The women’s Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) championship could once again roll through Kansas this season, as the Shockers appear to be the team to beat for the second consecutive year. The rest of the division, however, is a bit harder to predict.
1. Wichita State (2013: 26-6, 14-4 MVC)
The Shockers return two of their top three leading scorers from a team that won 26 games last season and finished in a tie for first place in the regular season standings. The team added one freshman, point guard Aundra Stovall, a three-star prospect according to ESPN. Three of the four upperclassmen on the team are guards, so she shouldn’t expect to play right away. Although the team is deep enough to repeat as champions, there are a few obstacles in their way.
2. Northern Iowa (17-13, 13-5)
With the exception of a few transfers, UNI returns everyone from last year’s team that finished third in The Valley by just one game. A difficult schedule last season that featured the likes of LSU and Indiana is also a thing of the past, so you can expect the Panthers to be right at the top of the conference standings again. This time, though, they should finish the season with closer to 25 wins.
3. Evansville (15-15, 10-8)
Evansville was led by a freshman last season, and the year of experience will only help the team this year. Last season’s schedule was not exactly difficult, but the team struggled in non-conference play despite facing only one school from a “power five” conference. The team won ten games in The Valley last season, so they could surprise a few people this year.
4. Indiana State (20-11, 14-4)
Indiana State went toe-to-toe with the Shockers last year and would be in a position to do it again if it weren’t for graduation. The team lost its top two scorers from last season, leaving junior Marina Laramie as the team’s high point scorer at 9.9 points per game. If anything can help the Sycamores replace the lost production, it’s junior college transfer Alexis Newbolt, who led her team in scoring, assists and steals last season. She has the potential to become the team’s top player, but the team could struggle if she isn’t able to adjust to NCAA basketball.
5. Bradley (8-22, 5-13)
The Braves have just five starters returning from last season’s team that won eight games, and that could be a good thing. The team welcomes transfer Charnelle Reed, who was with the team but unable to play after transferring from Western Illinois. She joins another transfer, Whitney Tinjum, who came over from Washington State. Tinjum will be forced to sit out the fall semester due to NCAA rules.
The Braves face a somewhat difficult slate this season, with road contests against the Oklahoma Sooners and DePaul, but the team should be better than last year.
6. Drake (17-15, 9-9)
The Bulldogs had a decent non-conference effort last season, but a .500 record in the conference forced them down in the MVC standings. The team was led by then-junior Kyndal Clark, who tallied over 21 points per game last season, three points higher than sophomore Lizzy Wendell. The team added three-star point guard Paige Greiner, who left her Williamsburg, Iowa high school as the team’s all-time leading scorer. The talent is there for the Bulldogs, who have to perform better in conference play this season.
7. Illinois State (10-20, 8-10)
Gone is leading scorer Chloe Nelson. The team has one lone senior, Katy Winge, who played just under 30 minutes while scoring fewer than seven points per game. If given a shot, freshman Mackenzie Freeman could turn into a producer for the Redbirds, but the team did not improve all that much over last year’s squad that won just ten games.
8. Southern Illinois (5-25, 3-15)
The Salukis, like many teams in the Valley, lost their leading scorer. They replaced her with Micah Norris, a three-star prospect who just missed earning a fourth star. Norris was all-district in high school and will have her work cut out for her, working to improve a five-win team from last season who has matchups against Memphis and Illinois.
9. Missouri State (14-17, 8-10)
Missouri State lost one of the team’s top three scorers from last season’s team that finished under .500 in The Valley, but they did land three-star forward Aubrey Buckley. Buckley battled consistency issues in high school, but the team shouldn’t miss their departed seniors if she is able to elevate her game. The question becomes the talent level of the rest of the team, which may not be enough to make a run this season.
10. Loyola (IL) (11-21, 6-12)
Loyola lost its top scorer from last season, but the emergence of sophomore Taylor Johnson, who scored over 18 points per game in just five appearances last year, will help offset the loss. One thing that won’t: the team’s non-conference schedule. Head coach Sheryl Swoopes put together a challenging non-conference slate that includes road matchups against Marquette, Northwestern and Missouri along with home bouts against Michigan State and Georgia Tech. It’ll be a tough go for the Ramblers in 2014-2015.
