The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:
[1 | league play opens Thursday] This week
begins GLVC competition with the first chance to see how league schools stack up against one another. That includes 16 divisional games to start the month of December with eight on Thursday and eight more on Saturday. Bellarmine is the only league team to make it through the non-conference slate undefeated at 6-0. Five others have lost just one game, including Drury (6-1), Lewis (6-1), Southern Indiana (5-1), McKendree (4-1) and Illinois Springfield (3-1).
[2 | three teams move up in wbca national poll] Bellarmine, Drury and Lewis represent the Great Lakes Valley Conference in the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II
Women's Basketball Poll, it was announced Tuesday (Nov. 29). Thanks to its undefeated mark, Bellarmine cracked the top 5 and is ranked fifth in the poll, up three spots from No. 8. Drury also improved four places from No. 18 to No. 14, while Lewis jumped two spots to replace the Panthers at No. 18.
[3 | teams and individuals rank high in d-ii stats] Bellarmine is tied for first nationally for won-lost percentage at a perfect 100%, and Illinois Springfield is as high as fourth in field-goal percentage defense (30.0%). Also No. 4 in the nation is Maryville for personal fouls per game at 13.0 - just three more than the national leader's 10.0. A number of other member schools rank in the top 10 in categories like scoring margin (Southern Indiana, 31.3, sixth), rebound margin (USI, 15.8, sixth), assists (Lewis, 133.0, sixth), field-goal percentage (Drury, 49.4, sixth; Lewis, 48.0, ninth), assist turnover ratio (UIS, 1.34, ninth), turnover margin (USI, 9.33, ninth) and scoring offense (USI, 84.3, 10th). Individually, Maryville's Ali Ringering is tied for first with a perfect 100.0% (8-8) free-throw percentage, while William Jewell's Maddie Nelson tops the country in minutes played per game at 39.5 minutes on the court. Also in the top five is USI's Tanner Marcum, shooting 65.0% from three-point range for fourth best, as well as Lewis' Jamie Johnson in fourth for field-goal attempts (108.0) and teammate Jessica Kelliher at No. 4 for field goals made with 55.0. Other top-10 marks include field-goal percentage (Kelliher, 67.9, eighth), defensive rebounds (Cunningham, 9.0, eighth), three-point field goals made (Johnson, 21.0, ninth; Paige Wilson, Drury, 21.0, ninth), field goals made (Johnson, 50.0, ninth) and rebounds per game (Syerra Cunningham, UIS, 12.8, ninth). To see where are all GLVC teams and individuals rank, visit
NCAA.org.
[4 | 23 over 20] There have been 23 players who have
scored 20 points or more in a game, including seven standouts to do so on two or more occasions. Furthermore, two of Lewis' top performers - Jamie Johnson and Jessica Kelliher - have accomplished this feat four times already. Indianapolis' Sydney Brackemyre and Saint Joseph's Kalea Parks have two games of the sort on their resume, while the two times that Rockhurst's Mary Dineen scored over 20, she actually came away with 30.
[5 | 600 wins] Southern Indiana earned its
600th win last Tuesday evening with a dominating 83-37 victory over the University of Alabama-Huntsville in Evansville. USI outscored the Chargers 44-7 in the second half, using a 38-0 run at one point to turn a 45-34 lead into a 49-point cushion late in the contest. Only a three-pointer in the final 20 seconds of the game prevented the Screaming Eagles from pitching a shutout in the fourth quarter.