The Valpo women’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit Tuesday evening at UIC to forge ahead to a six-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the host Flames struck back and eventually emerged on top, 68-64.
How It Happened
- Caitlin Morrison (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) scored five early points, the last three of which came on a triple with 4:51 to play in the first quarter and put Valpo ahead 11-10.
- UIC scored the final 10 points of the opening period to lead 20-11 at the end of the first.
- Valpo kept the Flames from extending the lead beyond nine points in the second quarter, and cut the deficit to three points on multiple occasions, the last of which came on a basket from Grace White (Redby, Minn./Red Lake [Denver]) with 1:49 to play in the half.
- UIC knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds of the half as it took a 33-26 lead into halftime.
- The deficit reached 10 points 2:30 into the second half, and Valpo still trailed by nine at 41-32 with 5:43 to play in the third quarter.
- The Beacons closed the quarter with 17 of the final 24 points to pull back ahead with 10 minutes to play, 49-48. Five different players scored during that stretch, with White tallying seven points in the span.
- Shay Frederick (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) and Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) combined for eight points in the first three-plus minutes of the fourth quarter as Valpo extended its lead to 57-51 with 6:48 to play.
- The Beacons went scoreless for a stretch of over three and a half minutes, with UIC scoring eight straight to go back in front.
- Weinman snapped the run with a 3-point play to put Valpo ahead 60-59 with 3:02 to play, but the Flames scored five points on their next two possessions to take a four-point lead.
- A basket from Weinman with 1:11 to play made it a two-point game, but after the teams traded turnovers, UIC got a layup from Justice Gee with 25 seconds to go to push its lead to 66-62.
- Valpo responded right away with a layup by Lauren Gunn (Fishers, Ind./Lawrence North) to again move to within two points, and after UIC split a pair at the foul line, the Beacons had the ball with a shot to tie the game. Valpo’s final 3-point attempt was off the mark, however.
Inside the Game
- Weinman led all players on Tuesday with 23 points, hitting 9-of-14 from the field. It was her ninth effort of 20+ points in her time at Valpo.
- White filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. She paced Valpo in both rebounds and steals, while her six assists were just one off a career high.
- Frederick also came up just one assist off a career high, dishing out seven assists. The senior now owns 370 career assists and jumped two spots up to fifth on Valpo’s all-time chart in the category on Tuesday.
- Frederick added nine points and five rebounds and matched White with four steals as well.
- Morrison played in her 117th career game at Valpo on Tuesday, moving her into the program’s all-time top-10 in games played. She closed the evening with 10 points and six rebounds.
- Valpo shot a season-best 52.1% from the field on Tuesday, but was just 4-for-16 from 3-point range compared to UIC’s 9-for-16 night from behind the arc.
- The Beacons outscored the Flames in the paint, 42-26.
Next Up
Valpo (0-5) returns to action following Thanksgiving, as its next game is set for Monday evening at Western Michigan. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
