Valparaiso (1-9, 0-1 MVC)
Game #11 - January 4, 2024 - 6:30 p.m.
at Missouri State (7-3, 1-0 MVC)
Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) - Springfield, Mo.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women’s basketball team opens the 2024 calendar year with the lengthiest road trip of Missouri Valley Conference play, heading to Springfield, Mo. to face off against Missouri State Thursday evening.
Previously: Valpo opened the 2023-24 MVC slate Saturday evening in Murray, Ky., dropping a 90-62 decision to host Murray State. Leah Earnest led all players with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Saniya Jackson (11 points) and Nevaeh Jackson (10 points) joined Earnest in double figures in the scoring department.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
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 2023-24 and owns a record of 56-100. Evans has made an impact on the program in her first five 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: A series which started upon Valpo’s admittance to the Valley prior to the 2017-18 season, Missouri State holds a 10-1 advantage in the series. The Lady Bears had won the first 10 matchups between the two programs, but the Beacons earned the victory in the most recent meeting - a 77-68 triumph at the ARC last Jan. 14 in the sole game between the two teams in 2022-23. Ilysse Pitts more than doubled her previous career best by scoring a game-high 24 points, while Leah Earnest went 6-of-9 from the floor for 18 points and Olivia Brown chipped in 15 points in the win.
@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 Murray State
- Valpo was within 18-16 past the halfway point of the first quarter before Murray State ended the period with 11 straight points to pull out to a 29-16 lead at the end of the quarter.
- The Beacons used a 12-3 run to close to within 35-28 with 4:44 to play in the first half. The Racers scored the next nine in a row, however, and led 44-31 at intermission.
- A 13-0 Murray State run over a four-minute stretch of the third quarter pushed the Racers’ advantage to 28 points. Murray State led 76-49 with 10 minutes to play, and Valpo was unable to get any closer in the fourth quarter.
- Leah Earnest led all players with a game-high 17 points, the ninth time in 10 games this season that the senior has scored in double figures. She also came up just one rebound shy of a double-double, pacing all players with nine boards.
- Saniya Jackson tallied 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting to reach double figures for the fifth time in Valpo’s last seven games, while Nevaeh Jackson totaled 10 points to hit double digits for the second time this year. Both of the twins contributed three steals and two blocked shots as well.
- Valpo shot at a 40.7% (22-of-54) clip from the floor to Murray State’s 46% (29-of-63) shooting. The Racers also hit 11 triples versus the Beacons’ eight 3-pointers.
- The Beacons committed a season-worst 28 turnovers which Murray State converted into 35 points.
- Led by the Jackson twins, Valpo racked up 11 steals to maintain its MVC-leading pace as a team in that category. It is the sixth time this year the Beacons have posted a double-digit steal total.
...at Stetson
- The first quarter was played entirely within a single possession either way, as neither team was able to push its lead past three points, and the score was tied 15-15 after 10 minutes.
- Stetson opened the second quarter on a 10-3 run to take the lead for good and led 33-26 at halftime.
- The Beacons held the Hatters without a point for a stretch of nearly five minutes in the third quarter, closing to within 37-35 with 4:44 to play in the period.
- The deficit was still just four points at 43-39 with 2:23 to go in the third period before Stetson ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to push its lead to its apex at 52-39 with 10 minutes to play.
- Valpo was able to cut the deficit inside eight points twice in the fourth quarter, but both times Stetson came down and hit a 3-pointer on its next possession.
- Olivia Brown paced Valpo, pouring in 14 points — including four 3-pointers.
- Saniya Jackson finished with 10 points and led the Beacons with seven rebounds, bettering her season best in that category for the second straight day.
- Leah Earnest finished with 10 points as well, her eighth double-digit scoring outing in the season’s first nine games. The senior also handed out a game-high five assists.
- Valpo shot just 38.5% from the field compared to Stetson’s 52.9% clip. The Beacons did hit nine 3-pointers to the Hatters’ five, but Valpo was undone in part by 13-of-23 shooting from the charity stripe.
...looking ahead
- The Beacons close out their current five-game road swing Saturday afternoon at Southern Illinois.
- Valpo returns to the ARC for the first time in over a month Friday, Jan. 12 as the Beacons face Drake, followed by a matchup against UNI two days later.
...on the road
- Valpo will play 17 games away from home in the 2023-24 regular season, 16 of which will be true road games.
- The Beacons are 0-8 away from home so far this year and posted a 4-10 record in true road games last season.
@MSULadyBears
- Missouri State comes into Thursday’s game with a 7-3 overall record this season and has won four games in a row.
- The Lady Bears claimed their Valley opener over UNI, 54-52, on a buzzer beater by Lacy Stokes.
- Stokes is averaging a team-best 11.6 points/game and leads the Lady Bears with 37 assists, while Kennedy Taylor is scoring 10.1 points/game and pulling down 6.7 rebounds/game.
Another Leap Forward
- Senior Leah Earnest took a jump forward in her production last season, and nine games into the 2023-24 campaign, she has taken another leap.
- Earnest enters Thursday’s game ranked seventh in the conference in scoring (14.5 points/game), fourth in 3-point percentage (.441) and seventh in field goal percentage (.514).
- She also leads the Beacons in rebounding with 6.6 boards/game, and is averaging a career-best 2.6 assists/game as well.
- Earnest has been consistent, scoring in double figures in nine of 10 games to date - including in each of the season’s first seven games after opening last season with eight straight double-digit outputs.
- Prior to last year, you’d have to go back to 2009-10 to find the last time a Valpo player opened the year scoring 10+ in the season’s first seven games (Lauren Kenney-8; Betsy Adams-7).
- Earnest entered this season with a career high of 20 in the scoring column, but has outdone that three times this year, including a career-best 26 points at UAB.
- Earnest enters Thursday’s game with 493 career rebounds, two shy of cracking Valpo’s all-time top-20 in the category and seven shy of becoming the 19th player in program history with 500 career boards.
Passing a Milestone
- Fifth-year guard Olivia Brown gave it her all trying to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her collegiate career at home against Chicago State Dec. 9.
- Brown scored a game-high 23 points - one off her career high - but ultimately came up one point short, finishing the game against the Cougars with 999 collegiate points.
- Brown reached the milestone the next time out, connecting on a 3-pointer early in the third quarter Dec. 19 versus Bethune-Cookman which pushed her past the 1,000-point mark.
- Brown enters Thursday’s game with 1,029 collegiate points, 663 of which have come in her three seasons in the Valpo uniform.
- Brown’s .394 career 3-point percentage at Valpo ranks third in program history.
Productive Rookie
- Freshman Saniya Jackson scored just 11 points combined over her first three collegiate games, but has been a steady hand on the offensive end since then.
- Jackson’s first double-figure scoring effort came at UAB, when she scored 13 points.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in five of Valpo’s last seven games, including a season-best 14 in the win over Chicago State and 11 points last time out in the Valley opener at Murray State.
- Jackson is shooting at a 50.8% clip from the field this season, including a 68.4% mark from inside the arc.
Thievery Abounds
- Valpo has gotten back to its stealing ways on the defensive end this season.
- The Beacons rank 28th nationally with 11.3 steals/game, and per HerHoopStats.com, their steal rate of 13.1% is good for 25th nationally.
- Valpo has been in double figures in steals in six of its 10 games this season, highlighted by an 18-steal effort against Western Illinois Nov. 18.
- The 18 steals was the program’s best single-game mark since tallying 21 steals at Evansville on Jan. 12, 2020, and is tied for the second-highest output in Evans’ tenure as head coach.
- Twice already this year, the Beacons have had a player tally eight steals in a game - Saniya Jackson did so Nov. 25 at UAB and Raeven Raye-Redmond did so in her collegiate debut in the aforementioned Western Illinois game.
- Jackson and Raye-Redmond are two of just 23 D-I players nationally to record eight or more steals in a single game so far this season.
- The duo are now tied for second on Valpo’s single-game steals chart, just one off the program single-game record.
- Prior to this year, the last Valpo player to tally eight steals in a game was Jeanette Gray against Houston in the 2002 WNIT.
- Raye-Redmond was the first MVC player to record eight steals in a game since UNI’s Ellie Herzberg did so against Indiana State on Feb. 19, 2017.
A Challenging Nonconference Schedule
- Valpo’s nonconference schedule was surprisingly strong.
- Six of the eight teams the Beacons have lost to sit at or above .500 on the season.
- Included among that group is a 7-4 Southern Miss team which defeated then-#19 Ole Miss, as well as Western Illinois (10-2), UAB (10-3) and Bethune-Cookman (9-4) with winning percentages of at least .667 as well.
On the Road Again
- Valpo’s game against Chicago State Dec. 9 was its lone regular season home game in a span of 55 days.
- The Beacons are in the middle of a stretch where they play nine out of 10 games away from home.
- Prior to beating the Cougars, Valpo played four consecutive true road games.
- Thursday’s game at Missouri State is the fourth in a stretch of five straight games away from home for the Beacons, incuding each of their first three MVC games.
- Valpo will go 34 days between home games at the ARC (Chicago State Dec. 9-Drake Jan. 12), the program’s longest stretch between home games since the 1999-2000 team went 35 days between home contests.
Prolific in the Paint
- For those in tune with Valpo’s offensive scheme, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that most of the Beacons’ 2-point field goals come from inside the paint.
- So far this season, however, it has been even more pronounced.
- Through 10 games, Valpo has made 137 2-point field goals - 135 of which have been registered as field goals in the paint.
- The only exceptions are a Leah Earnest shot at Eastern Illinois which was input as being shot from the block on the edge of the lane line, and an Ava Interrante runner to beat the shot clock at Purdue.
What a Quick Start
- Hopefully fans were on time to the start of Valpo’s win over Chicago State Dec. 9, because if they were late, they missed out on a bunch of scoring.
- The Beacons were a perfect 7-for-7 from the field on their first seven possessions of the game, scoring 14 points in the first 3:51 of the game.
- It was the quickest Valpo has reached 14 points since doing so in exactly 3:51 at Drake Jan. 31, 2020.
- It was the first time Valpo has scored on each of its first seven possessions of a game since Feb. 26, 2014 at Detroit.
- It was the first time Valpo has hit its first seven field goal attempts since Nov. 30, 2006 at Loyola.
