The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:

STARTING FIVE

[1 | cross-divisional league play continues thursday & saturday]
GLVC women's basketball action returns for the second week in a row with eight games on both Thursday and Saturday with cross-divisional contests. No. 12 Drury (13-2, 5-0 GLVC) enters the week atop the West Division with a GLVC-best five-game winning streak, while No. 4 Bellarmine (12-1, 4-0 GLVC) leads the way in the East. Southern Indiana (12-2, 4-0 GLVC) is the only other team undefeated in league play, while both Lewis (12-3, 4-1 GLVC) and Indianapolis (9-5, 3-1 GLVC) have suffered just one loss to Conference foes. All 16 games will stream live on the GLVC Sports Network at GLVCSN.com.

[2 | three glvc teams continue ranking in wbca top-25 poll]
The Great Lakes Valley Conference is represented by Bellarmine University, Drury University and Lewis University in the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Poll, it was announced Tuesday (Jan. 10). Bellarmine (12-1) won two GLVC games this past week to help sustain its No. 4 spot in the poll for the fourth week in a row. Drury (11-2) also won two league games and held its spot in 12th, while Lewis (12-3) was 1-1 in Conference action that dropped it from No. 16 to No. 19.

[3 | in case you missed the milestones]
Southern Indiana head coach Rick Stein led his team to a 57-39 win over William Jewell Jan. 5 that also amounted to his 300th career victory. In the same game, Jewell’s Maddie Nelson eclipsed the 1,000-point mark, becoming the program’s 10th member of the club. On Dec. 18, Bellarmine senior Sarah Galvin also earned her way into the 1,000-point club after leading the Knights to a 68-61 win over Florida Tech. One day later, head coach Chancellor Dugan garnered her 400th career win as Bellarmine defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 82-70.

[4 | notable league stats]
Two GLVC teams that lead the league in a statistical category also have a student-athlete that tops the Conference in the same category individually. Southern Indiana has the best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.15 led by Tanner Marcum’s 2.67 mark, while Drury’s 120 three-pointers made has been aided in large part by Paige Wilson’s 44. Wilson also leads the GLVC in three-pointers per game at 2.93. Additionally, there are four teams with two players in the top 15 for scoring, including Lewis’s Jessica Kelliher and Jamie Johnson tied for second with an 18.9 average. Indianapolis has the fourth (Sydney Brackemyre, 17.3) and 11th (Martha Burse, 14.9) best scorers, while USI’s Kaydie Grooms (16.4) and Hannah Wascher (12.5) are fifth and 15th respectively. Bellarmine rounds out the group with the sixth- and 14th-best scorers in Sarah Galvin (15.9) and Raven Merriweather (12.7).

[5 | glvc ranks among ncaa statistical leaders]
After Tuesday’s updated release of the NCAA statistical report, five teams find themselves in the top 10 in 10 different categories while four players boast the same merits. Southern Indiana holds the most top-10 spots nationally with six, including rebound margin (12.1, 3rd), scoring margin (25.3, 6th), blocked shots (82, 7th), blocked shots per game (5.9, 7th), offensive rebounds per game (18, 9th) and turnover margin (10th, 7.21). Drury holds the highest NCAA D-II mark of all league teams with its second-best three-point field-goal percentage of 41.1. Lewis is third in field-goal percentage (48.8), Maryville has committed the fourth-fewest fouls (162) and Quincy has the 10th-best free-throw percentage in the nation with a 78.2 clip. As for the individual stars, Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher leads all other shooters with a 65.0 percent field-goal percentage that has held up her active career leading 61.8 percent mark. The sophomore also ranks 10th in field goals made (115).  Another Division II leader is William Jewell’s Maddie Nelson, who has played 38.67 minutes to top all others. Maryville’s Ali Ringering has sunk 50.0 percent of her three-point field goals to sit fourth, while Illinois Springfield’s Syerra Cunningham has the sixth best average for rebounds per game with 12.0.