2/29: Illinois State at Creighton - On Friday, Feb. 29, Valley TV cameras will showcase Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska, for the 7:30 p.m. Central telecast. The game will be shown live at 7:30 p.m. Central on Feb. 29 on FSN Midwest and Fox College Sports and will be tape-delayed at 1:00 a.m. Central on March 1 on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The contest will also be shown on Metro Sports – the league’s production company which is based in Kansas City, Mo. – live at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 29.

3/2: Illinois State at Drake - On Sunday, March 2, Valley TV cameras will showcase Drake Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2:30 p.m. Central telecast. The game will be shown live at 2:30 p.m. Central on March 2 on FSN Midwest, FSN Indiana and Fox College Sports and on tape-delay at 1 a.m. Central on March 3 on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The contest will also be shown on Metro Sports – the league’s production company which is based in Kansas City, Mo. – live at 2:30 p.m. on March 2.

Remaining Schedule:

Thurs., Feb. 28 *Bradley at Southern Illinois

Thurs., Feb. 28 *Northern Iowa at Evansville

Fri., Feb. 29 *Illinois State at Creighton

Fri., Feb. 29 *Indiana State at Drake

Sat., March 1 *Bradley at Evansville

Sat., March 1 *Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois

Sun., March 2 *Indiana State at Creighton (ESPNU)

Sun., March 2 *Illinois State at Drake

Sun., March 2 *Wichita State at Missouri State

Thurs., March 6 *Evansville at Indiana State

Thurs., March 6 *Creighton at Wichita State

Thurs., March 6 *Drake at Missouri State

Thurs., March 6 *Southern Illinois at Illinois State

Sat., March 8 *Northern Iowa at Bradley

Sat., March 8 *Drake at Wichita State

Sat., March 8 *Southern Illinois at Indiana State

Sat., March 8 *Evansville at Illinois State

Sat., March 8 *Creighton at Missouri State

Prolific Offense - Illinois State leads the MVC in scoring, averaging 78.5 points per game, 6th best in the nations. As a league, the MVC ranks eighth in scoring at 66.40 points per game. Seven teams are scoring at a clip above the league average.

Long Range Bombers - The Missouri Valley Conference is currently third in the country in three-point makes per game with 5.723. Seven MVC schools have made more than 400 three-point shots to date, two – Missouri State and UNI – have hit more than 500.

Top 50 and In? - Collegiate Basketball News released the list of 42 teams that had earned RPIs in the top 50 and were left out of the NCAA tournament from 1998-2007. Just one MVC team with an RPI in the top 50 has been left out in that span.

RPI: According the Collegiate Basketball News, the Missouri Valley Conference is ranked ninth as a league in the RPI, .0011 behind the West Coast Conference for eighth. If that ranking holds, it would tie the top ranking in conference history.

RPI: Over the past five seasons, the No. 8 RPI league has received multiple bids into the NCAA tournament four times, the No. 9 RPI league has earned multiple berths three times. Last season, the 10th-rated league (CAA) earned three bids.

RPI: Bidding Wars – Inequities?  -Since the 2002-03 season, members of the six BCS football leagues (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 10, SEC) have combined to take 136 of the 165 total at-large bids (82.4 percent) to the NCAA tournament.

Quick math shows non-BCS leagues earning just 29 at-large berths (17.6 percent) over the same time span. Non-BCS teams have failed to receive double-figure at-large bids for seven-consecutive seasons.

SOS: The Missouri Valley Conference boasts the nation’s eighth-best strength of schedule in overall games and holds the No. 6 non-conference strength of schedule according to Collegiate Basketball News (2/25). The No. 6 non-conference strength of schedule puts the league ahead of two so-called "power conferences" -- Big East (7), ACC (8).

A Touch of CLASS -UE senior Rebekah Parker was chosen as one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The award honors the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete of the Year in eight different sports and focuses on the characteristics of classroom, character, community, and competition. A fan vote will help decide the recipient of the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, and fans can vote on-line at www.seniorclassaward.com. Currently, Parker is second in fan voting behind Sarah Elliot of Kentucky. Fans can vote once per day. Voting ends March 21.

Last Week’s Women’s Basketball Headlines:

Defending Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Kristi Cirone broke into Illinois State’s top 10 in career scoring with a 21-point effort in the Redbirds’ (22-3, 12-2 MVC) win over Missouri State on Sunday. UNI was a buzzer-beating 72-70 winner over Drake, using 27 points, 5-of-6 from three-point range, and nine assists from Jacqui Kalin to improve to 7-8 in Valley play. Kalin hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the Panthers the win.

NORMAL, Ill. - Junior Kristi Cirone scored 10 of Illinois State’s first 14 points, which elevated her into the No. 10 spot on the all-time career scoring list in Redbird history, and finished with 21 points to lead ISU to a 78-66 victory over Missouri State in Missouri Valley Conference action Sunday on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - University of Northern Iowa freshman Jacqui Kalin knocked down a deep three at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 72-70 win over in-state rival Drake Sunday afternoon in the McLeod Center. Nicole Clausen grabbed an offensive rebound with less than five seconds remaining, and the Panthers called time out with 1.2 seconds left to set up the game-winning shot.

PEORIA, Ill. — Bradley came away with a pair of steals in the final 50 seconds of the game and was able to erase a three-point deficit in the closing seconds to come away with a 52-51 home victory against Creighton Saturday at Robertson Memorial Field House. The Bradley women’s basketball team ended a four-game losing streak and also snapped a 17-game home losing skid in the series against the Bluejays.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State forced 21 Wichita State turnovers and hit nine 3-point field goals en route to downing the Shockers by a score of 69-50 at Hulman Center. ISU pulled their record back to even at 12-12, 6-8 MVC while Wichita State fell to 9-17, 3-11 MVC.

CARBONDALE, Ill.—When the University of Evansville women’s basketball team needed a lift Friday night, the Purple Aces turned to their bench, and it come through on both ends of the court to lift the Purple Aces to a 71-61 victory over Southern Illinois at SIU Arena in Carbondale.

Evansville received 33 points from its reserves, including a career-high 14 points and six rebounds from freshman Ashlee Barrett and a career-best 13 points from sophomore guard Amy Gallagher. The Purple Aces held a 33-19 edge in bench points, after getting just 14 points in a loss at Creighton last Sunday.

Illinois State maintained their lead atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings, improving to 11-2 with a 77-57 home win over Wichita State. Nicole Lewis paced the Redbirds with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Kristi Cirone added 15 points. Drake put five players in double-figures and shot 57.7 percent as they topped Bradley, 77-63. Creighton was a winner for the seventh time in their last eight games and Ally Thrall joined the Bluejays 1,000-point club in their 69-51 win at UNI. Indiana State needed an extra five minutes to get past Missouri State, 86-77. Laura Rudolphi scored a game-high 27 on 12/18 shooting for the Sycamores.

NORMAL, Ill. - Nicolle Lewis scored a team-high 16 points and corralled eight rebounds to lead a dominating second half offensive effort, and lift the Illinois State women’s basketball team (21-3, 11-2 MVC) to a convincing 77-57 win over visiting Wichita State (9-17, 3-11 MVC) on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena Thursday night. The win kept the Redbirds alone atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings, and secured the season sweep over the Shockers.

PEORIA, ILL. – Sparked by a game-high 18 points from junior Lauren Dybing (Bloomington, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran), Drake collected a 77-63 triumph at Bradley on Thursday (Feb. 21). The Bulldogs improved to 16-8 overall and 9-4 in the MVC with the victory, while the Braves dropped to 9-16 on the campaign, including 3-11 in league action.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Ally Thrall led all players with 14 points and became the 19th player in Creighton history to score 1,000 career points as the Bluejay women’s basketball team topped Northern Iowa 69-51 at the McLeod Center Thursday night. The Jays have now won seven of their last eight and improve to 16-8 on the season, 9-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State senior guard Angela Phillips connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch for the Sycamores as they overcame as much as a 13-point deficit to down the visiting Missouri State Lady Bears in overtime, 86-77, in front of 2,900 fans at Hulman Center.