Game 7, 5:00 p.m., #1 Illinois State (24-6, 16-2) vs. #5Northern Iowa (15-15)
TV: Fox Sports Net (Channel 47 on Cox in Omaha)
Season Series
Illinois State swept the season series against the Panthers. However, as dominant as the Redbirds have been in the Valley this season, they won by the slimmest of margins with scores of 70-64 and 69-66. In the first game in Cedar Falls, the three seniors of Ashleen Bracey, Nicolle Lewis and Maggie Krick scored 51 points and 26 rebounds in the victory. Bracey and Lewis walked away with a double-double each. In Normal, it was a different story as Northern Iowa jumped into the second half with a 21-2 run to go up 13 points, but Illinois State rallied back behind the home crowd to steal the win.
Illinois State can win if…
…they can stop the bench scoring. The UNI bench averages 25 points a game in MVC play. In their 70-50 win against Bradley on Friday, UNI had 25 points from the bench. UNI has some depth the Redbirds need to neutralize. Northern Iowa has a disadvantage based on the numbers as well. The #5 seed has never won the Valley Tournament. They haven’t even gotten to the title game. History is on Illinois State’s side.
Northern Iowa can win if…
…They can keep control of the basketball. Illinois State scored 22 points off of Indiana State’s 18 turnovers in their record-setting 76-39 blowout on Friday. Northern Iowa couldn’t hold leads against the Redbirds in their previous two meetings and that was due to Illinois State being able to take advantage of Panther turnovers.
Game 8, 7:30 p.m. #2 Creighton (19-9, 13-5) vs. Wichita State (17-13, 8-10)
TV: Fox Sports Net (Channel 47 on Cox in Omaha)
Season Series
Again, Creighton will be trying to beat an opponent for a third time this season after taking the first two games from the Shockers. In Omaha, Creighton set a school record shooting 64% from the field, Megan Neuvirth joined the 1,000 point club, and she and fellow All-MVC teammate Sam Schuett both recorded double-doubles in a 89-48 pasting of WSU. Down in Wichita it was a little more of the same: CU shot 50% from the field all the way around and Neuvirth earned another double-double in a 58-48 win.
Creighton can win if…
…They continue to have other players step up at the right time. On Friday night that was Ally Jensen. The gutsy freshman hit a career-high 6 3-pointers in the 55-52 win against Drake to beat the Bulldogs three times in a season for the first time in the rivals’ histories. Schuett and Chevelle Herring struggled from the field, but Jensen was able to make up for that. The Bluejays have a lot of different weapons to which they can turn. History is on the Bluejays’ side as well. Creighton has won the last 9 meetings with the Shockers and 15 of the last 16. Creighton might be lucky that they did not get matched up with Missouri State, against whom they lost both games this season.
Wichita State can win if…
…If they can slow Neuvirth down and hold down Creighton’s shooting percentage. Neuvirth has dominated the Shockers this season averaging 17 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games. She has the ability to score, rebound, dish some assists, and get into passing lanes for a steal. Drake was pretty successful slowing Neuvirth down with only 7 points, but while fighting foul trouble all night, still was able dish out 6 assists and grab 9 boards. The shooting percentage is an important stat as the Bluejays are 11-0 when shooting better than 40% this season.
