Valparaiso (10-17, 8-8 MVC)
Game #28 - March 3, 2022 - 6 p.m.
Missouri State (22-5, 13-3 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The final weekend of the regular season is here for the Valpo women’s basketball team, and with it comes matchups against the top two teams in the MVC standings. The weekend opens Thursday evening against second-place Missouri State, with the Beacons needing one win in their final two games or a Drake loss to secure a top-six seed for Hoops in the Heartland.
Previously: Valpo cut a 15-point second-half deficit to as few as three points on Friday evening at the ARC, but could not get over the hump and take the lead as visiting Loyola pulled away in the final minutes to earn a 66-52 victory. The Beacons were led by 15 points from Carie Weinman, as well as 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists by Shay Frederick.
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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 47-66. 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: Missouri State has won all nine matchups in the series between the two programs, all of which have come since Valpo joined the MVC. Each of the last three meetings has been decided by 12 points or fewer, however. Earlier this season, Valpo dropped a 74-62 final to the Lady Bears in Springfield. Olivia Brown had a game-high 21 points in that contest and went 5-for-6 from 3-point range, leading Valpo’s 11-for-22 effort from deep.
@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.
...versus Loyola
- Loyola led 20-14 at the end of the first quarter and was up 31-22 at intermission.
- Valpo scored 15 points in the first five minutes of the second half, but lost ground to the Ramblers, who scored on each of their first nine possessions of the half.
- Loyola’s lead grew to as many as 15 points in the third quarter before Valpo reeled off 11 straight points late in the quarter. The Beacons trailed just 51-47 with 10 minutes to play.
- It was a slow start both ways to the fourth quarter, as neither team scored a point in the first two minutes of the period. A free throw by the Ramblers was answered by a pair from the charity stripe by Weinman to make it a 52-49 game with 7:35 remaining.
- Valpo actually had the ball with a chance to tie the game, but a turnover led to a Loyola basket, which sparked a eight-point spurt for the Ramblers over the next two minutes.
- After shooting 50% or better from the field in three of its previous four games, Valpo was limited to 35.4% shooting on Friday evening.
- Valpo did go 10-of-12 from the foul line on Friday, eclipsing the 80% mark from the stripe for the fourth time in its last five contests.
- Valpo tallied just four steals as a team, a new season low, as it forced just nine Rambler turnovers.
...at Indiana State
- Valpo trailed 19-8 at the end of the first quarter and trailed by as many as 13 before closing to within 29-26 at halftime.
- The Sycamores got their lead up to nine points in the third quarter before a 11-0 run gave Valpo its first lead of the game, 42-40 with 4:10 to play in the third.
- Neither team would have more than a four-point lead until the final minute of the game as they struggled for control. Indiana State led 61-57 with six minutes to play.
- Valpo scored the next five, including a steal and fast-break layup for Grace White and an offensive rebound and second-chance basket by Maya Dunson, to edge back ahead, 62-61 with 4:15 to play. The Sycamores got a putback basket on their next possession before Carie Weinman drove and finished to return the lead to Valpo with 3:28 to play.
- The Beacons’ defense stepped up, forcing six missed shots by the Sycamores over their next four possessions. During that stretch, Dunson stepped up and drilled a huge 3-pointer to push the lead to four points.
- Free throws lengthened the lead out to 70-63, but Indiana State had one final threat, hitting two from the line and then getting a steal in the backcourt and finishing to make it 70-67 with 37 seconds to go. But Shay Frederick’s record-setting night concluded with her hitting two pairs of free throws in the final seconds to keep the Sycamores at bay.
- Dunson came off the bench with the best game of her career, hitting 5-of-7 from the floor — including 3-for-3 from the 3-point line — for 13 points, tying her career high and setting a new high while at Valpo.
- Dunson, who scored all 13 of her points after halftime, also grabbed seven rebounds to match her career best in that department as well.
- Valpo finished the game shooting 52.6% (20-for-38) from the floor and was 8-of-16 from 3-point range, its 50% clip from deep tying a season best. It is the third time in the last four games Valpo has shot at least 50% from the field.
- Valpo won despite Indiana State finishing with 32 more field goal attempts, thanks in large part to 22 offensive rebounds which the Sycamores converted into 18 second-chance points.
- This is the first time since the 2007-08 season that Valpo has lost a home game by 20+ points and come back to beat that same team on the road later in the season. That year’s team fell to Cleveland State by 23 at the ARC and came back to earn a 14-point win over the Vikings in Cleveland.
...looking ahead
- Southern Illinois opposes Valpo on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon, March 5.
- Hoops in the Heartland begins from Moline, Ill. next Thursday, March 10.
...at the ARC
- Friday is the eighth MVC home game of the season and the 12th 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 5-6 at home this year.
@MSULadyBears
- Missouri State enters Thursday’s game at 22-5 overall on the year and in second place in MVC play at 13-3 in conference action.
- The Lady Bears are winners of seven consecutive games, most recently taking down Indiana State, 72-65.
- Abi Jackson leads the active MSU players, averaging 13.0 points/game and 6.5 rebounds/game.
The Race For the Top Six
- Valpo enters the weekend in sixth place in the MVC standings with an 8-8 record, one game ahead of Drake at 7-9.
- To lock up a top-six seed at Hoops in the Heartland and avoid Thursday, the Beacons need to finish at minimum in a tie with Drake, as Valpo holds the tiebreaker by virtue of the season sweep of the series.
- That means Valpo would clinch a top-six seed with either one win this weekend (Missouri State, Southern Illinois) or one Drake loss (at Evansville, at Indiana State).
Moving On Up
- Senior guard Shay Frederick is making an impact on a number of Valpo’s charts in the record book as the season nears its close.
- Frederick moved into Valpo’s career top-10 in scoring in its win at Indiana State, and last time out against Loyola, jumped to eighth place on that chart with 1,230 career points.
- Frederick also continues to rack up the assists, as she ranks second in program history with 483 career assists. That total is good for 19th in MVC history, and she is looking to become just one of 17 players in conference history with 500 career assists.
- Frederick also has moved into fifth place in program history for career 3-pointers made (188) and free throws made (274).
- Within the last two games, Frederick has not only cracked Valpo’s single-season top-10 in assists, she has moved all the way up into a tie for seventh with 134 assists this year.
- That matches the most assists by a Valpo player since 2000.
- In the win at Indiana State two games ago, Frederick went 14-for-14 at the foul line to set a new program single-game record for free throws made without a miss.
Reaching 1K
- Frederick is one of three Valpo players to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career this season.
- Carie Weinman hit 1,000 collegiate points last month as the Beacons played at UNI.
- Weinman now owns 1,083 career points, 892 of which have come in her three seasons at Valpo.
- Meanwhile, Grace White became the third Beacon to reach the milestone this season two games ago in the team’s thrilling victory at Indiana State.
- White has scored 1,005 points, 728 of which have come in the Valpo uniform.
Rally Pros
- Five of Valpo’s eight MVC victories have seen the Beacons overcome double-digit deficits at some point during the game to earn the win.
- Valpo has now rallied from down 10 or more to win 15 times in head coach Mary Evans’ four-year tenure at the helm of the program.
- Valpo faced a 13-point deficit in the second quarter at Indiana State and came back to earn the five-point win.
- Valpo overcame a 12-point deficit in the second quarter to earn the win over Bradley at the ARC.
- At Drake, the Beacons trailed by 10 in the first half before coming back for the victory.
- Valpo’s home win over UNI featured a comeback from down 13 in the fourth quarter, tying 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.
- Against Evansville at the ARC, the Beacons trailed by as many as 14 points before picking up the win - it was Valpo’s largest comeback overall since the aforementioned Loyola game, which featured a 14-point deficit at one point.
Accomplishing Firsts
- Valpo has recorded a number of firsts in program history during conference play this year.
- The Beacons have registered their first road win over two MVC teams this season, winning for the first time both at Drake and at Bradley.
- Both Drake and Bradley were previously 6-0 at home versus Valpo before this season.
- The win at the Knapp Center completed Valpo’s first season sweep of Drake, the program’s first two wins ever against the Bulldogs.
- Prior to the Beacons’ win at the ARC over Drake earlier this season, the Bulldogs held a 13-0 advantage in the all-time series.
- The win over Drake in January also gave Valpo its first sweep of the UNI/Drake weekend in MVC play.
- Valpo completed its first season sweep of Bradley with the home win over the Braves.
Top 100 Wins
- Valpo has made a habit of knocking off top-100 opponents in MVC play over the last few seasons and has two more opportunities to do so this season having done so already three times this year.
- The home win over UNI came over a team which entered the night ranked #46 in NET, and the home victory came over a Drake squad which was #65.
- Most recently, the road win at Drake came over a Bulldogs squad which entered the day at #84.
- Valpo now has eight 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.
Leading the Way
- Two Valpo players are currently on pace to lead the MVC in statistical categories this year.
- One season after leading the Valley in assists, Frederick again tops the chart this season as she’s averaging 5.0 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 currently ranks 42nd nationally in assists/game this season, while her 483 career assists are 26th-most among active players.
- Grace White is attempting to lead the conference in steals/game, as she enters the final weekend of regular season play with a conference-best 2.3/game.
- Should White lead the MVC in steals, it would be the third consecutive year a Valpo player took top honors in that category, as Carie Weinman has paced the Valley each of the last two seasons.
