Following Sunday’s games, The Valley women’s basketball schedule is halfway home as 10 of the 20 league games are complete. Belmont and Drake are knotted at 9-1, marking the second straight season at least one league team was 9-1 at the midway point. Illinois State had nine wins in its first 10 games last year. The Redbirds shared the regular-season crown in 2022-23 with Belmont. Belmont was 7-3 after 10 MVC games last year, and this year’s current co-leader Drake was also 7-3 at the midway point of the 2022-23 Conference slate.
National Leaders - UNI’s Maya McDermott leads the nation in free throw percentage. Two other MVC student-athletes are in the Top 25, including Murray State’s Katelyn Young (20th, 88.6) and Drake’s Katie Dinnebier (23rd, 88.5).
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 (67) leads six MVC teams that rank in the Top 121 of the NCAA NET rankings (through games of Feb. 4). Drake (70), Murray State (108), Illinois State (109), UNI (117), and Missouri State (121) are in the Top 121.
Mid-Major Top 25 -Drake and Belmont continue to appear in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (Jan.30). Drake sits No. 5 in last week’s poll, while Belmont at 10, while Murray State (6) and Missouri State (3) are also receiving votes this week.
1000-Point Scorers - A handful of MVC student-athletes have eclipsed 1,000 points for their careers in recent weeks -- according to career statistics compiled and distributed by the NCAA, the MVC has 10 current women’s basketball players who have eclipsed 1,000 career points. Murray State’s Katelyn Young now has 2,043 points leads The Valley.
Home Cooking - Missouri State will put its 12-game home win streak on the line on Friday as the Lady Bears welcome Belmont to Springfield. MSU’s last home loss came on Feb. 19, 2023, at the hands of the Bruins. The Lady Bears are 21-4 at home under Beth Cunningham and are the lone team remaining in the MVC with an undefeated home record this season. The current 12-game home win streak is tied for the 12th-best active streak in NCAA women’s basketball.
Warren Nears Milestone - UNI’s Tanya Warren is looking to become just the second coach in MVC women’s basketball victory to break the 200-conference-win threshold. She ranks third all-time in MVC women’s history with 313 total wins during her tenure in the Conference. Warren follows Valley legend Cheryl Burnett of Missouri State (1988-02).
Drake’s Katie Dinnebier recorded the second triple-double in Drake women’s basketball history and the 14th in Valley history with her 19p-11r-10a against UNI on Feb. 4. The last two recorded triple-doubles in MVC women’s history have been recorded by Drake players.
NCAA LEADERS
HERHOOPSTATS.COM STAT OF THE WEEK
According to HerHoopStats.com’s Calvin Wetzel (@cwetzel31), Haven Ford of Murray State is the only full-time bench player in the country to average over 1 made three and 2 steals per game in conference play.
MVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Belmont Bruins
- Belmont defeated Murray State 73-54 at the Curb Event Center last Friday evening in its lone game of the week. The Bruins held the nation’s fourth-highest scoring team to a season-low 54 points. The Racers hadn’t been held under 70 points all season.
- Belmont continues to be elite on the defensive end of the floor, leading the MVC in both scoring defense (60.3 PPG) and field goal percentage defense (.380).
- The Bruins have held 14 of their 21 opponents this season under 65 points and kept 10 teams under 60 points.
- Through 10 MVC games, Belmont is limiting its opponents to 56.5 points per contest and has held six teams under 60 points.
- Junior forward Tessa Miller posted seven rebounds in Friday evening’s win over the Racers, surpassing 500 for her career. She is the first Bruin to earn 500 career rebounds since Ellie Harmeyer Strutz (2015-20) and Maddie Wright (2016-20).
- Miller has scored in double figures in 16 of 21 games this season and has distributed at least three assists in 11 outings.
- Banks has reached double figures in 15 of her first 21 games.
Bradley Braves
The Bradley Women's Basketball team earned a huge win over Evansville University, 79-72. The game started with two three-pointers from Freshman Halli Poock. Poock played 19 minutes in the first half, leading the Braves in scoring with 10 points and tied for the lead in assists with two. Bradley shot a strong 48% from the field. The Braves defense applied pressure at the arc, forcing the Aces to go 0-7 from the three-point line in the first half. The Braves ended the second quarter with a 6-0 run in 1:52 minutes. Poock came out in the second half better than the first. She drained 12 points in the first 3:52 minutes in the third quarter, including two more three-pointers. This forced Evansville to call their first timeout. Poock finished the game with 26 points. Sophomore Reagan Barkema dished out a career-high of assists, leading the team with four. More highs were set, as Junior Alex Rouse set her career record in rebounds, grabbing 10 boards. The Braves executed on transitions, scoring 17 points off turnovers, five more than the Aces, as well as scoring 13 fast break points.
Drake Bulldogs
The Bulldogs got back on track with a gritty 79-71 win at rival UNI (2/3). The Bulldogs held off a Panther comeback charge after opening the contest with a staunch defensive display. Drake was led by junior point guard Katie Dinnebier historic effort with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Her performance marked just the second triple-double in program history (Caitlin Ingle, 2015) and 14th in Valley history. The Bulldogs also go 20 points from Grace Berg as she vaulted into the top 15 on the team’s all-time scoring list. Junior forward Anna Miller also climbed further up the all-time blocks list with five rejections to grab sole possession of second on that record board. Drake will start the second half of the league season this weekend when Bradley and Illinois State visit Des Moines.
Evansville Aces
In a back-and-forth battle to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the University of Evansville women's basketball came just short in a 79-72 loss to the Bradley Braves. In front of their largest crowd in Meeks Family Fieldhouse, the Purple Aces returned from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to a one-point game. But it wasn't enough to get past the Braves as UE had no points in the final two and a half minutes. Evansville had two players in double-figures as freshman forwards Nevaeh Thomas and Maggie Hartwig had 19 and 14 points respectively.
uic flames
The UIC women's basketball team (12-8, 5-4 MVC) struggled to find its shot Wednesday night, as the Flames fell to Northern Iowa (7-11, 6-3 MVC) 65-43. Williams was the first player on either team to score in double-figures. She has scored double digits in eight out of the last ten games. Ellew played a season-high 28 minutes Wednesday night. She played 26 minutes against Milwaukee on Nov. 26.
On Sunday the Flames battled Valparaiso (4-15, 3-7 MVC) to the final seconds, but a buzzer-beating shot was the difference as the Flames fell to the Beacons, 71-70.After five points from the Beacons in less than 30 seconds, Williams found Rimmer on the block in a high-low action for an easy two (58-55) with four minutes remaining. Valpo hit three three-pointers in a row to retake a 64-58 lead with three minutes remaining in the game. Zabrecky answered with a three of her own to cut the Flames' deficit in half at 2:53. The senior shooter hit another three-point shot with 24 seconds remaining to give UIC the two-point advantage. The Beacons fouled late in the game to stop the clock, where graduate student guard Dais'Ja Trotter (Louisville, Ky./Seneca/Cincinnati) made one of two free throws, tallying her first points of the game (69-66). At five seconds, Valpo's Nevaeh Jackson connected on a three, tying the game. Williams was fouled on the ensuing possession and made one at the charity stripe to put UIC back ahead, 70-69 with four seconds on the clock. After a timeout with 1.3 seconds left, Valpo's Leah Earnest took a pass on the left wing and drove the baseline for the winning layup as time expired. Rimmer ended the first 20 minutes of play with nine rebounds, four being offensive. Middleton shot 100% from the field in the second quarter (3-3 from the field, 2-2 on free throws). UIC had nine of 10 players that saw the floor to score in Sunday's game.
Illinois state redbirds
The Redbirds took the road win over Indiana State on Sunday at a score of 64-59. Wilson had five rebounds in the win, which puts her at 766 rebounds in her Illinois State career. She moved into the top five of Illinois State's career rebounding list with the effort. Illinois State won its tenth straight over Indiana State, which is Illinois State's second-longest active winning streak against an active MVC foe behind a streak of 12-straight over Evansville. Illinois State finished 25-for-27 from the free throw line, which is a season-best 92.6%. It marks the second time this season Illinois State has shot north of 90 percent from the free throw line, joining an effort of 90.5 percent (19-for-21) against UNI last week. It was the ninth time in MVC play that Illinois State has made double-digit free throws and the fourth time the Redbirds have made 20-plus free throws in a single league game this season. It was the second time this season Bullman has finished a single-game with five blocks, joining her five-block performance Jan. 10 vs Southern Illinois. It was the tenth time this season the Redbirds have finished with four-plus double figure scorers in a single game. The Redbirds are 9-1 in those contests.
Indiana state sycamores
Indiana State continues to be one of the best teams in the MVC when it comes to defending the 3-point line. Sycamore opponents have gone just 47-for-186 from behind the arc in conference play, equating to a 25.3 percent clip from distance. Indiana State is one of just two teams to hold conference foes below 30 percent from distance, and the only team in the conference to hold teams below 28 percent from three.
Indiana State guard Ella Sawyer has stepped up for the Sycamores in recent games, as her numbers in all three major statistical categories have continued to trend in an upward direction. Over Indiana State’s last six games, Sawyer has averaged 8.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game, with three double-digit scoring games in that span. Sawyer has also found success from behind the arc in recent games, hitting four of her last eight 3-point attempts dating back to Jan. 19.
Missouri state Ladybears
- Missouri State will put its 12-game home win streak on the line on Friday as the Lady Bears welcome Belmont to Springfield. MSU’s last home loss came on Feb. 19, 2023, at the hands of the Bruins. The Lady Bears are 21-4 at home under Beth Cunningham and are the lone team remaining in the MVC with an undefeated home record this season.
- At the halfway point of the conference season, the Lady Bears are in third place in the MVC race, sitting just one game behind Belmont and Drake at the top of the standings. Missouri State is 100-19 in its last 119 Valley games and 136-29 in the last 165.
- Winning the battle on the boards – Missouri State is a perfect 11-0 this season when outrebounding its opponents.
Murray state Racers
- Murray State women's basketball falls 54-73 at Belmont, Friday. The Racers fail to find their rhythm, shooting 31 percent from the field with only six out of 23 three-pointers made. MSU is now 6-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play and are sitting at sixth on the conference standings.
- Ford and Young Tandem - Katelyn Young and Haven Ford keeps their duet performance going by scoring double digits each. Young led Racers with 14 points followed by Ford with 12.
northern iowa panthers
- Maya McDermott remains perfect in conference play as well as inside the McLeod Center after going 3-for-3 from the free throw line against Drake. She has now made all 25 free throws in conference play and all 24 she has taken in the McLeod Center.
- Grace Boffeli finished the matchup with nine rebounds. She now claims the no. 6 spot on UNI's all-time rebound list, passing Erin Brocka (2007-11), Lizzie Boeck (2007-11), and Amy Swisher (200-04) in the game against Drake.
- UNI has the chance to extend their three-pointer streak against Illinois State. A three-pointer against the Redbirds would mean the 500th consecutive matchup that the Panthers have recorded a triple, dating back to 2008.
Southern Illinois Salukis
The Salukis continue to force turnovers at a league-leading rate. Against the Lady Bears on Saturday, SIU forced 26 turnovers, raising the season average to 20.7 turnovers forced per game. This tied for 21st in the country with Utah Valley. Sophomore guard Jaidynn Mason is starting to find her rhythm again for the Salukis. Mason scored 21 points on Saturday against Missouri State, her second-most points in a game this season. The Blue Springs, Mo., native has scored in double-figures in four straight games and over 20 points in two of them.
Valparaiso beacons
Valpo's win at UIC to close the first half of MVC play was its first victory in buzzer-beating fashion since November 2016. Notably, the program's last buzzer-beating win came in Chicago as well, as Meredith Hamlet beat the horn with a layup to win at Chicago State. Valpo went 14-for-29 from 3-point range on Sunday, setting season highs for both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage (.483). The 14 triples are tied for ninth-most in a single game in program history.