Valparaiso (2-2, 0-0 MVC)
Game #5 - Saturday, Dec. 12 - 1 p.m.
Western Michigan (1-1, 0-1 MAC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After four consecutive road games to open the 2020-21 campaign, the Valpo women’s basketball team finally makes its home debut on Saturday afternoon as it welcomes Western Michigan to the ARC. The Dec. 12 date for the home opener is the latest for the Brown and Gold since the 1994-95 season.

Previously: A run spanning the first and second quarters was too much for Valpo to overcome on Tuesday evening in Oxford, Ohio, as host Miami (Ohio) came away with a 67-49 win over the Brown and Gold. Carie Weinman led Valpo in the losing effort with 16 points and four steals, while Shay Frederick came up with 13 points and four assists.

Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN3
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
Live Stats/Streaming Audio: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans (27-38) is in her third season as head coach of the Valpo women’s basketball program in 2020-21. Evans led the Valpo program to a remarkable season across the board in 2019-20, one that concluded among the nation’s top turnarounds from the season before. Valpo posted a 17-12 record in Evans’ second season at the helm, the 17 wins the most by a Valpo team since the 2006-07 campaign and the 10th-most in a single season in program history. Valpo improved its record by 10.5 games over the previous season in 2019-20, tied for the sixth-best improvement in Division I.

Series Notes: Western Michigan leads the all-time series over Valpo, 8-3, and owns a slight 3-2 edge in games played on Union Street. Despite being separated by less than two hours, the two programs have met just twice since 1996 - WMU slid by Valpo in Kalamazoo, 70-69, in December 2012, and then the Broncos won 72-50 at the ARC in December 2013.

@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo has been picked to finish in seventh place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 176 points.
- Valpo is in its fourth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2020-21.
- The Valley was ranked eighth nationally in conference RPI in 2019-20.

...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished the 2019-20 campaign with a 17-12 overall record, a 10.5-game improvement over the previous year ‑ good for sixth-best nationally.
- Valpo jumped 172 spots in the RPI from the previous year, the largest leap for any D-I team in the nation.
- Valpo’s 17 wins marked the most by a Valpo team since 2006-07.
- The Brown and Gold finished in sixth place in the MVC standings with a 9-9 record - the program’s best finish since joining The Valley.
- The .500 record in conference play was the program’s first since 2008-09.
- Valpo closed the regular season strong, going 6-3 in the second half of MVC play.
- Grace Hales earned Honorable Mention All-Conference accolades, while Carie Weinman was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team.
- As a team, Valpo set the program’s single-season record for free throw percentage (.792), while Hales broke the program’s individual single-season record in the category (.890).

...at Miami (Ohio)
- The two teams traded baskets early on, with Valpo earning an 8-6 advantage with 5:33 to play in the first quarter on the second early bucket from Ella Ellenson.
- Miami went on a 12-3 run from that point to end the quarter, going ahead 18-11 at the end of 10 minutes.
- The RedHawks’ run continued in the second period, as they outscored Valpo 12-2 over the first seven minutes of the quarter to extend their edge to 17 points.
- Valpo scored five straight to cut the deficit to 12, but Miami scored the final five points of the half to take a 35-18 lead into the locker room.
- After Miami scored the first two baskets of the second half, Valpo went on a 10-2 run - including five points and an assist from Carie Weinman - to close to within 41-28 with 6:52 to play in the period. But the RedHawks hit a 3-pointer on their next possession, and Valpo was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
- Weinman led Valpo on Tuesday with 16 points. The junior also came up with four steals for the third time this year and is averaging 3.5 steals/game through four contests.
- Shay Frederick joined Weinman in double figures, finishing with 13 points to go with four assists.
- Cara VanKempen made the first start of her Valpo career, while freshman Ava Interrante scored the first points of her career by knocking down a trio of free throws.
- Valpo shot just 31.6% from the field Tuesday and was 5-of-27 from the 3-point line, while Miami hit at a 41.7% clip and was 7-of-19 from deep.
- The RedHawks enjoyed a 50-26 advantage on the glass. Valpo did force 21 Miami turnovers and held a 22-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Valpo played Tuesday without leading scorer Grace White.

...at Purdue
- A 3-pointer from Carie Weinman with 4:03 to play pushed Valpo’s advantage to double figures for the first time at 47-37.
- Purdue came back with seven straight points in just 63 seconds to make it a one-possession game, and a basket by the Boilermakers with 1:28 to play made it a 47-46 game.
- Valpo came down on its next possession and Weinman hit Grace White for a layup with 1:12 to go to push the lead to 49-46.
- Purdue missed on its next trip, and again it was White making the big play in a close game, this time getting her defender to the ground and driving for an easy layup with 44 seconds to play to make it a five-point margin.
- Valpo forced four Purdue misses from the floor over the final 44 seconds, with a free throw in the final seconds accounting for the only point the Boilermakers scored in the final minute.
- White got out to a strong start to the game, scoring seven first-quarter points as Valpo led 11-4 at the end of one. The Brown and Gold held Purdue scoreless over the final 6:59 of the period.
- Purdue scored the first four points of the second quarter to start a period which would be close throughout. Valpo eventually went the last 4:21 of the quarter without scoring, and Purdue took an 18-17 lead into halftime on a putback just before the first half buzzer.
-An 8-2 spurt over the first 2:16 of the second half — a stretch which included 3-pointers by Weinman and White — gave Valpo the lead for good.
- White again paced Valpo, matching her career high with a game-best 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The senior also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
- Cara VanKempen joined White in double figures, scoring a career-high 10 points — all of which came in the second half.
- Valpo shot 37.7% (20-of-53) from the floor and connected on seven 3-pointers, while Purdue shot just 27.3% and was 0-for-15 from behind the 3-point line.
- After getting outscored 40-22 in the paint at Illinois, Valpo held a two-point advantage (26-24) in the paint Sunday versus Purdue.

...looking ahead
- A second straight home game awaits Valpo Wednesday afternoon, as it hosts Xavier for a 1 p.m. matinee.
- The nonconference schedule is slated to come to a close next Sunday, Dec. 20 with a trip to Wisconsin.

...at the ARC
- Saturday marks Valpo’s first home game of the season, and the first of just two nonconference home games.
- This marks the fewest nonconference home games since the 1994-95 team also played just two out-of-conference games at the ARC.
- For the second straight year, Valpo’s home opener comes against a MAC team - the Brown and Gold beat Bowling Green in overtime last year.
- Valpo was a perfect 4-0 in nonconference home games last season and finished the year with an 8-5 overall home record - the program’s best mark at the ARC since 2012-13.

@WMU_WBB
- Western Michigan enters Saturday’s game at 1-1 on the season, earning an 80-76 home win over UIC and most recently opening MAC play Wednesday with an 82-71 loss at Central Michigan.
- The Broncos were picked to finish 12th in the MAC preseason poll.
- WMU went 18-13 overall and 10-8 in MAC play a season ago, but lost its top five scorers from that squad. Senior Reilly Jacobson is the team’s leading returning scorer, averaging 6.0 points/game last year.

MAC Attack
- Saturday’s matchup with Western Michigan is the program’s third game against a MAC opponent this year, as Valpo opened the season at Bowling Green and faced Miami (Ohio) last time out.
- The MAC has been the most common conference for Valpo’s non-conference foes under head coach Mary Evans.
- Counting the WMU game, Valpo will have played eight non-conference games against MAC opponents in Evans’ first three seasons.
- Prior to coming to Valpo, Evans spent five seasons in the MAC as an assistant coach at Ohio.

A B1G Victory...and Another
- Sunday’s win was the second win in program history over Purdue, and the first since dropping the nationally-ranked Boilermakers at the ARC on Dec. 10, 2008.
- Wednesday’s win at Illinois marked Valpo’s first-ever win over the Illini, as the Brown and Gold were previously 0-4 in the series - all four losses coming by at least 19 points.
- Valpo defeated multiple Big Ten teams in the same season for the first time in program history.
- The victory at Illinois was Valpo’s first over a Big Ten team — or any Power Five program, for that matter — since taking down Indiana 64-52 at the ARC to open the 2012-13 campaign.
- After entering last week with just one road win all-time against Big Ten opponents, Valpo now has three such victories.

Taking Down Power Conference Teams
- This year’s squad becomes the third team in program history to defeat two power conference teams in the same season.
- The 2001-02 team beat Wake Forest and Michigan, while the 2008-09 squad defeated Florida State in addition to Purdue.
- This year’s team is the first to earn two true road wins over power conference programs, however.
- In all, the wins over Illinois and Purdue were Valpo’s ninth and 10th victories over a power conference program in team history - see page five of the notes for a table of all 10 wins.

White Leads the Way
- It was senior Grace White leading the way in both the wins over the Big Ten programs, joining some elite company in the history of Valpo women’s basketball.
- White led Valpo in scoring in both games, becoming just the second player in program history to lead the team in scoring in multiple power conference wins - Agnieszka Kulaga led Valpo with 22 points in the 2008 win over Florida State and 17 points in the 2008 Purdue win.
- White also led Valpo in rebounding in both games, making her one of two players in program history to lead the team on the glass in multiple power conference wins - Tamra Braun had 10 boards apiece in the 2005 win over Northwestern and the 2004 win at Washington State.

Close Games Go Our Way
- Edging out the Illini by three points and beating the Boilermakers by five points continues a trend under Mary Evans for Valpo to excel in tight games.
- Since Evans’ arrival, Valpo is 11-5 in games decided by five or fewer points.
- The Brown and Gold were 4-2 last year and 5-3 in 2018-19 in close games.

Stepping Up
- With the graduation of its two leading scorers from last year’s team, Valpo would need players to step up and fill the void.
- So far, senior Grace White has done exactly that for this year’s squad.
- White opened the season with a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals at BGSU, and followed with a team-best 17 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists in the Illinois win.
- At Purdue, White matched her career high with 20 points, made a career-high nine baskets (9-14) and led Valpo with eight rebounds.
- For her performances against Illinois and Purdue, White was named MVC Player of the Week and College Sports Madness National High-Major Player of the Week.
- In fact, White has led Valpo in scoring in five consecutive games dating back to last year, as she closed last season with 18 points at Missouri State and 16 points at Southern Illinois, before missing Tuesday’s game.
- The stretch of five straight games leading the team in scoring was the most for a Valpo player since current assistant coach Dani Franklin paced the Brown and Gold five consecutive times from Dec. 18, 2017 to Jan. 5, 2018.

Wanted: Weinman
- With the number of steals junior Carie Weinman racks up, it wouldn’t be surprising to find her face on a Wanted poster.
- Weinman tallied a game-high four steals last time out at Miami - the third time this season she has picked up four thefts in a game.
- Through four games, Weinman is averaging 3.5 steals/game - tops in the MVC and tied for 25th nationally.
- This comes on the heels of last season, when Weinman was a member of the MVC All-Defensive Team.
- Weinman led the MVC with 2.2 steals/game last season and increased her average to 2.7 steals/game in conference play.

Life on the Road
- Valpo just concluded a four-game stretch of road contests to open the 2020-21 campaign.
- This marks the second straight season that Valpo has played four straight away from home to open the year, as last year’s squad had one neutral-site game followed by three true road games.
- It matches Valpo’s longest stretch of games away from home to open a season since beginning the 2007-08 season with six consecutive games away from the ARC.
- The game against WMU marks the program’s latest home opener since 1994-95, when the Brown and Gold hosted Aurora on Dec. 20.

Big Ten Challenges
- Of Valpo’s seven scheduled nonconference games, three are against Big Ten programs - Illinois, Purdue and Wisconsin.
- Valpo has played three nonconference games versus Big Ten teams in Mary Evans’ first two full seasons - Illinois in 2018-19; Ohio State and Northwestern in 2019-20.
- Should all three games be played as scheduled, it would be the first time in program history Valpo has faced three Big Ten opponents in a single season.
- The games at Illinois and Purdue came back to back, the first consecutive games against Big Ten foes for Valpo since opening the 2006-07 season at Northwestern and Indiana.

Just Win, Baby, Win
- The 2019-20 Valpo squad had one of the top turnarounds in program history from the previous year and one of the best turnarounds in the nation.
- Last year’s squad more than doubled the win total from the prior season, as the 2018-19 team went 8-24 overall, while the 2019-20 squad went 17-12.
- It was the second-largest improvement in the win column from one year to the next in program history, trailing only the 2001-02 team, which improved an astounding 19 wins from the previous season (7-22 -> 26-7).
- Valpo’s 10.5 game improvement last year was sixth-best nationally, while the program’s 172-spot jump in the RPI was the largest leap in the nation.
- Valpo’s 17 wins made it the program’s winningest campaign since 2006-07.
- The wins came in non-conference play, where Valpo posted an 8-3 record – the best pre-conference mark in program history.
- The wins came away from home, as Valpo went 9-5 in true road games – the most road wins since the 2001-02 team won nine true road games.
- The wins came when the schedule shifted to MVC action, as Valpo finished 9-9 in MVC play – its first .500 or better record in league play since 2008-09 – in a conference which finished the season ranked eighth nationally in RPI.
- The 9-9 mark in MVC play was a six-win improvement over the previous year.
- Per WarrenNolan.com, Valpo’s record in games outside of quadrant 1 opponents was an impressive 17-4.

Threes and Thieves
- As head coach Mary Evans has implemented her preferred style of play on both ends of the court through her first two years at the helm, Valpo fans have come to know that they’ll see 3-pointers and they’ll see steals when the team takes the floor.
- Valpo paced the Valley last season in both 3-pointers/game (8.6) and steals/game (10.3).
- Valpo finished last year ranked 14th nationally in 3-pointers/game and 27th in steals/game.
- Last year’s squad made 250 3-pointers, second-most in a single season in program history - trailing only the 276 triples by the 2018-19 team.
- In Evans’ first two seasons, Valpo has connected on 14 or more 3-pointers in a single game five times after doing so just eight times total before her arrival.
- Valpo tallied double digits in steals 16 times last year, highlighted by a 20-steal performance at Evansville - the program’s highest single-game steals total since 2003.
- With 300 steals, last year’s team finished the campaign eighth in program history in the category. The 2001-02 team (330 steals) is the only Valpo team in the last quarter-century to have registered more steals.