Valparaiso (7-9, 3-6 MVC)
Games #17/18 - Feb. 19/20 - 6 p.m/5 p.m.
Evansville (5-11, 1-10 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After having last weekend off from competition due to COVID cancellations, the Valpo women’s basketball team returns to action for the first time in 14 days this weekend for its final home games of the season, as the Brown and Gold host Evansville Friday and Saturday evenings. Friday’s game will be the program’s annual Play4Kay to raise awareness for breast cancer research, while Saturday’s game will be Senior Night at the ARC.
Previously: Valpo split its home series with Bradley two weekends ago, defeating the Braves 71-66 on Feb. 4 before falling 61-51 on Feb. 5. In the victory, Valpo matched its program single-game record by knocking down 17 3-pointers, five of which came from Shay Frederick as she led the way with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the win. Valpo’s scheduled games against Indiana State last weekend were canceled due to positive COVID test results among the Sycamores’ tier I personnel.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+ (Friday), ESPN3 (Saturday)
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
Live Stats/Streaming Audio: Available via ValpoAthletics.com
Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans (32-45) is in her third season as head coach of the Valpo women’s basketball program in 2020-21. Evans led the Valpo program to a remarkable season across the board in 2019-20, one that concluded among the nation’s top turnarounds from the season before. Valpo posted a 17-12 record in Evans’ second season at the helm, the 17 wins the most by a Valpo team since the 2006-07 campaign and the 10th-most in a single season in program history. Valpo improved its record by 10.5 games over the previous season in 2019-20, tied for the sixth-best improvement in Division I.
Series Notes: Valpo and Evansville have met 18 times in the all-time series, with Valpo owning a 10-8 advantage - including a 5-1 lead in the series since joining the MVC prior to the 2017-18 campaign. Last season saw Valpo sweep the Purple Aces, winning 88-66 in Evansville as it racked up a season-high 21 steals and 72-54 at the ARC behind six 3-pointers and 20 points from Grace Hales.
@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo has been picked to finish in seventh place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 176 points.
- Valpo is in its fourth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2020-21.
- The Valley was ranked eighth nationally in conference RPI in 2019-20.
...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished the 2019-20 campaign with a 17-12 overall record, a 10.5-game improvement over the previous year ‑ good for sixth-best nationally.
- Valpo jumped 172 spots in the RPI from the previous year, the largest leap for any D-I team in the nation.
- Valpo’s 17 wins marked the most by a Valpo team since 2006-07.
- The Brown and Gold finished in sixth place in the MVC standings with a 9-9 record - the program’s best finish since joining The Valley.
- The .500 record in conference play was the program’s first since 2008-09.
- Valpo closed the regular season strong, going 6-3 in the second half of MVC play.
- Grace Hales earned Honorable Mention All-Conference accolades, while Carie Weinman was named to the MVC All-Defensive Team.
- As a team, Valpo set the program’s single-season record for free throw percentage (.792), while Hales broke the program’s individual single-season record in the category (.890).
...versus Bradley - Feb. 5
- Valpo was held to 32.1% shooting from the floor and was just 7-of-26 from 3-point range, one day after matching its program single-game record with 17 triples.
- Shay Frederick led Valpo with 11 points, but was just 4-of-12 from the field.
- Caitlin Morrison finished with 10 points and a pair of blocked shots, in the process becoming just the fourth player in program history to rack up 100 career rejections.
- Valpo finished the contest +9 in the turnover. The Brown and Gold forced 21 turnovers by the Braves, matching the second-most that they’ve forced in a game this season.
...versus Bradley - Feb. 4
- All three of Valpo’s MVC wins to date have been over teams ranked in the top-100 of the NCAA NET rankings.
- The 3-point shooting was the story of the day, as Valpo matched its program record for 3-point makes by going 17-for-39 from beyond the arc. It is the third time in program history that Valpo has made 17 triples (Bowling Green, 12/21/18; Central Michigan, 12/8/04), but the first time it’s happened within conference play.
- 10 of Valpo’s 17 triples came after halftime, as the Brown and Gold went 10-for-16 from deep in the final 20 minutes.
- This marks the seventh time this season that Valpo has connected on at least 10 3-pointers in a game.
- Leading the way, both from deep and overall, was Shay Frederick. The junior finished with a team-best 17 points, hitting 5-of-9 of her 3-point attempts. Frederick also led the way with nine rebounds, matching her career high in the category, and a game-high five assists.
- Carie Weinman cashed in on three 3-pointers en route to 15 points and added five rebounds as well.
- Lauren Gunn came off the bench with a career-best 10 points to round out Valpo’s trio of double-figure scorers.
- Valpo erased three separate deficits of at least 10 points, with its largest deficit coming in the first quarter at 12 points.
- Valpo has eight wins in games it has trailed by double figures since the last time it surrendered a double-digit lead in a loss.
- Valpo committed a season-low seven turnovers — its lowest total since committing just seven miscues at Loyola Jan. 6, 2019 — and held a +12 advantage in the turnover column, its biggest edge of the year. The Brown and Gold held a 27-6 edge in points off turnovers.
- Valpo also enjoyed a large 21-2 advantage in points off the bench in the win, while Bradley outscored Valpo in the paint, 32-10.
...looking ahead
- Valpo is scheduled to play its final five games of the regular season on the road, starting with the second half of its home-and-home with Loyola on Feb. 24.
- Next weekend sees Valpo travel to Southern Illinois for a two-game series Feb. 27-28.
...at the ARC
- Friday and Saturday are Valpo’s 10th and 11th home games of the season. It currently is 4-5 at the ARC after the split with Bradley.
- Valpo finished home nonconference play 2-0 with wins over Western Michigan and Xavier.
- This marks the fewest nonconference home games since the 1994-95 team also played just two out-of-conference games at the ARC.
- Valpo was a perfect 4-0 in nonconference home games last season and finished the year with an 8-5 overall home record - the program’s best mark at the ARC since 2012-13.
@UEAthletics_WBB
- Evansville enters this weekend’s two-game series at 5-11 overall and 1-10 in MVC play, dropping a pair of games to Loyola after a Jan. 27 win over Indiana State.
- The Purple Aces are led by sophomore Abby Feit, who is averaging 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
- Evansville is averaging nearly 20 turnovers per game as a team.
Celebrating the Seniors
- Valpo will celebrate Senior Night Saturday evening at the ARC, recognizing a trio of current players.
- Ella Ellenson, Caitlin Morrison and Marlee Profitt will be honored on Saturday night, as well as senior manager Taylor Tyndall and Addison Stoller, who graduated last year, opted not to use her final season of eligibility and is currently with the program working as its strength and conditioning coach.
- While Grace White is also a senior, she intends to take advantage of the NCAA waiver for winter sports athletes for the 2020-21 season and return for the 2021-22 campaign.
Another Extended Break
- For the third time this year, Valpo is returning to action after a break in competition of at least 10 days.
- Valpo will have gone 14 days in between games when it steps on the court Friday to take on Evansville.
- The Brown and Gold had a 18-day stretch without a game before its MVC opener, playing its final non-conference game at Wisconsin Dec. 20 before opening conference play Jan. 7 with a 63-56 win over UNI.
- Valpo later played Loyola Jan. 19 and didn’t return to action for 11 days until a Jan. 30 game against #25 Missouri State, a 61-51 loss.
A Long Homestand
- While it wasn’t originally scheduled as such, the cancelation of the series at Indiana State last weekend turned this current homestand into the longest homestand in program history.
- With the two games against the Purple Aces, Valpo will have played seven consecutive home games dating back to its Jan. 19 matchup with Loyola.
- Prior to this year, Valpo had played five straight home games three times, most recently in the 2015-16 season.
- Valpo will go at least a month and nine days between road games, as its last road contest came Jan. 15 at Illinois State and its next scheduled road game is Feb. 24 at Loyola.
- The program hasn’t gone that long between road games since back in the 1980s, when it was common for the team to take a break of nearly or even over a month around the Christmas holiday.
A Historic Win
- Valpo’s win on Feb. 4 over Bradley was historic for the program in two different ways.
- Valpo matched its program record for 3-point makes by going 17-for-39 from beyond the arc. It is the third time in program history that Valpo has made 17 triples (Bowling Green, 12/21/18; Central Michigan, 12/8/04), but the first time it’s happened within conference play.
- The 17 3-pointers are also tied for fourth-most in a single game in MVC history, while the 39 3-point attempts are the fifth-most by the program in a single game all-time.
- Valpo has now made 14 or more 3-pointers in a game 16 times in program history - seven of those efforts have come in the three-year tenure of Mary Evans.
- Meanwhile, Valpo erased three separate double-digit deficits, as it overcame a 12-point first-quarter deficit and two different 10-point third-quarter deficits to earn the win.
- In the last 20 years, the Brown and Gold had never completely erased two separate double-digit deficits in a win before erasing three in the win over the Braves.
Front-Loaded Conference Slate
- With half of the MVC teams currently ranked among the top-100 in the NET, a team is going to be faced with many challenging tests throughout the conference schedule. But for Valpo, most of those tests came at the front end of the slate.
- The games against Bradley were Valpo’s seventh and eighth top-100 opponents through its first nine MVC games.
- By contrast, the second half of Valpo’s MVC conference schedule will feature just two top-100 games.
Claiming Top 100 Wins
- With the MVC a top-8 conference last year by RPI and top-7 this year by NET, it gives Valpo plenty of opportunities for top-100 wins, and the team has taken advantage.
- Valpo opened MVC play this year with a win over UNI, currently ranked #72 in the NET, which is being used by the NCAA for women’s basketball this year.
- Valpo then won at Illinois State Jan. 15, which entered that week ranked #37 in the NET and is currently ranked #80.
- Valpo now has four top-100 wins in MVC play over the last two years, having beaten Illinois State and UNI in the second half of last year’s conference slate.
- Prior to last year’s win at Illinois State, Valpo had gone nearly seven years since its last top-100 win..
Double-Digit Quarters
- Valpo has been feeding the hot hand throughout its MVC games so far, resulting in players scoring 10+ in a single period.
- Most recently, Shay Frederick scored 11 points in the third quarter of the opener against Bradley.
- Frederick now owns seven double-digit quarters in MVC play this year and has scored 10+ points in the fourth quarter four times in nine conference games.
- In the series finale against Missouri State, the third quarter saw Carie Weinman score 12 points and Grace White score 10 points.
- That weekend came to a close with Caitlin Morrison posting a 14-point fourth quarter.
- It marked the first time since the move to quarters prior to the 2015-16 season that three different Valpo players had a 10+ point quarter in the same game.
- Valpo players have combined for 13 double-digit scoring quarters in MVC play so far this year, already the most within conference play in a single seasosn since the move to quarters.
