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 weeks to go]
This week is the second to last of the season, and the race for a GLVC Championship Tournament bid is tightening. Rockhurst and Truman State sit tied for seventh with a rating of 2.86 in the Point Rating System and would be the last two teams into the postseason, but McKendree, sitting just outside the top-8 with a 2.68 rating, has a chance to work itself back in with a contest against fourth-ranked Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday, while Illinois Springfield – currently on the outside looking in at No. 10 – could better its rating of 2.61 with a win over UMSL on Saturday, as well. Also facing big competition will be Rockhurst against Bellarmine (3.53, fifth) and Lewis (4.20, third) at Drury (4.29, second) Thursday. Rockhurst will then host the top-ranked PRS team in Southern Indiana (4.39) on Saturday for another chance at a significant jump in the standings, while Truman gets a crack at Bellarmine the same day.
[2 // two divisional titles clinched]
On Saturday, Drury clinched its fifth-straight West Division title after a 72-48 win at Maryville, and Missouri-St. Louis became the inaugural Central Division champions. In addition to the team successes, and as detailed below in No. 4, many players had notable two-game outings during
last week’s action, but there were also a number of solid single-game performances to recall from a week ago. For starters, Drury sophomore Hailey Diestelkamp grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds against Rockhurst Thursday, one shy of the program’s single-game record, which also was a league season-high, and she complemented that with 14 points for her seventh double-double of the year. On the same day, Lewis’ Tierney Locket scored 24 points and notched a double-double with 10 assists, while Bellarmine’s Raven Merriweather shot for 26 scores, as Saturday saw Illinois Springfield’s Jasmine Sangster match that point total.
[3 // two in wbca poll, three in ncaa regional rankings]
Drury (22-2) moved up in the
WBCA D-II Top 25 Poll again this week, cracking the top-5 with an improvement three places from No. 8 to No. 5, following two league wins over Rockhurst (100-69) and Maryville (72-48). The Panthers are now on a seven-game win streak. Southern Indiana (21-2) extended its league-best winning streak to double digits after a 2-0 mark in league play a week ago with wins over Illinois Springfield (64-51) and Bellarmine (68-59). The Screaming Eagles did not, however, make an improvement in the poll, holding steady at No. 15. In addition to the WBCA poll, the first
NCAA Regional Rankings were released Wednesday (Feb. 14), and Lewis joins both Drury and USI in the top-10 group. Behind top-ranked Ashland, Drury is No. 2 with USI right behind in third. Lewis is the other league team in the loop at No. 7.
[4 // piling on the plaudits]
Another week of strong performances around the league made the task of selecting Monday’s
GLVC Player of the Week that much more difficult. On any given week, the 25.0-point,15.0-rebound double-double average in two league wins with a 66% shooting clip by USI’s Morgan Dahlstrom would win. Or, last week’s honoree from UMSL, Jordan Fletcher, who twice scored 28 points on a blistering 79% shooting clip in a pair of GLVC wins could’ve earned a repeat nod. Even Bellarmine’s Raven Merriweather, who averaged a near-double with 21.0 points and 9.0 boards, would’ve been a solid choice on a different week of the season… if it weren’t for Jessica Kelliher. The Lewis junior averaged 30.0 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.5 steals, 3.0 blocks, and 3.0 assists, with a 28-for-39 (72%) shooting mark from the floor. In addition, she matched a season-high 37 points against UW-Parkside and made a season-high 17 buckets for a 77% shooting clip, after going for 23 at Maryville. With all of that, and more, the forward was additionally chosen for the
USBWA D-II National Player of the Week honor for the third time this season.
[5 // nation’s top-10]
After the most recent release of the NCAA Division II statistical report, four teams and five individuals are ranked among the top-10 statistical leaders. Drury is the highest ranked team at No. 3 for its 24.92 forced turnovers per game, while Maryville is sixth on the other end of the spectrum for fewest turnovers with 278. Drury’s turnover margin (7.79) is also among the top-10 at No. 9. Not only has Maryville taken care of the ball this season, but it has also played cleanly with the fourth-fewest fouls (316) committed. The Panthers also have the seventh-best steals per game average (13.6) and are eighth in both total steals (327) and won-lost percentage (91.7). UW-Parkside is fifth for its three-point field goals attempted (727) and eighth for making 224 of them, while Lewis ranks sixth in the nation for its 47.5 field-goal percentage. The Flyers ranking in the top-10 for shooting comes in large part thanks to Jessica Kelliher’s second-best clip of 66.8%, which has helped her rank first in points per game (25.3), while she also leads D-II with 250 field goals made. Furthermore, her 185 free throws attempted are No. 4, while her 127 free throws made comes in at ninth. Indianapolis’ Martha Burse is leading the way with her 475 field goals attempted and is close behind in third with 85 steals. She additionally ranks fourth with 3.54 steals per game. Her 22.5 points per game is sixth, and the 197 field goals she’s made is ninth. Three other league players are among the nation’s best, including Missouri-St. Louis’ Shawnta Johnson at second with one triple-double, Maryville’s Mary Barton with 37.71 minutes played (fourth), and UW-Parkside’s Ali Bettencourt in 10th for free throw percentage (90.4). She’s one of just two GLVC players shooting 90% or better from the foul line, as Missouri S&T’s Janie Arand has exactly a 90.0% to sit her just outside the top-10 nationally at No. 12. A complete list of stats and rankings can be found on
NCAA.org.