Meredith Baugher (Berea, Ohio/Berea H.S.) recorded her first career double-double as Valparaiso moved back over .500 with a 66-50 Mid-Continent Conference victory over Chicago State on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

Baugher tallied career bests in scoring and rebounding as Valpo moved to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the Mid-Con.

The sophomore forward scored 11 of her 18 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds in the contest for the Brown and Gold.

Valpo jumped out to a 21-11 lead with 7:32 to play in the first half after a Kathryn Knoester (Grand Rapids, Mich./Christian H.S.) three-pointer. The Cougars responded with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three, but that would be as close as Chicago State got the rest of the way.

Knoester scored ten first half points as the Crusaders led 33-23 at intermission.

The Brown and Gold came out the second half and built the lead to 14, 37-23, after a pair of Jenna Stangler (St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville H.S.) free throws.

Chicago State (5-9, 2-1 Mid-Con) cut the lead to nine several times, the last on a Tina Hill lay-in with 6:42 remaining, but could not continue to chip away at the lead.

Jeanette Gray (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) scored 14 points and grabbed nine boards for the Crusaders, while Knoester added 14 points.

Marverly Nettles and Krisey Sanders paced the Cougars with 14 points each, while Hill added 11. Sanders also had a team-high eight boards.

The Crusaders shot 43.4% (23-of-53) from the floor, while Chicago State knocked home 34.5% (20-of-58) of its shots. Valpo outrebounded the Cougars 46-32.

The game marked the eighth straight that the Crusaders have held their opponents below 60 points.

Valpo will return to action on Monday evening as the Brown and Gold hosts Southern Utah. Tip-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center.