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 // two teams begin 2018-19 undefeated]
Just two GLVC programs began the season with an undefeated mark, including No. 8 Drury at 6-0 and Bellarmine at 5-0. Four others have lost only one contest, as Southern Indiana and Truman State are each 6-1, while Lewis is 5-1 and Rockhurst is 3-1. The Knights beat four Midwest Region foes in Saginaw Valley, Northwood, Michigan Tech and Lake Erie, while two of the Panthers’ wins came against regional opponents Kentucky Wesleyan and Davenport. Though not in-region opponents yet, Drury also claimed victories over future league members Southwest Baptist, in the annual Highway 13 “Catfight,” and Lindenwood. Along with Drury and Bellarmine, which respectively have a six- and five-game win streak going, USI has won its last six and Lewis has won five straight after both teams dropped their season-openers.
[2 // a look ahead at league openers]
GLVC women's basketball action kicked off Nov. 9 with three weeks of non-conference games but will turn its attention to
league play this week with 11 contests on the docket. Truman, Quincy, Maryville and Missouri-St. Louis will host Conference foes both Thursday and Saturday, while Lewis and Southern Indiana play host on Saturday. On the road for two will be Rockhurst, William Jewell, Illinois Springfield and McKendree, while Missouri S&T, Bellarmine and Indianapolis will play a single contest on Saturday away from home.
[3 // glvc preseason, wbca national polls]
In the
league’s preseason poll, Lewis (175) was picked to win the title by a single point over Drury (174). The Flyers garnered seven first-place votes, and the Panthers earned six, and No. 3 Southern Indiana collected the other first-place nod for 155 points. In a tie for fourth, Bellarmine and Truman State rounded out the top-five teams with 135 points. In the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 Preseason Poll, Drury was ranked ninth and Lewis came in at No. 25 with Southern Indiana receiving votes outside the poll. The first regular-season poll was released Nov. 20 with the Panthers remaining at No. 9 and Lewis dropping out of the top group but receiving votes just two points fewer than the 25th-ranked team. The most recent poll, released Nov. 27, has the Panthers at No. 8, the Flyers at 24, and Truman State receiving votes.
[4 // players of the week]
Reigning back-to-back GLVC Player of the Year, Jessica Kelliher, who was also the 2015-16 GLVC Freshman of the Year, picked up right where she left off in 2017-18. Along with her third consecutive postseason award, the then-junior also won a GLVC-record seven Player of the Week honors, and kicked off her senior campaign as the
first weekly honoree. The forward's accolade was the 14th of her career thanks to averaging 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds. She then won her
second weekly laurel this season in the third week with a double-double average of 24.0 points and 12.5 rebounds. In Week 2, Drury’s Hailey Diestelkamp was voted as the
Player of the Week, following a career night where she scored a program-record 42 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the Panthers’ lone contest of the week.
[5 // points rating system returns to qualify teams for glvc tournament]
With league play set to begin on Thursday, the GLVC
will continue to utilize its Point Rating System (PRS) to determine the top eight men’s and women’s teams that will advance to the 2019 GLVC Basketball Championship Tournaments. At the request of its basketball coaches, the GLVC implemented the new qualifying procedure for the 2017-18 campaign as the league no longer had balanced eight-team East and West Divisions. In past years, the winner of the East and West Divisions secured the top-two seeds in the 12-team tournament, which was made up of four teams from each division along with four wildcards. The 2018 tournament field was reduced to eight teams, featuring no automatic qualifying bids for divisional champions, nor was there a number of tournament bids allocated for each of the three five-team divisions. Now with 14 member institutions, the Conference is set to embark on an 18-game schedule without divisions, where each team will play a single round-robin slate with an additional five GLVC contests. 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. The eight teams with the highest ratings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the postseason tournament, which returns to the Vadalabene Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, March 7-10, 2019.
[BONUS // GLVC 40th Anniversary, 1978-2018]
In celebration of the
GLVC’s 40th anniversary, the league office released a ceremonial logo and will recognize 40 teams that made a significant impact to the league or on their respective campuses over the course of the last 40 years. One team will be featured weekly on all GLVC online and social media platforms until the conclusion of the campaign on May 31, 2019.