The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:
GLVC SPORTS NETWORK (GLVCSN): All GLVC home games are available for free on GLVCSN.com, the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, and GLVCSN OTT apps on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
[1 // weekly review]
Last week, only one day was filled with GLVC contests on Thursday, while three non-conference games were played before and after, which were all won by GLVC teams. For the league games, six scored in double figures for No. 7 Drury, as it went on the road to hand Quincy a 90-67 loss. Bellarmine also tallied a winning score in the 90s – its first Conference victory this season – getting double digits from four players that included 24 by Raven Merriweather, in a 93-79 home win past UW-Parkside. Illinois Springfield's Destiny Ramsey drained 22 points in a close 68-63 win against visiting Rockhurst, while Lewis' Jessica Kelliher went 10-for-10 from the floor to score 24 and lead Lewis in its 65-49 win against Indianapolis at home. Maryville got its first league win in a 76-68 home result against Missouri S&T, while Truman State was led to a 76-62 road win by Katie Jaseckas' double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds in just 29 minutes. Missouri-St. Louis came back from a 14-8 first-quarter deficit, making up most of its ground in the third period with a 21-9 advantage to win its first GLVC contest 57-50 against visiting William Jewell.
[2 // winter break looms]
This week will be somewhat of a break for GLVC women's basketball teams, as only
13 games are on the slate and all against non-conference opponents. Finals are coming up for many schools and these games precede the last week of action before the 10-day winter holiday hiatus. McKendree opened the week on Monday, defeating Kentucky State 64-51 at home. Indianapolis welcomes Indiana Wesleyan Thursday night and Maryville is at home Friday against Missouri Valley. Saturday is the busiest of the week with eight games on tap, including home contests for Bellarmine, William Jewell, Rockhurst, Southern Indiana and Quincy all streaming on GLVCSN. Also playing Saturday is Missouri-St. Louis as well as Drury and Lewis, which will be in Hawaii and Florida, respectively. The latter two teams will remain in their tropical locales for two more games on Sunday to close out this week's action.
[3 // drury holds, usi rises in wbca poll]
No. 7 Drury (9-1) maintained its place in the
WBCA Top-25 Poll after winning two games last week, including a 90-67 GLVC victory at Quincy. The Panthers also defeated non-conference opponent Harding, 66-57. Southern Indiana (8-0) was idle last week yet managed to improve its position in the rankings from No. 22 to No. 17. The Screaming Eagles are one of just eight among the 25 best teams – and 12 in Division II – that remains unbeaten so far this season.
[4 // weekly honoree first]
Bellarmine University senior guard Raven Merriweather was named the
GLVC Player of the Week on Monday after two games scoring 20+ points, her third and fourth time tallying 20 or more this season. She started the week with 24 in a 93-79 league win against UW-Parkside in just 27 minutes on the court, and then notched 27 – one shy of her career-high mark – in the Knights’ non-conference 71-58 win over Kentucky State after 33 minutes of action. In addition to her scoring output average of 25.5 points per game, Merriweather added 4.5 rebounds per game, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals in the two games, shooting 54% (20-for-37) from the field. This was her first career weekly honor and the first Knights player to earn the accolade since Sarah Galvin was recognized on Feb. 1, 2016. Additionally, the senior notched her 1,000th career point earlier this season over the Thanksgiving holiday, scoring a game-high 17 points in a 77-63 loss to Grand Valley State. She became the 28th member of the program's 1,000-point club in the second quarter after requiring just seven points to reach the milestone.
[5 // national stat leaders]
Despite its average dropping by 1.0, Illinois Springfield (7-1) continues to lead NCAA Division II in blocked shots per game for yet another week with its 7.3 average, having grabbed a total of 62, which is the fifth most in the nation. Also ahead of all other D-II teams for another week is UW-Parkside with its 372 3-point field goals attempted, while they are second in the country with 523 rebounds. Southern Indiana remains tied for first in the nation with its 100.0 won-lost percentage at 8-0, matching 11 other unbeaten D-II schools. Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher has hung onto her nation-leading mark of 98 field goals made, holding the spot by four buckets ahead of two players tied in second with 94. Furthermore, the junior doesn’t just lead D-II players, but she leads the entire country at all three levels with her stat. Only D-I Iowa’s Megan Gustafson has made as many shots.