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 // league play returns in 2019]
Both Lewis and Bellarmine earned non-conference wins to end the
2018 GLVC women's basketball slate on a high note Monday. Jessica Kelliher paced the Flyers with 23 points, adding six rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks and steals. For the Knights, Mikayla Berry dropped 30 off the bench, grabbing nine boards and dishing out five assists, while Lauren Deel also got 21 points, seven rebounds, three helpers and two takeaways. Thursday will see the return of Conference action as six games are on tap, while Saturday the GLVC schedule continues with seven contests. All 13 match-ups will stream live on every GLVCSN platform.
[2 // point rating system reminder]
With league play set to resume 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 competing in an 18-game schedule without divisions, where each team is playing 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. After the first round of league play back in late November, McKendree (2-0)
sits atop the PRS with a 6.00 rating, followed by Rockhurst (1-1) at 4.25 and Truman State (2-0) at 4.00. PRS reports will be updated on the league standings website after each night of Conference play.
[3 // three glvc teams rank in wbca top 25 poll]
Three league teams begin the New Year in 2019 ranked in the
WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Drury (11-0) maintained its position at No. 4, while Lewis (9-1) remained at No. 20. Truman State (11-1), however, moved into the top 25 for the first time this season after receiving votes outside the poll in the last four releases, dating back to Nov. 27 when it first appeared.
[4 // player of the week]
For the first time since the 2013-14 season, Missouri S&T earned a
GLVC women's basketball player of the week award, as freshman Alex Kerr had a career night for the Miners. The forward scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and added four blocks and a steal. In addition to recording career highs in points and blocks, Kerr helped S&T tie a program record for single-game blocked shots (12) in the 71-47 win over Westminster on Sunday, Dec. 30.
[5 // ncaa stat leaders]
In the most recent statistical report published by the NCAA through games of Dec. 10, several GLVC teams and individuals rank among the nation's top 10 in select categories. Drury leads the way with 12 top-10 stats, including six that rank the highest in Division II. Those six are as follows: won-loss percentage (100.0, 11-0), turnovers forced (30.82), turnover margin (14.09), steals (191), steals per game (17.4), and assists per game (23.0). The Panthers' mark for scoring margin ranks second at 31.5, while their scoring offense (89.5) clocks in at third best and total assists (253) is fourth. Drury's 40.6 three-point field-goal percentage is fifth best, while its 1.38 assist turnover ratio and 48.5 field-goal percentage rank sixth. Truman State ranks sixth with 214 free throws made, while Missouri S&T's 125 fouls is seventh fewest and its 5.5 blocked shots per game is 10th in the nation. Drury's Daejah Bernard, Lauren Holmes and Paige Robinson rank among the 10 best, which include Bernard's 43 steals (third), 3.91 steals per game (fourth), 68 assists (eighth), and 6.2 assists per game (eighth), along with Holmes' 38 steals (seventh) and Robinson's 50.0 three-point field-goal percentage (fifth). Lewis has two players in the top 10, including Jessica Kelliher's 65.4 field-goal percentage (fourth) and Morgan Glatczak's 3.00 blocked shots per game (10th). Quincy's Michaela Gronewold rounds out the GLVC contingent in the top 10 with as she holds Division II's highest three-point field-goal percentage at 60.0 (24-of-40).
CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF THE GLVC
Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the GLVC will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. So far, one women's basketball program has already been recognized and is featured below. For a complete list of the GLVC's 40th anniversary campaign,
click here.