2023 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournament

2023 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2022–23
Teams	12
Site	Vibrant Arena at The MARK Moline, Illinois
Champions	Drake Bulldogs (8th title)
Winning coach	Allison Pohlman (1st title)
MVP	Maggie Bair (Drake)
Television	MVC TV, ESPNU
Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball tournaments

The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, marketed as "Hoops in the Heartland", was a postseason women's basketball tournament that completed the 2022–23 season in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The tournament was held at the Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois, from March 9–12, 2023. Drake won the tournament, claiming the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

For the first time, the tournament featured 12 teams. Belmont, Murray State, and UIC joined the conference in 2022 following Loyola Chicago's exit.

2022–23 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Illinois State	17	–	3		.850			24	–	9		.727
Belmont	17	–	3		.850			23	–	12		.657
Northern Iowa	16	–	4		.800			23	–	10		.697
Missouri State	14	–	6		.700			20	–	12		.625
Drake†	14	–	6		.700			22	–	9		.710
UIC	9	–	11		.450			19	–	17		.528
Southern Illinois	8	–	12		.400			12	–	19		.387
Murray State	7	–	13		.350			15	–	16		.484
Evansville	6	–	14		.300			11	–	19		.367
Indiana State	6	–	14		.300			11	–	19		.367
Valparaiso	5	–	15		.250			7	–	23		.233
Bradley	1	–	19		.050			4	–	28		.125
† 2023 MVC tournament winner As of March 19, 2023

Seeds

Teams are seeded by conference record, with ties broken by the overall record in conference games played between the tied teams, then (if necessary) by comparison of records between the tying institutions versus the top team in the standings (and continuing from top to bottom of standings, as necessary, with the team having the better record against that team receiving the better seed). The top four seeds receive opening-round byes.

Seed	School	Conference	Tiebreaker 1
1	Illinois State	17-3	1-0 vs. Belmont
2	Belmont	17-3	0-1 vs. Illinois State
3	Northern Iowa	16-4
4	Drake	14-6	1-1 vs. Belmont
5	Missouri State	14-6	0-2 vs. Belmont
6	UIC	9-11
7	Southern Illinois	8-12
8	Murray State	7-13
9	Evansville	6-14	2-0 vs. Indiana State
10	Indiana State	6-14	0-2 vs. Evansville
11	Valparaiso	5-15
12	Bradley	1-19

Schedule

Game	Time *	Matchup	Score	Television
Opening Round – Thursday, March 9
1	12:00 pm	No. 8 Murray State vs. No. 9 Evansville	88–46	MVC TV
2	2:30 pm	No. 5 Missouri State vs. No. 12 Bradley	71–53
3	6:00 pm	No. 7 Southern Illinois vs. No. 10 Indiana State	81–79
4	8:30 pm	No. 6 UIC vs. No. 11 Valparaiso	72–47
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 10
5	12:00 pm	No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 8 Murray State	75–73	MVC TV
6	2:30 pm	No. 4 Drake vs. No. 5 Missouri State	73–70
7	6:00 pm	No. 2 Belmont vs. No. 7 Southern Illinois	70–64
8	8:30 pm	No. 3 Northern Iowa vs. No. 6 UIC	73–57
Semifinals – Saturday, March 11
9	1:30 pm	No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 4 Drake	54–74	MVC Network
10	4:00 pm	No. 2 Belmont vs. No. 3 Northern Iowa	69–62
Final – Sunday, March 12
11	1:00 pm	No. 4 Drake vs. No. 2 Belmont	–	ESPNU
*Game times in CST. Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

	Opening Round Thursday, March 9 MVC TV					Quarterfinals Friday, March 10 MVC TV					Semifinals Saturday, March 11 MVC Network					Final Sunday, March 12 ESPNU
						1	Illinois State	75
	8	Murray State	88			8	Murray State	73
	9	Evansville	46								1	Illinois State	54
											4	Drake	74
						4	Drake	73
	5	Missouri State	71			5	Missouri State	70
	12	Bradley	53													4	Drake	89
																2	Belmont	71
						2	Belmont	70
	7	Southern Illinois	81			7	Southern Illinois	64
	10	Indiana State	79								2	Belmont	69
											3	Northern Iowa	62
						3	Northern Iowa	73
	6	UIC	72			6	UIC	57
	11	Valparaiso	47