The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:
STARTING FIVE
[1 | the conclusion commences]
Thursday will be the
final day of the regular season for GLVC women's basketball. Though all 12 GLVC Championship Tournament teams have already been determined, hosting rights for the first round will be decided by the results of these final eight contests. Four teams sit at 9-8 in GLVC games, including Indianapolis, Truman State, Missouri-St. Louis and William Jewell; while two others hold an 8-9 league mark, including UW-Parkside and Maryville. The Tritons and Saints are the only two of that group that will meet on Thursday. Additionally, Southern Indiana and Bellarmine will tipoff at 5:45 p.m. ET in a top-25 contest to be aired on the American Sports Network as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase flex schedule.
[2 | bellarmine, southern indiana selected for national television coverage]
Thursday’s top-25 matchup between No. 20 Bellarmine and No. 23 Southern Indiana has been picked up by the American Sports Network (ASN), and will air live on TUFF TV affiliates and NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET. The men’s battle, which pits No. 4 Bellarmine and No. 10 USI, will also be televised at 8 p.m. Additionally, the games will be re-broadcast on ASN on a tape-delayed basis. The women's game will be re-broadcast on Friday at 1 p.m. ET and the men's game will re-air at 3 p.m. ET. Due to the national television broadcast and stream on NCAA.com, GLVCSN will not stream this doubleheader.
[3 | three ranked in wbca poll]
The Great Lakes Valley Conference has three teams ranked in this week's Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA)
NCAA Division II Poll, it was announced Tuesday (Feb. 21). Drury University is No. 8, Bellarmine University is No. 20 and University of Southern Indiana is No. 23. Drury continues to roll in GLVC play, moving up one spot in the poll after picking up two more league wins for a 16-1 mark and 24-3 overall. Bellarmine (21-5, 13-4 GLVC) jumped up three spots from No. 23 after winning two Conference games last week, while USI (23-4, 15-2 GLVC) replaced the Knights in 23rd with a one spot improvement from No. 24 with two wins of its own in the league.
[4 | glvc holds four top-eight spots in first ncaa midwest region rankings]
The GLVC was represented by four teams in the first
NCAA Midwest Region rankings, released last Wednesday, including two in the top five in No. 2 Drury and No. 5 Lewis. Bellarmine came in at No. 7 and Southern Indiana held the No. 8 position. Ashland (GLIAC) holds the top spot, while Saginaw Valley State (GLIAC) and Ursuline (G-MAC) went third and fourth, respectively. Michigan Tech (GLIAC) squeezed in between Lewis and Bellarmine at No. 6, while Grand Valley State (GLIAC) and Ohio Dominican (GLIAC) respectively rounded out the 10 teams in ninth and 10th. The top-eight teams at the end of the season will advance to the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will be hosted by the top seed.
[5 | glvc ranks among ncaa statistical leaders]
In the latest
NCAA statistical report, a number of GLVC teams and student-athletes rank among the nation’s elite in multiple categories. Four teams are among the top 25 in field-goal percentage with two in the top 10, including Lewis in third with a 48.4 percentage and Drury at No. 8 with its 46.1 clip. USI is 20th with a 44.9 and Indianapolis comes in close behind at No. 21 (44.8). Three teams rank in the top 25 for blocked shots per game, including Southern Indiana (4.8, 21st), UW-Parkside (4.8, 22nd) and Illinois Springfield (4.6, 24th). Three more find themselves among the 25 best for turnovers forced, as Drury is 11th (22.33), Bellarmine is 23rd (20.77) and USI ranks 25th (20.33). Among the other categories where teams rank in the top 10 nationally, Bellarmine is fourth in free throws made (467) and eighth for its 645 free throws attempted. Drury is a top-10 team in four other categories, including sixth in three-point field-goal percentage (38.4), eighth in won-lost percentage (88.9) and turnover margin (7.00) while 10th for scoring margin (17.8). USI rounds out the league teams with a top-10 stat for its seventh-best scoring margin of 19.8 and 9.0 rebound margin that’s good for No. 10. For Conference student-athletes, one ranks as the best shooter in Division II, and that is Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher with her clip of 67.6 percent. She is also second, by just two buckets, for 223 field goals made. Teammate Jamie Johnson is sixth in free-throw percentage (89.4). The other GLVC player atop a statistical category is William Jewell’s Maddie Nelson with her Division II-best 38.36 minutes played per game. USI’s Tanner Marcum rounds out the league’s individual top-10 standouts, coming in at No. 9 for her 80 steals this season.