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One More for Back-to-Back
With its 72-67 road win at UNI Friday and four games left in the regular season, Drake is one victory away from clinching its second-straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. With Bradley and Illinois State set to visit the Knapp Center this weekend, the Bulldogs are 14-0 in league play this season and hold a three-game advantage over second-place Missouri State. Drake swept the season series with Missouri State to hold the tiebreaker. The last time Drake won back-to-back outright MVC titles was 1996-97 and 1997-98. 

Valley Streak Continues
Drake has the longest win streak in the MVC era for regular season MVC contests.  With a road win at Missouri State on Jan. 5, Drake set the new all-time MVC era mark at 25, surpassing the Lady Bears record of 24-straight wins set in 2000. The impressive streak started Feb. 26, 2016 with a win over Loyola.  The Bulldogs can tie SIU’s 37 game streak from 1985-1987 during the Gateway era with a win over Bradley Friday.

Consecutive MVC/Gateway Wins
37 - Southern Illinois (Mar. 6, 1985-Dec. 30, 1987)
36 - Drake (Feb. 26, 2016-present)

Current Conference Win Streaks (NCAA)
83 - UConn (Dec. 29, 2013-present)
36 - Drake (Feb. 26, 2016-present)

Back-to-Back 20 Wins
Missouri State owns the most 20-win seasons (since the 1982-83 season), with 16, while Drake (15) and Illinois State (12) are a close second and third, respectively. At 19-7, Drake’s next victory will also be the 20th this season and equal Missouri State's 16 seasons with 20 wins. The Bulldogs have won 20 or more games in each of the past three seasons. The last time the program had four-consecutive 20-plus win seasons was 1996-97 to 2001-02 when it had six-straight 20-plus win campaigns. 

20-Win Seasons (since 1982-83)
16 - Missouri State
15 - Drake
12 - Illinois State
9 - Southern Illinois
5 - Indiana State
4 - UNI
3 - Evansville
1 - Bradley

Speaking of 20 Wins
Since the start of the 1992-93 season only two 20-win MVC teams have been left out of the postseason. In that time, all but two (53 of 55) 20-win Valley teams have advanced to the postseason. Last season Drake and UNI each earned postseason bids after winning at least 20 games

Salukis Enjoying Overtime
Southern Illinois improved to 4-0 in overtime games this season with their 88-86 double overtime win over Valparaiso on Feb. 16, breaking the MVC record for overtime wins in a single-season. Six teams were tied with three overtime games in a single-season, most recently the 2008-09 Evansville Purple Aces, who also tied the Valley record for most OT games in a single-season (5). 

2017-18 SIU     4-0
1992-93 Drake     3-0
1982-83 Evansville     3-0
2006-07 Northern Iowa     3-1
1986-87 Wichita State     3-1
2006-07 Evansville     3-2
2008-09 Evansville     3-2

The rest of the conference this season has yet to win an overtime game: Drake (0-2), Illinois State (0-1), Missouri State (0-1), UNI (0-2), Valparaiso (0-1).

Double Your Pleasure
UNI’s Megan Maahs leads the league in double-doubles this season with 10, following Friday’s 16 points and 16 rebounds vs. Drake, and is almost averaging a double-double with 9.6 points and a league-best 10.3 rebounds per game.  The 10 double-doubles is the most by any Panther since Alex Cook earned 10 in 2004-05. The past three seasons, an MVC player has finished the season averaging a double-double.

Year            Player, Team        PPG, RPG    #DD
16-17       Leti Lerma, Bradley        11.7, 10.8, 13
15-16       Dyana Pierre, SIU           12.3, 11.2, 15
14-15       Dyana Pierre, SIU           14.6, 11.8, 16

Another Successful Road Trip
Missouri State picked up two more road wins this weekend to finish with a 7-2 mark in away Valley games this season. The Lady Bears have won at least six conference road games in four consecutive seasons, and are now 24-7 in their last 31 MVC games in opposing gyms.

Approaching 200 Wins
UNI's Tanya Warren enters Friday’s contest on the verge of a milestone, as the 11-year head coach sits on 199 career victories. Should Warren secure 200 wins, she would become the only active MVC coach to achieve the feat. Only four coaches in Valley history have crossed the 200-win mark, with SIU’s Cindy Scott (353), MSU’s Cheryl Burnett (319), Illinois State’s Jill Hutchison (277) and Eastern Illinois’ Barbara Hilke (231) being the only coaches in league history to do so. 

RPI Update
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Feb. 19) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-170, led by Drake at No. 79, Missouri State at No. 99, UNI at 147 and Southern Illinois at 163.

Scheduled Tough
Drake leads the league with a non-conference strength of schedule of 10.  Three other league schools, including Missouri State (No. 14), UNI (No. 30) and Southern Illinois (No. 55), also have schedules that rank in the top-55.  The Valley is one of four leagues to have at least four teams appearing in the Top 55, joining the Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC.

Debbie Antonelli Ticket Challenge 
Debbie Antonelli issued a challenge for the 2018 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament -- She pledged to buy 4 all-session tickets for kids in the Quad Cities to attend the tournament. Tickets will be donated to the Middle School Madness Sportsmanship Program for participants in the poster and essay contest that takes place in the Quad Cities area.

Since then, over 100 all-session tickets have been donated. All 10 MVC coaches have stepped forward to donate along with Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton, Iowa State Head Coach Bill Fennelly, Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder, Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, South Carolina Associate Head Coach Lisa Boyer and ESPN’s Beth Mowins and Mechelle Voepel.