Betsy Adams
(Monticello, Ind./Twin
Lakes H.S.) tallied career highs with 20 points and six steals to lead four
Crusaders in double figures as Valparaiso
coasted to an 86-57 victory over Indiana Tech in the 2009-2010 season opener at
the Athletics-Recreation
Center on Saturday night.
Freshman Skyler Gick (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central H.S.) added 16 points and three
assists in her collegiate debut while Ashley
Varner (South Bend, Ind./Washington H.S.) added 13 points and
tied her career high with nine boards.
“Skyler has a very good
calmness on offense,” head coach Keith
Freeman said.
Valpo used a 19-2 run midway
through the first half to pull away from the Warriors, taking a 31-13 advantage
with 5:26 to play before halftime.
Indiana Tech fought back with a 12-5 run to cut the lead down to 10, but
Valpo took a 40-28 lead into the locker room.
The Crusaders poured it on in
the second half, using a 20-4 run to push the lead over 30, and never looked
back on the way to their second straight season-opening victory while running
their win steak in home openers to five straight seasons.
“I thought we had a segment
of the second half, maybe five, six minutes, where we played really good
basketball,” Freeman added.
Adams made 6-of-10 three-point attempts in 29 minutes of
action, the most of any Valpo player. Lauren Kenney (Mooresville,
Ind./Mooresville H.S.) added 12 points for the
Brown and Gold while Sylwia Zabielewicz
(Warsaw, Poland/Generala Wladyslawa Andersa
H.S.) pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds while scoring seven points in just
14 minutes of action off of the bench.
Adams’s six steals nearly matched her total of eight all of
last season as Valpo forced 21 Indiana Tech turnovers leading to 26 Crusader
points.
“Betsy gets back and makes
good choices in transition not to give up layups and got some steals today,”
Freeman said. “She’s playing better
defense than she did last year.”
Valpo used its size advantage
to outrebound the Warriors 44-30, grabbing 19 boards on the offensive end of
the floor.
The Crusaders shot 57% from
the field in the second half to finish at 45% for the game while holding
Indiana Tech (0-3) to just 38% shooting on the night.
Valparaiso (1-0) will continue its season-opening three-game
homestand on Wednesday evening hosting SIU Edwardsville at the ARC. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Game Notes: Indiana
Tech leads all-time 7-3 as Valpo snapped the Warriors three-game winning streak
in the series … this was the first meeting since January 5, 1988 between the
two schools … Valpo is now 12-26 all-time in openers … freshman Laura Richards (Connersville,
Ind./Connersville H.S.) earned a start in her collegiate debut, scoring two
points, grabbing three rebounds, and adding two assists … freshmen Gina Lange (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake
H.S.) and Raegan Moore (Girard,
Pa./Girard H.S.) also made their collegiate debuts while Kelly Watts (Gary, Ind./East Chicago Central H.S.) started her first
game in a Crusader uniform after transferring from Eastern Michigan … Stephanie Thomas (Avon, Ind./Avon H.S.)
scored a career-high four points … Valpo registered five blocked shots in the
game after having no more than three in a contest all last year.