Valparaiso (0-1, 0-0 MVC)
Game #2 - November 18, 2023 - 1 p.m.
Western Illinois (3-1, 0-0 OVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women’s basketball team takes to its home court at the ARC for the first time this season Saturday afternoon when the Beacons play host to Western Illinois. It is one of just two nonconference home games for Valpo this season.
Previously: Valpo opened the season on Sunday at Eastern Illinois, where the Beacons led at the half before falling to the Panthers, 75-62. Leah Earnest paced three Valpo players in double figures with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Jill Harris had 12 points and Nevaeh Jackson 11 in their Valpo and collegiate debuts, respectively.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
Radio: None
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com
Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans is in her sixth year at the helm of the program in 2022-23 and owns a record of 55-92. Evans has made an impact on the program in her first four years, raising the team’s level of play to be competitive in a strong Missouri Valley Conference. The 2022-23 season saw Evans lead Valpo to the first win in program history over perennial MVC power Missouri State. The Beacons also won three consecutive road games in Valley play, the first time the program accomplished that feat against three different opponents since 2007.
Series Notes: Saturday marks the 38th all-time meeting between the former Mid-Continent Conference rivals. It is Valpo with the slimmest of edges in the all-time series, as the Brown and Gold have a 19-18 advantage. But in three matchups since Valpo left the Mid-Con, it has been WIU coming away with the victory all three times. Most recently, the two squads met last season on Dec. 9 in Macomb, where the Leathernecks earned an 83-67 win. Jayda Johnston (16 points) and Ava Interrante (15 points) both set their respective career highs in the scoring column in that contest.
@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was picked to finish in 10th place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 162 points, coming in ahead of Evansville and Bradley.
- Valpo is in its seventh season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley was ranked 13th in conference NET last season. The MVC ranked 10th in conference NET in 2021-22, seventh in conference NET in 2020-21 and was eighth in conference RPI in 2019-20.
...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished last season with a 7-23 overall record and finished at 5-15 in MVC play, good for 11th in the Valley standings.
- The Beacons earned their first win in program history over perennial MVC power Missouri State.
- Valpo also won three consecutive road games in Valley play, the first time the program accomplished that feat against three different opponents since 2007.
- Ali Saunders was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team.
...at Eastern Illinois
- An 11-0 first-quarter run for the Beacons gave them a double-digit lead late in the opening period, and Valpo earned its largest lead at 22-11 early in the second quarter.
- EIU cut into the Valpo lead as the second quarter went along, but the Beacons were still up at halftime, 34-31.
- The Panthers took advantage of Valpo hitting just 3-of-13 from the field in the third quarter, outscoring the Beacons by eight to take a 49-44 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- Valpo erased that lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter, and the game was still tied 51-51 with 7:24 to play before EIU reeled off 10 straight points. The Beacons got to within four at 64-60 with two minutes remaining, but could get no closer.
- The game came against an Eastern Illinois team which posted a 21-8 record last season and finished in second place in the OVC.
- Leah Earnest paced the offense with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting while pulling down a game-high nine rebounds and setting a career high with four assists.
- In her first game at Valpo, Jill Harris delivered 12 points — just two off her career best — and three assists.
- Making her collegiate debut, Nevaeh Jackson connected on three triples as part of an 11-point, three-rebound afternoon.
- Valpo held a 23-8 advantage in bench points over EIU, but the Panthers held a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint.
...looking ahead
- The Beacons will spend the Thanksgiving holiday on the road, traveling to face Southern Miss Tuesday, Nov. 21 and UAB Saturday, Nov. 25.
...at the ARC
- Valpo will play 12 regular season home games during the 2023-24 campaign, just two of those nonconference contests.
- The Beacons posted a 3-12 record at home last season.
...in home openers
- Valpo won its home opener last year, downing Southern Miss by a 72-65 final.
- The Beacons have won their home opener three of the last four seasons.
@WIUWBB
- Western Illinois comes into Saturday’s game with a 3-1 record this season and has split its two Division I games, falling at Wisconsin (74-52) and winning handily over Northern Illinois (95-62).
- Raegan McCowan leads three Leathernecks averaging in double figures with 17.5 points/game and also paces the team with 7.0 rebounds/game. Addi Brownfield has stuffed the stat sheet with 9.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.0 steals per game.
- Western Illinois is in its first season as a member of the OVC. Last season, the Leathernecks finished with a 10-20 overall record and went 5-13 in the Summit League.
A Strong Debut
- Freshman Nevaeh Jackson enjoyed a strong start to her collegiate career in the season opener Sunday at Eastern Illinois.
- Jackson played 22 minutes off the bench, going 4-of-8 from the field - including 3-of-6 from 3-point range - for 11 points while also adding three rebounds and two assists.
- The 11 points is the best mark for a Valpo freshman in their first collegiate game since Bryce Blood scored 13 against IU Kokomo in the 2017-18 season opener.
- It is the best mark for a freshman in their first collegiate game against a D-I program since Dani Franklin kicked off her stellar career with 14 points in a win over Butler to start the 2014-15 season.
The First Time
- Jackson was one of four Valpo players to take the floor in the Beacon uniform for the first time last Sunday.
- Twin sister Saniya Jackson made her collegiate debut and scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench.
- Freshman Kayla Preston made her mark on the glass, needing just 11 minutes to pull down five boards - tied for second-most on the team - while also scoring five points.
- Fifth-year Jill Harris began her first season at Valpo in the starting lineup, playing a team-high 33 minutes and finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Filling the Stat Sheet
- Senior Leah Earnest made an impact across the entirety of the box in the season opener at EIU.
- Earnest led the Beacons with 13 points, tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds and handed out a team-best four assists.
- One season after tallying eight double-doubles, Earnest came up just one board shy of a season-opening double-double this year.
- It is the first time a Valpo player has at least tied for team-high honors in all three categories since last season’s home win over Bradley on Jan. 29 - that game featured 19 points, 11 rebounds and four assists by Earnest.
- It is the first time a Valpo player has outright paced the team in all three categories since Shay Frederick posted 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists on Feb. 4, 2021 in a win over Bradley.
Hitting From Downtown
- Valpo was on point from behind the 3-point line in Sunday’s season opener.
- The Beacons shot 10-of-24 (.417) from distance, with seven different players connecting on at least one triple.
- Last season, Valpo hit 10+ 3-pointers in a game six times and had six nights where it hit at a 40% clip or better from deep.
- Of course, under head coach Mary Evans, the 3-ball has become an integral part of the offensive strategy. Evans’ first five seasons have featured five of the seven highest single season totals for 3-pointers made in program history, while the team has averaged 8.3 triples/game in her five years.
Easing Into the Season
- When the clock strikes midnight heading into Friday, every D-I team in the nation will have played at least two regular season games this season - except for Valpo.
- With such a big group of newcomers joining the program this year, head coach Mary Evans opted to ease into the 2023-24 season and not jump straight into game action.
- Valpo’s season opener came on the seventh day of the D-I season, as Monday, Nov. 6 was opening day of the regular season.
- Kent State is the only D-I program which tipped off its first game later than Valpo’s opener.
Don’t Blink or You’ll Miss Them
- It is a very light regular season nonconference home schedule at the ARC for Valpo this season.
- The Beacons will play just two regular season home games before Valley play begins: Saturday’s game versus Western Illinois and Dec. 9 versus Chicago State.
- Valpo also played just a pair of nonconference home games in the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to 1994-95 to find a season where Valpo played just two nonconference home games.
- Add to that the fact the Beacons’ first two weekends of MVC play take place on the road, and in all, they will play 10 of their first 12 games of the season away from home.
Returning Production
- The Beacons return the majority of production from last year’s squad.
- Three of Valpo’s top four scorers from the 2022-23 season are back for the 2023-24 campaign.
- In all, Valpo returns 64.7% of its minutes played, 66.4% of its scoring and 72.1% of its rebounding from the 2022-23 team.
Who’s Back
- This year’s squad features eight returnees from last year’s team.
- Headlining Valpo’s returnees is fifth-year guard Olivia Brown. The Beacons’ leading scorer last year at 12.0 points/game, Brown was one of the Valley’s top shooters, ranking third in the conference in 3-point percentage and sixth in 3-pointers/game.
- Brown enters the 2023-24 campaign just 75 points away from hitting 1,000 points for her collegiate career.
- Senior forward Leah Earnest took a leap forward last season, averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds per game — the latter mark good for sixth in the Valley. Earnest was especially proficient on the defensive glass, with a defensive rebounding rate of 28.3% — 13th-best nationally among players with at least 100 defensive boards.
- Junior Olivia Sims was Valpo’s fourth-leading scorer last year, averaging 5.0 points/game.
- Senior Ava Interrante (4.1 ppg, 29 steals), senior Jayda Johnston (3.8 ppg), redshirt senior Emma Tecca (3.0 ppg), junior Katie Beyer (2.0 ppg) and redshirt sophomore Ella Van Weelden (1.6 ppg) all return as well for the 2023-24 season.
Who’s New
- Nearly half the Valpo roster is new to the program this season, with the vast majority of those newcomers true freshmen.
- The lone incoming transfer was fifth-year point guard Jill Harris. Harris most recently played one season at Johnson C. Smith. She was a SoCon All-Freshman Team selection as a rookie at Mercer in 2019-20 and helped the Bears to the NCAA Tournament in 2020-21.
- Valpo welcomes its first Indiana All-Star to the program since 2017, as Indianapolis native Layla Gold earned the prestigious honor last season.
- Gold is one of four All-State high school players new to the roster this season. Twins Nevaeh and Saniya Jackson, out of Northrop [Ind.] H.S., were both First Team All-State selections as seniors, while Raeven Raye-Redmond earned Second Team All-State honors out of Trotwood Madison [Ohio] H.S.
- Kayla Preston joins the Beacons as a true freshman as well after helping lead Millard North [Neb.] H.S. to a state semifinal appearance as a senior.
