Valparaiso (4-17, 3-9 MVC)
Game #22 - February 15, 2024 - 6 p.m.
at Bradley (6-17, 2-10 MVC)
Renaissance Coliseum (4,200) - Peoria, Ill.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: With less than a month remaining until the start of Hoops in the Heartland, the Valpo women’s basketball team heads on the road this weekend for the swing through central Illinois, beginning Thursday evening at Bradley.
Previously: Valpo came up just short in a tight contest against Evansville Sunday at the ARC, as a second-chance basket inside the final 15 seconds proved critical in the Purple Aces coming away with a 71-68 win. Olivia Brown paced the Beacons with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, while Leah Earnest scored 17 points and secured 12 rebounds.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
Audio: Online streaming only, via WVUR YouTube channel
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 59-108. 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, 12-8, but Valpo has come away victorious in each of the last five meetings - including each of the last two seasons in Peoria. Last month at the ARC, the Beacons exploded for a 33-point second quarter to take a 22-point halftime lead and cruised to a 79-55 victory over the Braves for their largest conference win since 2019. Leah Earnest led all players with 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in the victory, while Olivia Brown added 17 points and Ella Van Weelden matched her career best with 12 points.
@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 Evansville
- The Purple Aces held a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 34-31 lead at halftime.
- A six-point spurt in the final minute of the third quarter - courtesy of a 3-point play from Saniya Jackson and a 3-pointer from Olivia Brown - gave Valpo a 54-52 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
- With the game tied and under two minutes to play, Evansville retook the lead with a putback basket, answered by Brown with a driving layup for the Beacons with 1:16 to play to tie the score at 68-68.
- Layla Gold came up with a big blocked shot on the defensive end to give Valpo the chance to take the lead, but the Beacons were unable to convert.
- With each team set for potentially one more possession and the clock at 20 seconds, Valpo forced the missed shot it needed, but the scramble for the rebound saw Evansville’s Nevaeh Thomas come out with it and lay it back up and in with 13 seconds remaining.
- The Beacons turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play and were forced to foul. The Purple Aces split the pair of free throws, giving Valpo one more chance with the deficit at three points, but the Beacons’ potential game-tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds was off the mark.
- Brown paced Valpo on Sunday with 19 points, her second-highest scoring output of the season. It marks the fourth time this year she has led the Beacons in scoring.
- Earnest registered her fifth double-double of the year, posting 17 points and a team-best 12 rebounds. Over half of Earnest’s points came at the foul line, where she was a perfect 9-for-9. It was the best individual performance at the charity stripe by a Valpo player since Shay Frederick went 14-for-14 at Indiana State Feb. 20, 2022.
- Saniya Jackson rounded out the trio of Valpo players in double figures with 16 points — tying her season best — on 6-of-10 shooting.
- Gold set season highs across the board with seven rebounds, six blocked shots and four steals.
- Valpo shot just 36.5% from the field, compared to a 43.9% clip for the Purple Aces. The Beacons did go 16-for-17 from the foul line, a season-best 94.1% from the charity stripe.
...versus Indiana State
... Valpo connected on its first six shots of the game to lead 15-10 midway through the first quarter.
- The Sycamores scored 10 of the final 13 points of the opening period to lead 20-18 at the end of the first.
- ISU led 33-31 at intermission and used a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to enter the final period with a 54-43 advantage.
- The Sycamores’ lead reached its apex at 62-47 with 6:28 to play, but Valpo got five straight defensive stops along with five different players scoring in a six-possession stretch for a 13-0 run which made it 62-60 with 2:41 to play.
- Valpo was called for fouls which put ISU on the line three straight times down the court, and the Sycamores took advantage, going 6-of-6 from the stripe in that stretch.
- Still, the Beacons were within three with 1:03 to go following a driving layup from Leah Earnest. Needing a stop to get the ball with a chance to tie the game, Valpo forced a missed shot, but a backbreaking offensive rebound led to an open layup for the Sycamores.
- The Beacons had six looks at the basket in the final 30 seconds in an effort to make it a one-possession game yet again, but were unable to get any of them to fall.
- Three Beacons scored in double figures, led by a 16-point night from Earnest, who scored in double digits for the 18th time in 20 games this year. Earnest also tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds and handed out a team-best three assists.
- Brown delivered 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench, her fourth effort of 10+ points in the five games since her return from injury.
- Saniya Jackson notched 12 points, hitting double figures for the ninth time this year. Jackson also tied her season high with seven rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end.
- The teams’ shooting marks were pretty evenly matched, as ISU shot 44.9% (22-of-49) to Valpo’s 40.7% (22-of-54) clip. The Beacons hit nine triples to the Sycamores’ seven, but ISU was able to take advantage of more trips to the foul line, going 19-of-23 at the charity stripe to Valpo’s 12-of-16.
...looking ahead
- Valpo concludes its swing through central Illinois on Saturday afternoon when it plays at Illinois State.
- The Beacons come back to the ARC next week for a pair of games, starting Thursday, Feb. 22 with their lone matchup versus Belmont this season.
...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 2-11 away from home so far this year and posted a 4-10 record in true road games last season.
@BradleyWBB
- Bradley enters Thursday’s game with a 6-17 overall record on the season and a 2-10 mark in MVC play.
- The Braves lost both games of the Iowa road swing last weekend, falling at Drake (71-60) and at UNI (96-61).
- Halli Poock leads Bradley, averaging 13.7 points/game. She also paces the Braves with 70 assists and 20 steals.
Gold-en Defense
- Freshman Layla Gold enjoyed a pair of stellar performances on the defensive side of the court last weekend.
- Gold opened the weekend with a four-block effort against Indiana State.
- It was the first four-block game by a Valpo player since Grace White tallied four blocks versus Evansville in January 2022, and the first four-block effort by a Valpo freshman since Bryce Blood totaled four rejections at Purdue in December 2017.
- She topped that on Sunday against Evansville, racking up six blocks - tied for fourth-most in a game in program history - and four steals.
- Gold is one of just six D-I players this season to post at least six blocks and four steals in a single game, and is the only freshman among that group. The last D-I freshman to hit both those marks in a single game was DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow in November 2021.
- Gold is the first Valpo and the first MVC player to reach both those marks in one contest since Caitlin Morrison did so against Chicago State Dec. 28, 2019.
Starting Strong
- The Beacons went over five minutes before missing a shot from the floor on Friday against Indiana State, hitting their first six efforts as part of a 15-10 start to the game.
- It is the second time this year Valpo has opened a game with at least six straight makes without a miss, as it started 7-for-7 from the field in the December win over Chicago State.
A Dramatic Win
- The Beacons’ win at UIC went right down to the wire, as Leah Earnest converted a layup at the buzzer to give Valpo the 71-70 win.
- It was Valpo’s buzzer-beating victory first since Meredith Hamlet connected on a layup at the buzzer for a win at Chicago State Nov. 16, 2016.
- The one-point win was the program’s first victory by a single point since a 61-60 win at Northern Kentucky Dec. 30, 2015.
Hitting From Downtown
- Valpo had its best shooting day of the season from behind the 3-point line in the win over the Flames.
- The Beacons went 14-for-29 from downtown, season bests for both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage (.483).
- The 14 triples are tied for ninth-most in a single game in program history.
- Valpo has hit 14 or more 3-pointers in a single game 22 times in program history, 13 of which have come in the tenure of head coach Mary Evans.
- The Beacons have connected on at least 10 triples five times this season, three of which have come in wins.
A Freshman Standard
- Leading the barrage from deep in the win over UIC was freshman Nevaeh Jackson, who finished the game 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
- Jackson hit three of her triples in the fourth quarter, including her final 3-pointer with five seconds to play which tied the game and set the stage for the eventual buzzer-beater.
- The six 3-pointers were the most by a Valpo player in a single game this year and came up just one shy of cracking the program’s single-game top-10 chart.
- Jackson matched Valpo’s record for 3-pointers in a game by a freshman with her six triples, last accomplished by Meredith Hamlet at Oakland Feb. 11, 2016.
- Jackson became the first MVC freshman to hit at least six 3-pointers in a win since Bradley’s Lasha Petree at Omaha Dec. 14, 2018. She is the first to do so in a conference win since UNI’s Madison Weekly at Loyola Feb. 21, 2014.
A Big Win
- There was no drama in Valpo’s first Valley win of the year, as the Beacons led Bradley by as many as 34 points in the second half 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..
Another Leap Forward
- Senior Leah Earnest’s recent efforts have been part of a stellar step forward this season.
- Over Valpo’s last seven games, Earnest is averaging 19.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
- She had a streak of six straight games leading Valpo in scoring snapped last time out, and has paced the Beacons in each of the last nine games in rebounding.
- Earnest enters Thursday’s game ranked seventh in the conference in scoring (15.2) and 10th in rebounding (7.1), while also averaging a team-best 2.8 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 19 of 21 games to date.
- Earnest entered this season with a career high of 20 in the scoring column, but has hit that mark or better six times this year, including a career-best 26 points at UAB.
- Earnest surpassed the 500-rebound mark for her career in the MVC opener at Missouri State, becoming the 19th player in program history with 500 career boards. She enters Thursday’s game ranked 14th in program history with 576 career rebounds, 18 boards shy of 13th position.
- Earnest posted 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in Valpo’s home win over Bradley - 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 four Division I players this season to reach all three of those marks in the same game — Iowa’s Caitlin Clark did so against Loyola, LSU’s Angel Reese against Alabama and Abilene Christian’s Bella Earle against California Baptist. She is also one of just two MVC players to post a stat line like that in the last 13 seasons.
Closing Strong
- Since her return from missing four games due to injury last month, fifth-year guard Olivia Brown has been playing some of her best basketball since coming to Valpo.
- Brown has scored in double figures in five of the last six games, including a team-high 19 points last time out against Evansville.
- Over that stretch, Brown is averaging 13.2 points/game on 54.2% shooting from the floor and is 16-for-29 (55.2%) from 3-point range - hitting at least two triples in all six games.
- Within MVC-only games, Brown leads all Valley players with a 52.6% 3-point percentage and is tied with UNI’s Kayba Laube atop the chart with 2.5 3-pointers/game.
Youth in the Lineup
- The Beacons’ starting lineup has been 60% comprised of freshmen since Valpo’s second game of the MVC slate.
- 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 had missed in her three years at Valpo, snapping a streak of 71 consecutive games played.
Thievery Abounds
- Valpo averages 9.7 steals/game and has been in double figures in steals in 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.
- Freshman Raeven Raye-Redmond currently ranks ninth in the Valley with 1.8 steals/game.
- Two Beacons have had an eight-steal game this season - freshman Saniya Jackson did so Nov. 25 at UAB and Raye-Redmond did so in her collegiate debut in the aforementioned Western Illinois game.
- 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.
