The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:
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[1 // last week’s review & another thursday/saturday slate ahead]
Last week saw some records broken and milestones met – more on some of that in #4 – including Missouri S&T’s Janie Arand, who became the 14th Miner to join the 1,000-point club, and is now at 1,012. Other notable performances to conclude the first month of the New Year included 27.5 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game from Indianapolis’ Martha Burse in two league wins, 28 scores and 13 boards from Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher on Saturday in a 83-67 win at Quincy, along with 22 and 17 from Southern Indiana’s Morgan Dahlstrom to defeated UW-Parkside 74-57 on Thursday. This week, it's another
GLVC women's basketball-filled slate. Thursday starts the weekly schedule of league games with seven on the docket, as the top-two Central and East teams, respectively, face off when Missouri-St. Louis (12-5, 6-4 GLVC) travels to Lewis (17-4, 10-1). The Flyers are on a league-best, 10-game win streak, while the Tritons have won their last five in a row. Truman State (10-7, 5-5) will get another shot at nationally-ranked Drury (18-2, 9-1) in that West Division showdown in Springfield, after the Panthers took a 57-46 win in Kirksville not long ago on Jan. 15. Saturday finds five Central vs. East match-ups, as Bellarmine, Indianapolis, Lewis, No. 16 Southern Indiana, and UW-Parkside all host their second game of the week, while Truman and Missouri S&T welcome fellow West foes in Rockhurst and Drury, respectively, to complete the seven-game slate.
[2 // point rating system update]
With just one month left in the regular season, we think it a good time for a PRS update. As a reminder, the 2018 GLVC Championship event will feature an eight-team format with no automatic qualifying bids to divisional champions, nor is there a number of tournament bids allocated for each of the three five-team divisions. The
GLVC Point Rating System is designed to provide a team more points for a win on the road or at home against top competition based on Conference winning percentage, while distributing fewer points for a win against weaker competition. Points are also distributed for losses, with more points awarded for a loss against stronger competition versus if the team lost at home or on the road to a struggling team. After last week’s contests, it seems appropriate that the two nationally-ranked GLVC teams are tied atop the standings, as both Drury and Southern Indiana had a 4.60 rating through 10 games played. Lewis, which holds the longest winning streak in the Conference at 10 games, follows in a close third with a 4.55 rating through 11 games played, while Bellarmine – the only league team to upset Drury this season – comes in at No. 4. Ranked fifth is Missouri-St. Louis (3.45), which recently broke a three-way tie for the top spot in the Central Division, while William Jewell (3.23) follows in sixth. Teams No. 7 and No. 8 include Truman State (3.20) and Indianapolis (3.05), respectively.
[3 // drury, usi rise in wbca poll]
Drury (18-2, 9-1 GLVC) made a one-spot jump in the latest
WBCA D-II Top 25 Poll from No. 10 to No. 9 after beating Illinois Springfield (76-44) and William Jewell (101-46) to get head coach Molly Miller's 100th career win at her alma mater. Southern Indiana (17-2, 9-1) also went 2-0 in league play a week ago with wins over UW-Parkside (74-57) and McKendree (74-62), rising from No. 20 to No. 16.
[4 // record night leads to weekly honor]
In case you missed it, Drury’s Alice Heinzler dropped a single-game, program-record nine three-pointers against William Jewell on Jan. 27 en route to another program record of 41 points and subsequently the
GLVC Player of the Week award. The 41 points was a GLVC season-high mark and tied for the sixth-highest league point total, according to available records, while the 101-46 victory also happened to be the 100th career win for head coach Molly Miller in just 115 games at the helm of her alma mater. Of note, the fifth-year set the previous program record of eight triples in her junior year where she scored a then-career-high 30 points in a win over Trevecca Nazarene on Nov. 28, 2015.
[5 // national stats leaders]
Four GLVC teams are found in nine – five more than last week – top-10 statistical categories as of the most recent NCAA report, while the same can be said of four league players in 13 different individual categories – two more than a week ago. UW-Parkside continues its frequent long-range shooting, having attempted 628 three-point field goals to rank No. 3 in the country, while the Rangers have made 190 of those attempts to rank seventh. Drury is another team ranked third for its 25.25 turnovers forced per game, while the Panthers also rank seventh for turnover margin (7.65), eighth in steals per game (13.6), and ninth in total steals (271). Maryville has committed the fewest turnovers in the league, which ranks fourth in Division II, while the Saints also come in at No. 8 for fewest fouls at 272. Illinois Springfield rounds out the top-10 teams at No. 5 for blocked shots per game (5.7). GLVC individuals have even more impressive stats to show for their efforts, as Lewis’ Jessica Kelliher is the top player in the nation for points per game (25.3) and field goals made (205), while Indianapolis’ Martha Burse is tops with her 410 field-goal attempts. Kelliher also ranks second in field-goal percentage (66.8), third in free throw attempts (165), and fourth in free throws made (118). Burse, on the other hand, is No. 2 in both steals per game (3.71) and steals (78), which is just one shy of the national leader’s 79. The Greyhounds’ senior is also fifth in points per game (22.2) and sixth in field goals made (171). Others in the top-10 rankings include a pair of fourth-ranked players with Maryville’s Mary Barton with 37.29 minutes played per game and Quincy’s Jessie Rabas’ 48.8 three-point field-goal percentage. A complete list of stats and rankings can be found on
NCAA.org.