lexie Sinclair also made an impact on Evansville's offense with her second game in double-figures, scoring 10 points at CEFCU Arena.
Offense was slow to come by early, but the Aces had the first point with a free throw. The first field goal of the game came from Illinois State two minutes into the quarter. Forward Tameshia Dozier had the early production for UE, tying the game with a field goal just under the halfway mark. But the Redbirds responded with a seven-point run to take the lead for the rest of the game. Evansville found its way back into the game as guard Julia Palomo made back-to-back free throws followed by the Aces' first triple of the day. It was traded points the rest of the quarter as UE trailed by four.
uic flames
UIC saw one win and one loss this weekend against Murray State (68-47) and Valparaiso (82-59).
UIC's all-time series record moves to 1-3 against Murray State since both schools joined the MVC prior to last season. The Flames outscored the Racers in the paint, 46-36, a common theme for UIC against its opponents this season. UIC held the advantage on bench points as well (34-20).
Ellew shot perfectly from the field (3-3 FG, 2-2 3FG, 1-1 FT), scoring nine points in 18 minutes of play. Senior Kristian Young (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) had five assists against the Beacons, raising the guard's career total to 412 (sixth in UIC record book). The Flames went to the charity stripe 16 times in the third quarter alone, which is more trips they take to the line on average in a full game.
Illinois state redbirds
The Redbirds saw 2 home wins this weekend against Evansville (50-78) and Bradley (68-50).
Wilson surpassed 800 career rebounds in Thursday's effort, which she is the 4th player in program history to do. She currently has 805 career rebounds, a mark that ranks third in program history. Wilson also moved into second in program history for career free throws, reaching 367 for her Redbird career. The performance was Wilson's third 20-point, 10-rebound double-double of the season and the sixth of her Illinois State career. It also marked the third time this season Wilson has finished with a double-double in back-to-back games. She has 25th career double-double, which puts Wilson one-shy of moving into third on the program's all-time double-doubles list. The Redbirds were 12-for-14 from the free throw line in the win (85.7%), which was the fifth time over the last six games that Illinois State has shot north of 85 percent from the free throw line. Ten different Redbirds scored in the win, including seven who had at least four points. Illinois State had just five turnovers, which was a season low and marked the first time this season the Redbirds have finished a single game with five or fewer turnovers. Illinois State has finished with fewer than 9 turnovers in back-to-back games.
Bullman's performance was her third outing of the season with three-plus blocks. She tallied five blocks in wins over Southern Illinois and Indiana State earlier this season. Illinois State extended its winning streak over Evansville to 12 games. It is the program's longest-active winning streak over a current Valley foe.The Redbirds finished with 31 points off the bench. It was the 8th time this season Illinois State has scored 30-plus points off the bench. Per Calvin Wetzel of HerHoop Stats, Bullman's all-around performance Sunday was the first game with 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, 5+ blocks, and 4+ threes by anyone in the country in at least the last 15 seasons. Shannon Dowell grabbed 8 rebounds in the win, her fourth performance this season with 8-plus rebounds. She is averaging 8.5 rebounds over her last two games, after grabbing 9 in the win at Bradley on Thursday. Illinois State finished with 20 assists Sunday, which marks the first time in MVC play that Illinois State has tallied 20-plus assists in a single game. Overall Illinois State's third game this year with 20-plus assists, after dishing 21 vs Saint Francis Nov. 19 and a season-high 22 in the win over Chicago State Nov. 30. Illinois State grabbed 52 rebounds in the win, and led the rebounding efforts by a 52-33 margin. It was the fourth time this season Illinois State has grabbed 50-plus rebounds in a single game.
Indiana state sycamores
The Sycamores saw two home wins this weekend to Evansville (66-69) and Braves (74-67).
Against the Braves, Indiana State shot 28-for-56 from the field, marking the first time this season Indiana State converted on 50 percent of its attempts. Indiana State had four players in double-figures for the second straight game. The Sycamores are 5-1 this season when four players score in double-figures. The Sycamores' 38 points in the paint marked Indiana State's most against a conference foe this season. Mya Glanton's 20 points matched her season-high, which was set in December against Southeast Missouri State. Kiley Bess has averaged 16.0 points per game over her last four games, grabbing five or more rebounds in every game during that span. Indiana State finished with a season-high 20 assists, marking the Sycamores' first 20-assist game since their home win over Bradley last season (Mar. 2, 2023). Five different Sycamores had three or more assists. Indiana State has won five straight over Bradley and leads the all-time series 54-31. The Sycamores are 22-21 against the Braves in Peoria.
Against the Aces, Chelsea Cain (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Kiley Bess (12 points, 10 rebounds) became the first Sycamore teammates to record a double-double in the same game since Marie Hunter and Adrian Folks accomplished the feat on Feb. 24, 2021 against Evansville. Indiana State went 4-0 against the Indiana schools in the MVC this season, marking the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Sycamores swept both season series from the in-state schools in the conference. Indiana State improved to 4-1 this season when four players scored in double-figures. Indiana State's ability to get to the free throw line was a big difference, as the Sycamores were 17-for-20 (85.0 percent) from the charity stripe. Indiana State forced Evansville into 21 turnovers Thursday, the Sycamores' most turnovers forced against an MVC opponent this season. Seven of those turnovers came in the fourth quarter, which set up the Sycamores' go-ahead run. Lily Niebuhr was a game-high plus-10 in 12 minutes of action, finishing with four points, four rebounds and a block. Indiana State's 12 steals were the most by the Sycamores since their Thanksgiving Day win over Radford, in which the Trees had 13.
Missouri state Ladybears
- • Missouri State closes out its regular season home slate this week with visits from Bradley and Illinois State. The Lady Bears are 12-1 at home this season and own a plus-11.6 scoring margin at Great Southern Bank Arena. In Springfield, Missouri State is holding opponents to just 60.0 points per game, while forcing 18.2 turnovers per game and limiting visitors to 9.5 assists per game (0.5 A/TO ratio).
- • In MVC games, Missouri State leads the league in three-point field goal percentage at .377 (81-215), while freshman Kyrah Daniels ranks third in The Valley in three-point percentage (.462). The Lady Bears are second in the MVC and rank 51st nationally in overall three-point percentage (.348) after ranking last in the league and 251st nationally in the category a season ago.
Murray state Racers
- At UIC
- In A Nutshell
- Murray State women's basketball gets back to win column with a 83-63 win at UIC, Thursday. Katelyn Young led the Racers with 38 points and 13 rebounds.
- On full throttle from the tip-off, the Racers outscored the Flames 47-30 in the first half before sealing the deal with a 36-33 second half.
- With the win, the Racers are now 9-6 in conference play, remaining at sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
- Kate The Great
- Katelyn Young posted 38 points and 13 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season. Young is averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds, 3.3 assists in her last three games.
- She now has 2154 points and is 133 points away from Sheila Smith's 2287 all-time points record. With the 13 rebounds, Young has surpassed Ashley Hayes in career rebounds with 945.
- Ava Learn's Second Double-Double
- Ava Learn posted her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Learn posted her first double-double in Southern Indiana with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
- Haven Ford's Scope
- Haven Ford posted a career-high of 10 assists. She ties Jenna Walker for a season game-high in assists.
- Vs. Belmont
- Murray State women's basketball falls 63-76 to Belmont, Sunday
- The Racers are now tied for sixth on the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 9-7 conference record and 16-9 season record.
- Leave it to Hannah
- Hannah McKay led the Racers with 13 points while shooting 4-7 from three pointer. Ava Learn also has double-figure points with 11, five of which came in the second quarter.
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.
- Maya McDermott leads both the conference and the nation in free throw percentage. Her
- 95.5% (63-for-66) from the stripe has seen all 33 free throws go down inside the McLeod Center. She also leads the conference with 3.00 assists per turnover. That mark is the sixth-best in the nation.
- With a win over the Salukis, UNI women’s basketball secured its 16th straight season at or above .500 in conference play.
- The Panthers recorded their 505th straight matchup with a three-pointer. In the game against the Bulldogs, UNI knocked down eight threes to continue a streak that has been active since December 2008.
Southern Illinois Salukis
Laniah Randle led the Salukis in scoring once again on Sunday, scoring 22 points on 50% shooting from the field at Missouri State. Randle has now had at least 20 points in three of her last four games, with two of them being 30-plus point performances. On the season, Randle has had 20 points or more in 13 games and at least 30 points in three games, which leads the Valley. The junior is second in the league in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game.
Valparaiso beacons
Senior Leah Earnest became the 18th player to join Valpo's 1,000-point club as she scored her 1,000th career point in the second quarter of Sunday's game against UIC. She is the 10th player in program history to tally at least 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds.
Valpo tallied at least 10 steals in both of its games last week, racking up 12 thefts against Belmont and 10 steals versus UIC. The Beacons have hit double digits in steals in 13 games this season.