Valparaiso (2-14, 1-6 MVC)
Game #17 - January 26, 2024 - 5 p.m. CT
at Indiana State (6-11, 2-5 MVC)
Hulman Center (9,000) - Terre Haute, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: Following a dominating victory over Bradley last time out, the Valpo women’s basketball team returns to the road for the first time in three weekends, starting out the downstate road trip Friday evening at Indiana State.
Previously: Valpo entered the second quarter of its game at the ARC Sunday with a two-point lead over Bradley. Ten minutes later, the Beacons headed to the locker room 22 points to the good, as they exploded for seven 3-pointers and 33 points in all in the second quarter, sending them on their way to a 79-55 victory over the Braves — the team’s largest win in MVC play since 2019. Leah Earnest led the way with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Olivia Brown returned to action and scored 17 points and Ella Van Weelden knocked down all four of her 3-point attempts in the second quarter for 12 points.
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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 57-105. 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: Indiana State leads the all-time series with Valpo, 10-7, but it is the Beacons who have won five of the series’ last seven matchups, including each of the last three in Terre Haute. Both teams won on the other’s home court last season - ISU picked up a 66-58 win at the ARC despite four Valpo starters scoring in double figures, but the Beacons gained a measure of revenge with a 54-47 victory in Terre Haute, led by 16 points from Olivia Brown.
@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 Bradley
- Valpo led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, and was still ahead just 23-19 with 6:28 to play in the half.
- In what seemed like a blink of the eye, but what was in fact 1:19 of game time, the Beacons reeled off 11 points in a four-possession span. Ella Van Weelden had two 3-pointers in that stretch, the second of which forced a Bradley timeout with the score 34-21 and 4:53 to play
- The Braves scored on their first possession out of the stoppage, but that just set up a 10-0 run over the next three and a half minutes for Valpo. Van Weelden had the bulk of that run as well, knocking down two more 3-pointers.
- Bradley snapped the run with a basket inside the final minute. Fittingly enough, however, Valpo capped the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer, this one courtesy of senior Emma Tecca on its final offensive possession to send the Beacons into the locker room with a 47-25 lead.
- The result was never in doubt in the second half, as Valpo’s lead did not drop below 20 points. A 3-pointer in the final seconds of the third quarter from Olivia Brown put the Beacons ahead 66-37 at the end of the quarter, and Valpo led by as many as 34 points in the final period.
- Leah Earnest led the way with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
- In her return to action, Olivia Brown dropped in 17 points, while Van Weelden was a perfect 4-for-4 from deep to match her career high with 12 points.
- Led by Earnest’s efforts on the glass, Valpo outrebounded Bradley 38-34 — the first time this year Valpo has held the edge in that category.
- Valpo finished the game hitting 12-of-28 (42.9%) from the 3-point line, season bests for both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage. The Beacons also went 19-of-22 (86.4%) from the foul line, a season-best percentage there as well.
- Valpo entered the game ranked 35th nationally in steals/game, but had a season-low five thefts on Sunday. The Beacons still forced 14 Bradley turnovers, converting those into 13 points.
...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.
...looking ahead
- The swing through the Hoosier State finishes off Sunday afternoon at Evansville.
- Valpo has just one game next week, a Sunday afternoon matinee at UIC.
...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 0-10 away from home so far this year and posted a 4-10 record in true road games last season.
@IndStWBB
- Indiana State enters Friday night’s game one game up on Valpo in the standings at 2-5 in MVC play.
- The Sycamores are 6-11 overall, with losses in five of their last six games.
- Four of ISU’s five starters are averaging in double figures, but none of those players is averaging more than 10.7 points/game.
A Big Win
- There was no drama in the second half at the ARC on Sunday, as the Beacons led Bradley by as many as 34 points on their way to the 79-55 victory.
- Valpo’s 24-point margin of victory was its largest since beating Western Michigan 75-51 in December 2020.
- It was the program’s largest margin of victory in MVC play since a 93-49 win over Evansville in January 2019.
- The Beacons held Bradley to 55 points, a season low for their opponents. The Braves shot just 29.1% from the floor, the lowest mark by a Valpo opponent since Illinois State shot just 28.8% in January 2021.
That Second Quarter Tho
- The offensive numbers from the second quarter in the Bradley win are the fun ones.
- Valpo scored 33 points in the period, the program’s second-highest output in a quarter since the change to quarters in 2014-15 — only bested by a 35-point third quarter in the aforementioned Evansville game.
- The Beacons were 9-of-14 from the field in the second quarter, including a 7-of-10 mark from behind the 3-point line, and hit 8-of-9 from the foul line. Their 33 points came on just 19 possessions, an average of 1.74 points per possession.
3lla Van W33lden
- Leading the way in that second quarter was sophomore Ella Van Weelden, who hit four 3-pointers in a single period for the second time this year. This time, the sophomore was perfect, connecting on all four of her tries.
- Van Weelden finished the afternoon with the 12 points she scored in that quarter, matching her career best set earlier this year in the fourth quarter at Southern Illinois. Notably, outside of those two single-quarter performances, her career high for scoring in a game is nine points.
- Van Weelden did not attempt a triple outside of the second period, becoming the first Valpo player to hit 100% from deep with at least four attempts in a game since Carie Weinman went 4-of-4 from 3-point range against Illinois State in February 2022.
A Unicorn of a Stat Line
- Senior Leah Earnest had a game unlike any ever seen by a Valpo women’s basketball player on Sunday in the win over Bradley.
- Earnest finished with game highs of 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists - in single-game records dating back to the late 1980’s, no Valpo player has ever hit all three of those marks in the same game.
- Earnest is one of just three Division I players this season to reach all three of those marks in the same game — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark did so against Loyola, while Abilene Christian’s Bella Earle did so against California Baptist. She is also one of just two MVC players to post a stat line like that in the last 13 seasons.
- Earnest recorded her fourth double-double of the year and set a career high for free throws made (7). She also matched her career bests for 3-pointers made (3), rebounds and assists.
Earnest’s Helping Hand
- Not only did Earnest score 24 points against Bradley, she also tallied six assists - five of which came on 3-pointers.
- This came two days after the senior posted 20 points and recorded three assists - all on triples - against Illinois State.
- That means over the course of last weekend, Earnest had a direct hand in 70 of Valpo’s 147 points - a 47.6% mark.
- Eight of nine assists coming on 3-pointers seems awfully high, but it’s not altogether out of line with the season Earnest has put together distributing the basketball.
- Of Earnest’s 46 assists, 37 of them (80.4%) have been on made 3-pointers. She has either scored or assisted on 57 of Valpo’s 121 made 3-pointers (47.1%) this year.
A Welcome Return
- Sunday was a big afternoon for fifth-year guard Olivia Brown.
- Prior to the game, Brown was recognized for reaching 1,000 collegiate points last month.
- Brown started the game on the bench, but answered the call 4:05 into the contest for her first action since getting injured in the fourth quarter at Missouri State Jan. 4.
- Brown made up for lost time, hitting her first shot attempt, a 3-pointer less than three minutes after entering the game — the first arrow in what proved to be 17 points in her quiver, as she hit 5-of-6 from the field, 2-of-3 from deep and 5-of-5 from the foul line.
- Brown now owns 1,061 collegiate points, 695 of which have come in her three seasons in the Valpo uniform.
What a Quarter, Ms. Jackson
- Freshman Nevaeh Jackson flew past her previous season best of 11 points in just one quarter of action Friday against Illinois State, 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 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 Friday’s game ranked sixth in the conference in scoring (14.3) and ninth in rebounding (6.9).
- She is also averaging a team-best 2.9 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 14 of 16 games to date.
- Earnest entered this season with a career high of 20 in the scoring column, but has hit that mark or better five times this year, including a career-best 26 points at UAB.
- Earnest posted a pair of double-doubles last weekend, giving her four on the season.
- 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 Friday’s game ranked 16th in program history with 538 career rebounds.
Youth in the Lineup
- The Beacons’ starting lineup has been 60% comprised of freshmen the last five 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 44th nationally with 10.4 steals/game, and per HerHoopStats.com, their steal rate of 12.3% is good for 31st 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 2.2 steals/game despite playing just 15.4 minutes/game, while fellow rookie Saniya Jackson is eighth in the MVC with 1.9 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.
