Valparaiso (1-14, 0-6 MVC)
Game #16 - January 21, 2024 - 1 p.m.
Bradley (5-12, 1-5 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women’s basketball team closes out its season-long four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon at the ARC when Bradley comes to town. After facing the top three teams in the MVC preseason poll in their first three home games of the Valley slate, the Beacons take on one of the two teams projected to finish below them on Sunday.
The world-famous Pacers Power Pack will bring their high-energy halftime dunk show to the ARC. Before the game, all children 12 and under are invited to join a pregame basketball clinic hosted by the Valpo team and staff from 1-2 p.m. The clinic is free with a game ticket and all attendees receive a Valpo t-shirt. There will also be a meet and greet with Valpo female teams before the game, free pom-poms to the first 500 fans and a postgame autograph session.
Previously: Behind a massive second quarter from freshman Nevaeh Jackson, the Valpo women’s basketball team led visiting Illinois State at the half on Friday evening at the ARC, but the Redbirds turned the tables in the third quarter as the Beacons fell by a 77-68 final. Jackson dropped 17 points in the second quarter, tied for second-most in a single quarter by a Valpo player since the move to quarters, and finished with 19 points, while Leah Earnest posted a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds.
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 56-105. 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: Bradley leads the all-time series, 12-7, but Valpo has come away victorious in each of the last four meetings. The Beacons won the first matchup last season at the ARC, 78-71 - a game which saw Olivia Brown match her career high with 24 points, while Leah Earnest delivered 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Valpo then won the return engagement in Peoria, holding off a fourth-quarter rally by the Braves for a 76-72 victory. Brown and Ali Saunders tied for team-high honors in that contest with 17 points apiece.
@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.
...versus Illinois State
- Valpo led by as many as four points in the early going, but Illinois State closed the first quarter on a 10-3 run to lead 17-11 at the end of one.
- Nevaeh Jackson poured in 17 points in the second quarter alone as the Beacons outscored the Redbirds 26-18 in the period. A Leah Earnest layup in the final seconds of the quarter gave Valpo a 37-35 lead at halftime.
- The Redbirds took the lead for good with a 6-0 run in the middle of the third quarter and led 56-49 with 10 minutes to play.
- Earnest scored on Valpo’s first trip in the fourth quarter to make it a five-point game, and when Emma Tecca drilled a 3-pointer with 7:24 to play, the Beacons were within 58-54. ISU scored 10 points on its next four trips, however, to extend its lead to 68-58 past the halfway mark of the quarter.
- Jackson’s second quarter alone surpassed her previous career high, as she finished with 19 points.
- Earnest finished with her third double-double of the year, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
- Ava Interrante rounded out the trio of Valpo players in double figures with 14 points, a season high and one off her career best, as she hit 5-of-7 from the field, including both her 3-point attempts.
- Valpo shot just 39.7% from the floor (23-of-56) versus Illinois State’s 46.9% (23-of-49) clip, but the Beacons hit seven triples to the Redbirds’ six.
- ISU enjoyed a 10-point advantage at the foul line, going 25-of-32 to Valpo’s 15-of-18. The Beacons’ 83.3% clip from the charity stripe was the team’s best single-game performance of the year (minimum 10 attempts).
- Valpo committed just 13 turnovers to match its season low. On the defensive end, the Beacons hit the double-figure mark in steals for the eighth time this year, coming up with 12 thefts.
...versus UNI
- Valpo scored the game’s first five points before UNI went on a 17-3 run to take the lead for good.
- The Panthers led 20-13 at the end of the first quarter.
- Valpo was still within seven points halfway through the second quarter, until UNI reeled off 11 points in a row en route to a 38-20 halftime lead.
- The Panthers led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter and enjoyed a 63-34 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons outscored UNI in the fourth quarter, 18-14.
- Saniya Jackson surpassed her previous season best by one point, hitting 6-of-8 from the field — including a season-high three triples — for 16 points to share game-high scoring honors with MVC Preseason Player of the Year Grace Boffeli.
- Jackson also paced the Beacons on the defensive end with three steals, her fourth effort of at least three steals this season.
- As a team, Valpo racked up 11 steals — the seventh time this year the Beacons have reached double figures in that department.
- Valpo forced UNI to commit a season-high 21 turnovers — a strong feat given the Panthers played one of the nation’s toughest nonconference schedules. The Beacons held a 22-21 edge in points off turnovers.
- Valpo shot just 31.6% from the field, as compared to the Panthers’ 52.8% clip.
...looking ahead
- After two weekends at home, next weekend brings the in-state road swing, as the Beacons head to Indiana State and Evansville.
- Valpo has just one game the following week, a Sunday afternoon matinee at UIC.
...at the ARC
- Valpo will play 12 regular season home games during the 2023-24 campaign. Sunday is the Beacons’ sixth home game of the season.
- The Beacons are 1-4 at home so far this year and posted a 3-12 record at home last season.
@BradleyWBB
- Bradley comes to the ARC Sunday with a 5-12 overall record this season.
- The Braves are 1-5 in MVC play, most recently falling on Friday at UIC, 75-68.
- Halli Poock leads the Bradley regulars, averaging 12.5 points/game while also dishing out a team-best 50 assists.
What a Quarter, Ms. Jackson
- Freshman Nevaeh Jackson flew past her previous season best of 11 points in just one quarter of action Friday, dropping 17 points in the second quarter.
- Jackson went 6-of-8 from the floor in the period, including a perfect 3-of-3 mark from deep, and hit both of her free throw attempts.
- Impressively, Jackson did all that scoring in just 6:30 of game time, as her first points came with 8:11 to play in the quarter and her final points came at the 1:41 mark.
- The 17 points is tied for second-most by a Valpo player in a single quarter since the move to quarters in 2015-16, outdone only by Meredith Hamlet’s 19-point fourth quarter at Loyola in February 2018.
- Jackson is the second Valpo player this season to outdo their previous career high from scoring in a single quarter, as Ella Van Weelden did the same with her 12-point fourth quarter at Southern Illinois.
Double-Digit Quarters
- Jackson wasn’t the only Beacon to post a double-figure scoring quarter on Friday, as senior Leah Earnest closed with a flourish, scoring 13 points in the fourth quarter.
- Earnest scored double figures in a quarter for the fourth time in her career, three of which have come this season (at UAB, 11, Q4; Chicago State, 12, Q1).
- Earnest also had a double-digit quarter as a sophomore, scoring 10 in the second quarter at Southern Illinois.
- Friday marked the second time this season that multiple Valpo players have posted a double-figure quarter in the same game, as Earnest had 12 in the first quarter and Olivia Brown 14 in the third quarter in the win over Chicago State.
Another Leap Forward
- Senior Leah Earnest took a jump forward in her production last season, and has taken another leap this year.
- Earnest enters Sunday’s game ranked eighth in the conference in scoring (13.7 points/game).
- She is also averaging team-best marks of 6.5 rebounds/game and 2.7 assists/game as well.
- Earnest is on pace to become the first Valpo player since Debbie Bolen in 1991-92 to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists.
- Earnest has been consistent, scoring in double figures in 13 of 15 games to date.
- Earnest entered this season with a career high of 20 in the scoring column, but has hit that mark or better four times this year, including a career-best 26 points at UAB.
- Last time out, Earnest posted her third double-double of the year, scoring a game-high 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
- With her seventh rebound at Missouri State, Earnest hit the 500-rebound mark for her career, becoming the 19th player in program history with 500 career boards. She enters Sunday’s game ranked 17th in program history with 524 career rebounds.
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 seven of Valpo’s last 12 games, including a season-best 16 last Sunday as the Beacons took on UNI.
- Jackson is shooting at a .490 clip from the field this season, including a .643 mark from inside the arc.
- Jackson has racked up 30 steals this year - second-most on the team - while committing just 20 turnovers. Per HerHoopStats.com, as of Saturday, she is one of just seven D-I players with 30+ steals and 20 or fewer turnovers.
Youth in the Lineup
- The Beacons’ starting lineup has been 60% comprised of freshmen the last four times out.
- Layla Gold made her first collegiate start at Southern Illinois, joining Saniya Jackson and Nevaeh Jackson in the starting five.
- It was the first time Valpo has started three freshmen since March 11, 2016, when Hannah Schaub, Meredith Hamlet and Amber Lindfors were in the starting lineup against Northern Kentucky.
- Gold’s insertion into the lineup was necessitated after Olivia Brown suffered an injury in the fourth quarter of the previous game at Missouri State which kept her out against the Salukis. It was the first game Brown has missed in her three years at Valpo, snapping a streak of 71 consecutive games played.
Thievery Abounds
- Valpo has gotten back to its stealing ways on the defensive end this season.
- The Beacons rank 35th nationally with 10.7 steals/game, and per HerHoopStats.com, their steal rate of 12.6% is good for 27th nationally.
- Valpo has been in double figures in steals in eight 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.
- Freshman Raeven Raye-Redmond currently ranks fourth in the Valley with 2.3 steals/game despite playing just 15.8 minutes/game, while fellow rookie Saniya Jackson is tied for seventh in the MVC with 2.0 steals/game.
- Both Jackson and Raye-Redmond have had an eight-steal game this season - Jackson did so Nov. 25 at UAB and Raye-Redmond did so in her collegiate debut in the aforementioned Western Illinois game.
- Jackson and Raye-Redmond are two of just 27 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.
Welcome Time at Home
- After a road-heavy first couple months of the season, the Beacons are enjoying some much-needed time sleeping in their own beds.
- Valpo played 10 of its first 12 games away from home, but is now in the midst of a stretch of four consecutive home games at the ARC.
- Discarding the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign, it is the first time the program has played four consecutive home games since back-to-back Valley home weekends against Bradley, Illinois State, Drake and UNI in February 2019.
