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The following "Starting Five" points offer a quick look inside GLVC women's basketball action this week:
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[1 // playing for the points]
It's the final countdown for GLVC women's basketball, as the
last two days of the regular season are on deck this week. After last week's contests, Drury, Southern Indiana, Lewis, Missouri-St. Louis, Bellarmine, William Jewell, Truman State, and Rockhurst are ranked Nos. 1-8 in the
GLVC Point Rating System (PRS), while McKendree and Illinois Springfield sit just outside the loop in ninth and 10th, respectively. The Bearcats have the potential to earn as many as nine points this week if it wins out on the road over Missouri S&T and Quincy, while Illinois Springfield could earn up to 10 with two wins when it faces Maryville and Truman State. The featured contest this week will occur on Saturday, as PRS #1 and No. 14 Southern Indiana will visit PRS #3 Lewis, which has tournament seeding implications and could also determine the East Division champion. Two other top-eight matchups this week will be PRS #8 Rockhurst at PRS #1 and No. 5 Drury Thursday night, along with PRS #6 William Jewell at PRS #7 Truman the same day. The Cardinals also have a big opportunity against Drury at home on Saturday.
[2 // divisional title update]
As mentioned in last week's notes, both Drury and Missouri-St. Louis have claimed their respective titles in the West and Central Division. This past week, it was Southern Indiana that clinched at least a share of the
East title. The Screaming Eagles are 15-1 with two games remaining, while Lewis is still in contention with a 14-3 mark. If Lewis wins its last game and USI loses both of its final two outings, the teams would share the divisional plaque. It just so happens that the Flyers' final game is against USI, so it will be an interesting rematch, given the East title that's at stake. When the two met for the first game of the Conference slate Nov. 30, it was the Screaming Eagles coming away with a 67-56 win in Evansville.
[3 // drury holds, usi improves in wbca poll]
Drury (24-2) maintained its place in the
WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll at No. 5 but is now tied with Virginia Union (23-2), which moved up from No. 6 last week. The Panthers beat Lewis (86-63) and UW-Parkside (104-65), having now won their last nine games. Southern Indiana (23-2) extended its league-best winning streak to 12 after victories over William Jewell (67-54) and Rockhurst (81-72). Following those results, the Screaming Eagles improved one place in the poll from No. 15 to No. 14.
[4 // regional rankings round two]
The second installment of the NCAA Regional Rankings was released Wednesday (Feb. 20) with no change for GLVC teams. No. 2 Drury, No. 3 Southern Indiana, and No. 7 Lewis held onto their respective rankings from the first week, among the top-10 Midwest Region teams. Unbeaten Ashland tops the list at No. 1, while Michigan Tech comes in at No. 4, and Grand Valley State ranks fifth to round out the first half of the contingent. Cedarville is sixth, Ursuline ranks eighth, Wayne State follows in ninth, and Findlay completes the full list at No. 10.
[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 comes in at No. 5 for both steals (370) and steals per game (28.3), as well as turnover margin (8.58), having forced the third-most giveaways per game in the nation (25.42). The Panthers also moved into the top-10 in scoring margin (19.9) at No. 8, and after four recent games of 100 or more and two earlier in the season at 90 , Drury's scoring offense is now 10th (80.5) in the nation. Also in the top-10 for won-lost percentage are the Panthers (92.3) at sixth and Southern Indiana (92.0) in 10th. Maryville improved to second in fewest turnovers, committing just 290 this season and has not only taken care of the ball, but it has also played cleanly with the fourth-fewest fouls (335) committed. Lewis ranks third, an improvement of three places from a week ago, in the nation for its 47.8 field-goal percentage, while UW-Parkside is fourth for its three-point field goals attempted (771) and ninth for making 236 of them. Individually, Jessica Kelliher owns the best Division II stats in two different categories, including field goals made (270) and points per game (25.1), while she also ranks second with her 66.7 field-goal percentage. One other GLVC player atop a statistical category is Indianapolis' Martha Burse, who leads with 514 field-goal attempts, which has led to her spot in eighth for 216 made. Kelliher also comes in with a top-5 mark for free throw attempts (196) at No. 5. Burse also ranks third in steals (92) and sixth in both steals per game (3.54) and points per game (22.5). Others in the top-10 include Missouri-St. Louis' Shawnta Johnson (triple-doubles, one, second), Maryville's Mary Barton (minutes played per game, 37.82, third), and UW-Parkside's Ali Bettencourt (free-throw percentage, 91.2, sixth). A complete list of stats and rankings can be found on
NCAA.org.