Every season, the women’s side of the MVC basketball landscape increases in unpredictability and the growth in quality is undeniable. The road to Moline runs through the regular season as we start another Scout rankings.
Let’s take a look at the candidates.
- Northern Iowa
After falling in the semifinals in tournament play, Northern Iowa is coming back with a vengeance.
The Panthers return as one of the strongest sides in the MVC, retaining their top three scorers from last season. Junior forward Grace Boffeli is back after leading in scoring with 16.1 points per game. The preseason Player of the Year also returns as the rebounding leader with an average 9.2 a game.
Returning alongside Boffeli is junior guard Emerson Green, who dominated in shots beyond the arc last season, registering a .422 percentage. To top it all off, the Panthers held onto junior guard Maya McDermott. With MVC preseason first team honors, McDermott was right behind Boffeli in scoring with an average of 14.7 points per game.
With last season’s core players making a reappearance, it’s hard not to pick the Panthers as the favorites in the MVC this season.
- Drake
The eventual tournament champions, who took down the No. 1 seeded Redbirds and No. 2 seeded Bruins, return this season with their firepower intact after their NCAA tournament berth.
The Bulldogs preserved plenty of youth and experience from last season, only losing two of their starters. They return last season’s Defensive Player of the Year Anna Miller, who put up a whopping 72 blocks. Miller also returns this season with MVC preseason second team honors.
Miller will be joined by a couple of preseason MVC first teamers in sophomore guard Katie Dinnebier and red shirt senior forward Grace Berg, who were an integral part of the Bulldogs’ success last season. Both started every single game they played, meaning they have the experience to lead the Bulldogs back to the NCAA tournament.
With a challenging out of conference schedule, the Bulldogs are one of the most promising teams heading into this season and could have easily been picked first.
- Belmont
Belmont, who finished 17-3 last year, also returns for their second season in the MVC.
Despite being one of the newer teams to the Valley, Belmont has already been successful. Tying their conference record with Illinois State, the Bruins come back as runners up from the Hoops in the Heartland Tournament.
However, a major part of the Bruins’ core, including Destinee Wells, Maddison Bartley and Sydni Harvey, have moved on. Wells led the Bruins in multiple categories last season, including a scoring average of 19.5 points per game, 34 steals and a 3-point percentage of .455. Bartley and Harvey assisted Wells on multiple occasions.
After an injury cut her season short, redshirt junior guard Tuti Jones returns as an MVC second teamer. Before her injury, Jones was averaging 11 points per game and looks to make up for the lost time.
Alongside the guard will be the Bruins’ leading rebounder, junior forward Tessa Miller, who accumulated 220 total rebounds and averaged 6.3 per game. Not just potent in the rebounding category, Miller also boasts an impressive .517 field goal percentage.
Since the Bruins lost a big chunk of their core from last season, I can only see them in the top five of the Valley.
- Illinois State
After winning their first conference regular season championship since 2010, the Redbirds look to keep that good momentum this season.
Despite bringing back nine players, the Redbirds lost two starters. Paige Robinson is one player Illinois State will miss, as she led the Redbirds in scoring with 18.3 points per game. Mary Compton dominated in shots made from beyond the arc for Illinois State with an average of .422.
Grad student and MVC preseason first teamer Deanna Wilson was the second most productive Redbird behind Robinson. With an average of 13 points per game, Wilson looks to lead this Redbird side back to the MVC Championship game.
Alongside Wilson will be former Brave Caroline Waite, who led Bradley in scoring with 12.9 points per game last season. The Redbirds also bring in four freshmen that could have a chance to make some waves early in their collegiate career.
Despite losing a couple of important pieces, Illinois State restocked well this off-season and could give the other title contenders a run for their money.
- Missouri State
After their WNIT appearance last season, it’s hard to see the Bears having a down year.
With nine returnees, Missouri State has two preseason All-MVC second teamers and last season’s MVC Freshman of the Year. The forward duo of sophomore Jade Masogayo and junior Kennedy Taylor return and earn second team honors this season after being a pivotal part of the Bears’ system last year.
The Bears add youth and experience with five freshmen and three transfers, making them a top five contender for the regular season championship.
- Murray State
Returning three of their five starters, the Racers look for improvement in their second season in the MVC.
The notable returner will be senior forward Katelyn Young, who led the Racers in scoring with 21.4 points per game. After her season with the Racers she was picked to be on the MVC first team as the lone Murray State honoree.
Returning alongside Young are seniors forward Hannah McKay and guard Bria Sanders-Woods, who each started in over 20 games last season.
The Racers also did a good job of bringing in some experienced reinforcements. Former guards Ava Learn from Purdue and Trinity White from Butler bring experience from different conferences.
Murray State have done a good job at improving their squad and will look to climb higher this season.
- Illinois-Chicago
Seven returnees and eight newcomers highlight this season’s Illinois-Chicago team.
The Flames retained an important core from last season. Along with reinforcements in all areas of the court, Illinois-Chicago have brought transfers Keimari Rimmer from DePaul and Krystyna Ellew from Wisconsin. Chicago native Makiya Williams also joins from Marquette with two years of eligibility.
Coming back for the Flames is the senior trio of guards Jaida McCloud, Sara Zabrecky and Kristian Young. Young comes back after recording the most steals (57) for UIC last season.
Along with the transfers, junior Ky Dempsey-Toney and senior Danyel Middleton have a good opportunity to continue gaining minutes with the Flames. Despite not receiving any starts, Dempsey-Toney had one of the best field goal percentages with a .505 mark along with 31 blocks.
Expect a winning conference record for the Flames as they continue to traverse through the MVC.
- Indiana State
Indiana State has seen an upward trend for the last couple of seasons, with double-digit wins being the main highlight.
Anna McKendree leaves a big hole to fill as she led the Sycamores in steals (71) and had one of the best 3-point percentages (.394). Another question is how the team will fill the absence of Del’Janae Williams, the Sycamores’ most productive player who finished the 22-23 season with an average of 13.9 points per game.
With these absences, athletes like fifth year guard Ella Sawyer will get a chance to break into this Indiana State team. She won’t be alone as former All-Freshman team member Bella Finnegan returns alongside regular starters like fifth-year forward Chelsea Cain and redshirt senior forward Mya Glanton.
The Sycamores are another team that were busy with recruiting, bringing in reinforcements in the form of former four-star prospects Savannah White and Chloe Williams.
Indiana State is bringing in a lot of new faces looking to build the future of the program. It might take a couple of more seasons for them to compete for the regular season championship.
- Southern Illinois
One of the hottest offensive teams in the Valley last season, the Salukis return a good portion of their core along with their second year coach Kelly Bond-White.
Despite losing two starters, the Salukis bring back a bulk of their scoring with senior guard Quierra Love who ended the season with a .389 percentage from beyond the arc.
Those two starters are Promise Taylor and Ashley Jones. Replacing Taylor will be tough as she provided a lot of points for the Salukis with her field goal percentage of .595 while Jones led Southern Illinois in scoring with an average of 17 points per game.
The Salukis will have to prove that they can continue their scoring streak despite not having Taylor or Jones.
- Valparaiso
After getting knocked out by Illinois-Chicago in the first round of the Hoops in the Heartland Tournament, Valparaiso returns three of their five starters from last season.
As most of their core stays the same, the Beacons will have to rely on guard Olivia Brown. She led Valpo in scoring with 12 points per game last season and excelled in shooting from the field with a .478 average.
Valpo did lose a big part of their defensive game, as Llysse Pitts and Maya Dunson dominated in blocks and steals. Still, athletes like senior forward Leah Earnest and junior guard Olivia Sims made a big impact last season coming off the bench.
There will definitely be opportunities on this Beacons team for some of the younger members to make a name for themselves.
- Bradley
After finishing last season with a 4-28 record and losing one of its key pieces, Bradley will look to continue laying the groundwork for the Popovec-Goss era.
With junior Caroline Waite leaving the Hilltop for Illinois State, the Braves return four of their five starters from their first-round playoff game last season against Missouri State.
With one transfer and four freshmen, the Braves have to trust their young squad and dig deep into their bench. The only transfer, Kaylen Nelson, was an integral part of Old Dominion’s WNIT run a couple of seasons back alongside fellow Brave Alex Rouse.
Out of all the freshmen coming into this Braves squad, Peoria area native Claire McDougall could swipe a spot for herself on this Bradley team.
The Braves were unlucky in a couple of their conference games last season and probably should have had a couple more wins, but they will still need to continue rebuilding to return to their former glory.
- Evansville
Like Bradley, Evansville lost an important piece heading into this season.
Guard Abby Feit led the Purple Aces in multiple categories last season. A pivotal player on the defensive and offensive end of the hardwood, Feit was the core engine of an Evansville team that still struggled last season. Feit led in scoring with an average of 15.5 points per game and also dominated with her 28 blocks and 33 steals, the most on the team.
Only one starter returns for the Purple Aces as they are left with only four athletes from last season. Grad student Barbora Tomancova has to grab the reins as the only remaining starter from last season.
With 10 newcomers, the Purple Aces will take some time to rebuild this season. Whereas Bradley has at least four of their starters from last year returning, the Purple Aces have too many newcomers to put them above the Braves.
