Valpo women’s basketball head coach Mary Evans announced today that November signees Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and Molly Sheehan (Hinsdale, Ill./Benet Academy) have both completed their high school graduation requirements early and have enrolled at Valparaiso University for the spring 2021 semester.

“With the state of Illinois not playing sports this winter, we made the decision at the end of November to see if we could get Katie and Molly into school here at the semester break,” Evans said. “I think it's going to be a very good thing for both Katie and Molly — not just to get in and learn our system to give them a head start for next year, but that they'll be on a college campus and around other people. We felt that it was important to give them the opportunity to be around our team and to play basketball — they haven't played basketball since last year.”

A 6’1” forward, Beyer earned All-Conference accolades each of her last two seasons at McHenry H.S. and received All-Area honors in 2019-20. She led the Fox Valley Conference with 17.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in 2019-20, shooting 51.6% from the floor as she helped lead McHenry to 24 wins. Beyer, who tallied 946 points and 597 rebounds in her prep career, will reunite with former prep teammate Ava Interrante on the Valpo roster.

A 5’8” guard, Sheehan was an Honorable Mention All-Area recipient in 2019-20, averaging six points and four assists per game as she helped Benet Academy to a 29-3 record and conference and regional titles. The Redwings were one of the nation’s top programs in 2019-20, reaching as high as #1 in the state and #14 nationally. As a sophomore, Sheehan helped Benet Academy finish fourth in the state, claiming conference, regional and sectional championships.

The women’s basketball team returns to action this weekend with a two-game series at the ARC against preseason MVC favorite Missouri State, with the first game tipping at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30.