NOTEBOOK (PDF)

Back-to-Back Titles
Drake clinched its second-straight outright Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with its win over Illinois State Sunday at the Knapp Center. It is the seventh MVC title in program history. The Bulldogs won back-to-back MVC regular season titles for the first time since 1996-97 and 1997-98. Drake, which is already the only team to go undefeated in regular season play after last year’s 18-0 run, is two wins away from doing it for the second-straight season. 

New Valley Streak 
Drake now has the longest win streak in the history of the Gateway/MVC for regular season contests.  The impressive streak started Feb. 26, 2016 with a win over Loyola.  The Bulldogs broke SIU’s 37 game streak from 1985-1987 during the Gateway era with a win over Illinois State Sunday.

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

Back-to-Back 20 Wins
Drake has tied Missouri State with the most 20-win seasons (since the 1982-83 season), with 16. The Bulldogs have now won 20 or more games in each of the past four 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 - Drake, Missouri State
12 - Illinois State
9 - Southern Illinois
5 - Indiana State
4 - UNI
3 - Evansville
1 - Bradley

Milestone Win for Warren
Tanya Warren’s win over Illinois State on Feb. 23 gave the 11-year UNI head coach her 200th-career victory, while the Feb. 25 win over Bradley moved her to 201 for her sensational coaching career. Warren is the only active women’s basketball coach in the Valley to have over 200-career wins. Overall, Warren’s 201 victories rank fifth in the Valley, behind SIU’s Cindy Scott (353), MSU’s Cheryl Burnett (319), Illinois State’s Jill Hutchison (277) and Eastern Illinois’ Barbara Hilke (231). The five coaches are the only women’s basketball coaches to achieve the 200-win feat in Valley history.  

MVC Coaching Leaders, All-Game Wins 
    1.    Cindy Scott, Southern Illinois (1983-98)    353
    2.    Cheryl Burnett, Missouri State (1988-02)    319
    3.     Jill Hutchison, Illinois State (1983-99)    277
    4.    Barbara Hilke, Eastern Illinois (1983-92)    231
    5.    Tanya Warren, UNI (2008-present)    201

Sharp Shooters
Currently, Drake ranks fifth nationally in field goal percentage, connecting 49.0% from the field. The Bulldogs are in great company, sitting behind #1 UConn, #3 Baylor, #5 Notre Dame and #6 Oregon.

Field Goal %
    1.    UConn    53.4%
    2.    Baylor    51.3%
    3.    Notre Dame    50.2%
    4.     Oregon    49.7%
    5.     Drake    49.0%

Hot at the Line
Drake’s Becca Hittner made 51 consecutive free throws dating back to a miss at Missouri State on Jan. 5, finally missing during the third quarter of Drake’s win over Bradley on Feb. 23.  The 51-straight makes are a Drake school record and ranks as the second-best streak in Valley history.  

Consecutive Free Throws Made
    1.    53 - Katie Miller, UNI    2000
    2.    51 - Becca Hittner, Drake    2018
    3.    44 - Kelsey Luna, Indiana State    2009-10
           44 - Kim Wypiszynski, UNI    2009-10
           44 - Mallory Ladd, Evansville    2012-13

Double Your Pleasure
UNI’s Megan Maahs leads the league in double-doubles this season with 10, and is averaging a double-double with 10.1 points and a league-best 10.0 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

RPI Update
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Feb. 26) has four Valley teams that rank in the top-160, led by Drake at No. 76, Missouri State at No. 90, UNI at 138 and Southern Illinois at 158.

Scheduled Tough
Drake leads the league with a non-conference strength of schedule of 10.  Three other league schools, including Missouri State (No. 12), UNI (No. 32) and Southern Illinois (48), also have schedules that rank in the top-50.  The Valley is one of five leagues to have at least four teams appearing in the Top 50, joining the Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12, and SEC.

Tournament Preview Show
The 2018 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament Preview Show will air on The Valley on ESPN3 – the Conference’s co-branded digital network with ESPN – on Thursday, March 8. The preview show – co-hosted by Scott Warmann and Laura Leonard – will be shown on The Valley on ESPN3 at 3:30 p.m. CST as a lead-in to tournament coverage starting that date.

The Valley on ESPN3 will also distribute opening-round games (4 and 7 p.m. Central) on Thursday, March 8, and all four quarterfinals (12, 2:30, 6 and 8:30 p.m. Central) on Friday, March 9, from the MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament from TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Illinois.  The tournament semifinals (1:30 and 4 p.m. Central) will be shown on Saturday, March 10, and the title game will air at 2 p.m. Central on Sunday, March 11.