Valparaiso (5-12, 3-3 MVC)
Game #18 - January 21, 2022 - 6 p.m.
Indiana State (8-7, 3-1 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: Winners of three of the last four games, the Valpo women’s basketball team looks to extend its three-game homecourt winning streak Friday evening as the Beacons welcome in-state foe Indiana State to the ARC. Please note that masks are required at all home Valpo athletic events until further notice.
Previously: Another weekend, another first for Valpo, as the Beacons built up a 14-point lead and held off a Bradley rally down the stretch — thanks in large part to two key 3-pointers late from Caitlin Morrison — to earn a 68-61 victory Saturday afternoon. The victory was the first in program history on the road over the Braves.
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Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans is in her fourth year at the helm of the program in 2021-22 and owns a record of 42-61. Evans has made an immediate impact on the program in her first three years, raising the team’s level of play to be competitive in a strong Missouri Valley Conference. Evans’ preferred style of play has been a big part of the program’s turnaround, as Valpo has led the MVC in 3-pointers made per game and in steals per game in each of the last two seasons.
Series Notes: Indiana State owns an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series, but it’s Valpo which has won each of the last three matchups. Friday’s meeting will be the first in nearly two full calendar years in the series, due to last year’s pair of games being canceled. The last matchup between the two programs came at the ARC on Feb. 8, 2020: a 61-45 Valpo victory which featured a second quarter in which Valpo held the Sycamores scoreless. Grace Hales led three players in double figures with 14 points in that win, while Shay Frederick dished out eight assists.
@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo has been picked to finish in sixth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 208 points - just one point shy of fifth place.
- Valpo is in its fifth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley was ranked seventh nationally in conference NET in 2020-21 and was eighth nationally in conference RPI in 2019-20.
...looking back at last year
- Valpo posted a 12-13 overall record during the 2020-21 season and went 7-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
- Valpo finished the regular season in seventh place in the MVC standings.
- Included among Valpo’s 12 victories were wins at Illinois and at Purdue, the program’s first Power Five wins since 2012-13.
- Valpo closed the season with a NET of 122 - the program’s best final NET/RPI ranking since the 2003-04 campaign.
- Shay Frederick was a First Team All-MVC honoree as she led the Valley in assists and ranked sixth in scoring.
- Carie Weinman earned Honorable Mention All-MVC notice and repeated on the All-Defensive Team as she led the Valley in steals for a second straight season.
...at Bradley
- Valpo never trailed in the first half and led by as many as eight points before the Braves cut the lead to 35-33 at intermission.
- Bradley scored the first basket of the second half 2:44 into the third quarter to take its first lead of the game, but Valpo outscored the Braves 18-5 the remainder of the quarter to lead 53-41 with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons’ lead was as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter and was still sitting at 13 approaching the halfway mark of the period, but Bradley scored 10 points in a four-possession stretch while holding Valpo without a point in that same span to close to within 58-55 with 3:09 to play.
- Caitlin Morrison connected on a huge 3-pointer on Valpo’s next possession to push the lead back to six points, allowing the Beacons to absorb back-to-back scoreless trips while Bradley scored on two of its next three possessions to close to within 61-59 with 1:32 remaining.
- Maya Dunson came up with a big bucket the next time down the floor, driving for a layup to again make it a two-possession game with 1:11 to go.
- It was Grace White with the key defensive play on the ensuing Bradley trip, blocking a 3-point attempt with less than a minute to play. And Valpo converted it into points on the other end, as Shay Frederick found Morrison for her fifth 3-pointer of the contest to put the game away.
- Morrison led four players in double figures with 15 points as she connected on 5-of-8 from the 3-point line. It was Morrison’s second time hitting at least five triples in Valpo’s last three games.
- White set a career high with six steals, while Leah Earnest posted the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
...at Illinois State
- A back-and-forth first quarter ended with Illinois State on top by one point, 14-13.
- The Beacons scored the first four points of the second quarter to lead 17-14 with 8:18 to play in the first half, but would be held scoreless for the next five-plus minutes as Illinois State went on a 13-0 run.
- Frederick snapped the scoreless drought with a 3-pointer with 2:56 to go in the half, a basket which proved to be the lone points for Valpo in the final 8:18 of the half. Illinois State went into the locker room with a 31-20 lead at intermission.
- The Beacons got no closer than the halftime deficit in the second half, as the Redbirds scored the first six points of the second half and led 55-32 at the end of the third period.
- Grace White’s 16 points off the bench paced Valpo on Thursday, while she also tied for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
- Shay Frederick scored 15 points, knocking down three 3-pointers, and matched White with seven boards.
- Valpo committed a season-high 26 turnovers on the offensive end. In addition, the Beacons hit just 32.6% from the floor — their second-worst percentage of the year — and went just 7-of-25 from 3-point range.
- Valpo won the rebounding battle for the second time this season, owning a 38-26 advantage on the glass. The +12 margin on the boards was the program’s highest edge in the rebounding department since a +12 in a win at Loyola on Feb. 11, 2018.
- The Beacons were 14-of-15 from the foul line, their second-best effort of the year at the charity stripe.
...looking ahead
- Valpo welcomes Evansville to the ARC on Sunday afternoon to close out the weekend.
- The Beacons then have a light week next week, with just a single game at Loyola next Friday evening.
...at the ARC
- Friday is the third MVC home game of the season and the seventh of 13 home games in total this year for the Beacons.
- Valpo posted a 5-6 record at the ARC last season and is currently 3-3 at home this year.
- The Beacons have won three straight at home and are in search of their first four-game home winning streak since Jan. 24-Feb. 28, 2020.
@IndStWBB
- Indiana State enters Friday’s game at 8-7 overall and is 3-1 in MVC play.
- The Sycamores took down Evansville Tuesday evening, 69-51, led by 21 points from Del’Janae Williams.
- Williams leads all active Sycamore players, averaging 12.7 points/game, and has tallied team highs of 40 assists and 39 steals.
Accomplishing Firsts
- Valpo has recorded a number of firsts in program history over the first few weekends of conference play.
- The Beacons’ win at Bradley last time out was the program’s first over the Braves in Peoria.
- Bradley had previously won all six home games over Valpo.
- Valpo’s win over Drake was the first in program history over the Bulldogs.
- Drake previously owned a 13-0 advantage in the series, 11 of which had come since Valpo joined the Valley.
- That leaves Missouri State as the lone program the Beacons have yet to beat since joining the MVC.
- The win over Drake also gave Valpo its first sweep of the UNI/Drake weekend in MVC play.
- It is Valpo’s fourth sweep of a weekend set since joining the Valley. Valpo previously swept both the home and road Indiana State/Evansville weekends in 2019-20, and took down Southern Illinois twice on back-to-back days last season.
Frederick Moves On Up
- One season after leading the Valley in assists, Shay Frederick again tops the chart this season as she’s averaging 4.6 assists/game.
- Frederick is trying to become the first MVC player to lead the conference in assists in consecutive seasons since Caitlin Ingle of Drake did so three straight seasons (2014-15 through 2016-17).
- Frederick moved into third place in program history for career assists last time out at Bradley, tallying seven assists against the Braves to give her 427 for her career and pass Mo Drabicki.
- Frederick is 21 helpers shy of Katie Boone for second in program history.
- One of 17 players in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career, Frederick surpassed Tamra Braun for 13th all-time at Valpo in scoring last time out, as with 12 points at Bradley, she now has 1,107 career points - 16 shy of Grace Hales for 12th position.
- Frederick is one of just two players in program history with at least 1,000 career points and 400 career assists, and just one of three active MVC players above those marks (Brice Calip, MSU-1511/437; Karli Rucker, UNI-1636/454).
- Frederick also moved into solo sixth place in program history for career 3-pointers last weekend and is just seven triples away from the top-five.
Liv Breaks Out
- Junior Olivia Brown has stood out for the Beacons within MVC play.
- Over the six Valley games to date, Brown is averaging 11.8 ppg on 55.1% shooting from the field and 52.0% from 3-point range.
- This comes after Brown averaged just 2.5 ppg through non-conference action and hit a total of nine field goals in the first 11 games.
- Included among her efforts in conference play so far are three double-digit scoring performances, and she has led all players twice - with 21 points at Missouri State and with 18 points in the win over UNI.
- Brown was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 10 for her performances in the victories over UNI and Drake - Valpo’s first MVC Newcomer of the Week since March 9, 2020.
Stellar Sophomore Season
- Sophomore Leah Earnest has taken multiple steps forward this year in her second collegiate season.
- After averaging just 3.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game as a rookie, Earnest is averaging 8.8 points on 50.4% shooting and 4.9 rebounds per game this year.
- She has raised her game another level since the start of conference action, currently averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in MVC play.
- Last time out at Bradley, Earnest matched her career high with 10 rebounds and picked up the first double-double of her career, scoring 11 points for Valpo’s first double-double since Dec. 20, 2020.
Morrison Hitting From Deep
- Sixth-year forward Caitlin Morrison has been on fire from deep to close out each of the last two weekends of play.
- On Jan. 9 versus Drake, the second game of that weekend, Morrison went 7-for-9 from 3-point range to match her career best with 21 points and set a career high for triples made.
- The seven triples are tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history, with Shay Frederick last season at Wisconsin the only other Valpo player in the last decade to connect on seven or more 3-pointers in a contest.
- Morrison’s .778 clip from deep is tied for fourth-best in a single game in program history.
- Then, last time out at Bradley in the second game of last weekend’s action, Morrison went 5-for-8 from 3-point range, including two clutch 3-pointers in the game’s final three minutes.
- Through three weekends of conference play, Valpo is connecting at a .447 (38-for-85) clip from deep in the second game of the weekend, versus just .290 (18-for-62) in the first game of the weekend.
Top 100 Wins
- Valpo has made a habit of knocking off top-100 opponents in MVC play over the last few seasons and has done so twice already this year.
- The win over UNI came over a team which entered that game ranked #46 in NET, followed by the win over a Drake squad which was ranked #65.
- It marks Valpo’s sixth and seventh top-100 NET/RPI wins in Valley action over the last three seasons.
- Prior to its Feb. 16, 2020 win at Illinois State - its first top-100 win in conference play since joining the Valley - Valpo had gone nearly seven years without a top-100 victory.
What a Rally
- The win over UNI marked the 11th time in the four-year tenure of head coach Mary Evans that Valpo has rallied from down double digits to win.
- The 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter ties the program’s largest comeback in the final period since the move to quarters — Valpo previously rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter in a 66-64 win over Loyola on Jan. 24, 2020. Ironically, the two-point final margin in that win was also secured by a 3-point play from Frederick.
- The last time Valpo rallied from a larger deficit within the game’s final 10 minutes came at Loyola on Feb. 17, 2011. Valpo trailed that day by 14 points with 8:45 to play and went on to a 72-68 victory.
