Valparaiso (9-16, 7-7 MVC)
Game #26 - February 20, 2022 - noon CT
at Indiana State (10-14, 5-8 MVC)
Hulman Center (9,000) - Terre Haute, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: One key game follows another, as the Valpo women’s basketball team plays its final road game of the regular season on Sunday afternoon at Indiana State. Coming off a victory on Friday at Evansville, a win over the Sycamores would go a long way to securing a top-six finish in the regular season standings and avoiding a Thursday game at Hoops in the Heartland.

Previously: Maybe it was only appropriate, given that the normal five-hour bus trip the day before had taken nearly 12 hours to complete, that Friday’s game at Evansville would take a little longer than normal to decide a victor. After 40 minutes proved to not be enough, the Beacons’ defense locked down in overtime, holding the Purple Aces scoreless over the last three and a half minutes as Valpo claimed a key 75-70 victory.

Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
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Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans is in her fourth year at the helm of the program in 2021-22 and owns a record of 46-65. Evans has made an immediate impact on the program in her first three years, raising the team’s level of play to be competitive in a strong Missouri Valley Conference. Evans’ preferred style of play has been a big part of the program’s turnaround, as Valpo has led the MVC in 3-pointers made per game and in steals per game in each of the last two seasons.

Series Notes: Indiana State owns a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series. Valpo had won the last three meetings in the series, dating back to 2019, before the Sycamores came to the ARC last month and picked up an 85-65 victory. The Beacons had four players in double figures in that contest, led by 15 points from Leah Earnest, and hit 12-for-30 from 3-point range, but could not overcome 50.7% shooting by the Sycamores, who turned 18 offensive rebounds into 26 second-chance points.

@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo has been picked to finish in sixth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 208 points - just one point shy of fifth place.
- Valpo is in its fifth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley was ranked seventh nationally in conference NET in 2020-21 and was eighth nationally in conference RPI in 2019-20.

...looking back at last year
- Valpo posted a 12-13 overall record during the 2020-21 season and went 7-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
- Valpo finished the regular season in seventh place in the MVC standings.
- Included among Valpo’s 12 victories were wins at Illinois and at Purdue, the program’s first Power Five wins since 2012-13.
- Valpo closed the season with a NET of 122 - the program’s best final NET/RPI ranking since the 2003-04 campaign.
- Shay Frederick was a First Team All-MVC honoree as she led the Valley in assists and ranked sixth in scoring.
- Carie Weinman earned Honorable Mention All-MVC notice and repeated on the All-Defensive Team as she led the Valley in steals for a second straight season.

...at Evansville
- Valpo opened the game on a 12-4 run and led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.
- The Purple Aces led for most of the second period, but the Beacons scored on each of their final four trips of the first half to pull ahead, 30-28, at the break.
- Valpo scored the first nine of the second half to extend its run spanning halftime to 13-0, scoring baskets on eight straight possessions and leading 39-28.
- Later in the third, Evansville reclaimed the lead with an 11-0 run, but Valpo would edge back in front at the end of the quarter, 50-48.
- The Aces led for nearly the entire fourth quarter before a clutch 3-pointer from Shay Frederick with 23.2 seconds to play in regulation tied the game at 68-68. Evansville missed its attempt at the game-winner in the final seconds, sending the game to overtime.
- It was a ragged start to overtime for both teams. Evansville got to the free throw line on each of its first two possessions, splitting a pair both times, and the Beacons had a split at the line with 3:20 remaining to make it a 70-69 game.
- Valpo switched to a zone defense on the ensuing Purple Aces possession, and the defensive switch worked to perfection, as Evansville ended up running the shot clock nearly all the way down on each of its next three trips and missed shots on all three.
- Meanwhile, while that was happening, the Beacons took the lead for good with 2:04 to play on a pair of free throws from Frederick. On the next trip, Frederick hit Grace White with a perfect pass on a great basket cut for an easy layup to make it 73-70 with 1:07 remaining.
- The Purple Aces gave the ball back on a travel on their trip down the floor, and Frederick hit two free throws with 27.4 seconds to play to put away the game.
- Friday marked the first time this season that Valpo has played an overtime game, one season after playing four extra sessions.
- Frederick paced the Beacons on Friday and was one point shy of her season high with 18 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the foul line. The senior also tied for game-high honors with seven assists.
- Weinman delivered 16 points off the bench and came up with three steals as well.
- Brown rounded out the trio of Valpo players in double figures with an efficient 14 points, going 4-for-5 from the floor, 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the foul line.

...versus Illinois State
- The Redbirds hit their first seven shots from the floor and led by as many as 12 in the first quarter before Valpo rallied to make it 20-16 at the end of the period.
- Illinois State led for the entire second quarter and took a 45-40 lead into halftime.
- Illinois State scored on eight of its first nine possessions of the second half and was 7-for-7 from the floor over the first six minutes of the third quarter to pull away to a 65-47 advantage with under four minutes to play in the period.
- A 10-0 run cut the deficit back to single digits for Valpo, and it was a 69-63 game at the end of the third.
- A fast-break layup from Shay Frederick with 3:32 to play brought Valpo within 77-75 — the closest it had been since the game’s opening minutes.
- Valpo actually had a shot to take the lead on its next trip, but it was off the mark, and back-to-back turnovers helped the Redbirds extend their lead back out to six points.
- Valpo shot a season-best 55.8% from the floor on Saturday. The Beacons went 10-for-23 (43.5%) from deep — the seventh time in conference play they have hit at least 10 triples — and were 19-for-29 from inside the arc.
- Leading the way for Valpo was Carie Weinman, who was nearly perfect in a 22-point effort which was one off her season best. Weinman hit all four of her 3-point attempts and was 9-for-10 from the field — tying for the fifth-best shooting performance in a game in program history (minimum eight attempts) and the best since December 2015.
- White followed up a 20-point performance on Thursday with 19 points on Saturday, including a perfect 7-for-7 mark from the foul line. White also led all players with eight rebounds and blocked three shots as well.

...looking ahead
- Valpo returns home for the final three games of the regular season, starting on Friday, Feb. 25 against Loyola.

...on the road
- Friday marks the final true road game for Valpo this season. The Beacons are 4-11 on the road so far this season and 3-5 on the road in MVC play.
- With a win on Sunday, Valpo would earn its third sweep of a road weekend since joining the MVC - the Beacons won back-to-back games at SIU last season, and took both ends of the INS/UE road swing two seasons ago.
- Valpo had finished at or above .500 in each of the last two seasons in true road games, going 6-6 on the road last year and 9-5 in 2019-20.

@IndStWBB
- Indiana State enters Sunday’s game at 10-14 overall this year and in seventh place in the MVC standings at 5-8 in conference action.
- The Sycamores have dropped each of their last five contests, most recently a 61-59 loss on Friday at home to Loyola.
- Del’Janae Williams averages a team-best 13.5 points/game, while Marie Hunter adds an even 10 points/game.

The Race For the Top Six
- Valpo is currently engaged in a tight battle to finish in the top six - a vital tussle for positioning given seventh place will have to play on Thursday at Hoops in the Heartland.
- Valpo enters Sunday tied for fifth place with Loyola at 7-7 in MVC play, with Indiana State 1 1/2 games back at 5-8.
- The Beacons’ next two games are against the teams they are closest to in the standings, as after facing Indiana State Sunday, Valpo returns home to take on Loyola Friday.
- Drake is lurking on the periphery as well, in eighth place at 4-9 pending their result Saturday, but the Beacons not only have a three-win lead on the Bulldogs, they also own the tiebreaker by virtue of the season sweep of the series.

High-Scoring Affairs
- Last Thursday’s game at the ARC was jam-packed with action en route to an 86-84 victory over Bradley.
- Valpo’s 86 points were a season high and the most the team has scored since an 88-83 win over Xavier in December 2020.
- The Beacons hit 31 shots from the floor, their first time hitting 30+ field goals since an 88-66 win at Evansville in January 2020.
- Meanwhile, the 84 points Valpo surrendered in the winning effort are the most the program has given up in a regulation victory since a 92-89 win over Western Illinois in January 1997.
- Then, last Saturday resulted in an 85-80 loss to Illinois State. The 80 points marked Valpo’s highest scoring output in a regulation loss since falling 101-80 at Wright State in March 2014.
- Combined with the 86-point effort versus Bradley, it is the first time Valpo has scored 80+ points in back-to-back regulation games since March 2014 as well.
- After scoring a season high of 74 points through the first 22 games of the season, the Beacons have now scored 75+ in each of their last three games.

Ups and Downs
- Valley play over the last month for the Beacons has been a yo-yo in terms of results, a string Valpo will attempt to snap on Sunday.
- Starting with the Jan. 9 victory over Drake, Valpo has alternated wins and losses in each of its last 11 games - most recently beating Evansville on Friday evening.
- This is a new program record for the longest stretch of alternating results.
- Previously, the 1998-99 team oscillated between losses and victories for nine consecutive games to open the campaign, while the 1982-83 squad alternated between wins and defeats for a nine-game stretch as well.

Rally Pros
- Four of Valpo’s seven MVC victories have seen the Beacons overcome double-digit deficits at some point during the game to earn the win.
- Valpo has now rallied from down 10 or more to win 14 times in head coach Mary Evans’ four-year tenure at the helm of the program.
- Most recently, Valpo overcame a 12-point deficit in the second quarter to earn the win over Bradley last Thursday.
- The previous weekend at Drake, the Beacons trailed by 10 in the first half before coming back for the victory.
- Valpo’s home win over UNI featured a comeback from down 13 in the fourth quarter, tying the program’s largest comeback in the final period since the move to quarters — Valpo previously rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter in a 66-64 win over Loyola on Jan. 24, 2020.
- Against Evansville, the Beacons trailed by as many as 14 points before picking up the win - it was Valpo’s largest comeback overall since the aforementioned Loyola game, which featured a 14-point deficit at one point.

Accomplishing Firsts
- Valpo has recorded a number of firsts in program history during conference play this year.
- The Beacons have registered their first road win over two MVC teams this season, winning for the first time both at Drake and at Bradley.
- Both Drake and Bradley were previously 6-0 at home versus Valpo before this season.
- The win at the Knapp Center completed Valpo’s first season sweep of Drake, the program’s first two wins ever against the Bulldogs.
- Prior to the Beacons’ win at the ARC over Drake earlier this season, the Bulldogs held a 13-0 advantage in the all-time series.
- The win over Drake in January also gave Valpo its first sweep of the UNI/Drake weekend in MVC play.
- It is Valpo’s fourth sweep of a weekend set since joining the Valley. Valpo previously swept both the home and road Indiana State/Evansville weekends in 2019-20, and took down Southern Illinois twice on back-to-back days last season.
- Valpo completed its first season sweep of Bradley last time out with the home win over the Braves.

Reaching Milestones
- Valpo has had two players reach the 1,000-point milestone for their collegiate career already this season, with a third being within striking distance of doing so as well by season’s end.
- Last month, Carie Weinman reached the milestone at UNI.
- Earlier this season, Shay Frederick surpassed 1,000 career points in Valpo’s game at South Dakota.
- Meanwhile, Grace White comes into the Indiana State game with 987 career points, putting her on track to potentially reach the milestone against the Sycamores.
- White scored 277 points in her two years at Denver and is at 702 points in her time at Valpo.

Top 100 Wins
- Valpo has made a habit of knocking off top-100 opponents in MVC play over the last few seasons and has done so three times this year.
- The home win over UNI came over a team which entered the night ranked #46 in NET, and the home victory came over a Drake squad which was #65.
- Most recently, the road win at Drake came over a Bulldogs squad which entered the day at #84.
- Valpo now has eight top-100 NET/RPI wins in Valley action over the last three seasons.
- Prior to its Feb. 16, 2020 win at Illinois State - its first top-100 win in conference play since joining the Valley - Valpo had gone nearly seven years without a top-100 victory.

White Does It All
- Senior Grace White has continued to stuff the stat sheet in her final season in the Brown and Gold, and did so again last time out in the win at Evansville.
- White matched her career highs for both rebounds (11) and assists (7) in the victory over the Purple Aces while scoring eight points as well.
- On the season, White leads the team in rebounding and steals, ranks second in assists and blocked shots, and ranks third in scoring - just 0.2 points/game behind the top spot.
- White leads the Valley in steals (2.3/game), and ranks eighth in rebounding (6.2/game), fifth in free throw pct. (.816), sixth in 3-pointers/game (1.6) and tied for 10th in 3-point pct. (.345).

Frederick Moves On Up
- One season after leading the Valley in assists, Frederick again tops the chart this season as she’s averaging 4.8 assists/game - among the top-50 nationally in the category.
- Frederick is trying to become the first MVC player to lead the conference in assists in consecutive seasons since Caitlin Ingle of Drake did so three straight seasons (2014-15 through 2016-17).
- Last weekend, Frederick surpassed Katie Boone for second place in program history in career assists and now has 470 career helpers - which ranks among the top-30 among active players.
- One of 17 players in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career, Frederick moved into 11th all-time at Valpo last time out with 1,200 career points - just 17 points from the top-10.
- Frederick is one of just two players in program history with at least 1,000 career points and 400 career assists, and just one of three active MVC players above those marks (Brice Calip, MSU and Karli Rucker, UNI).
- Frederick also cracked Valpo’s all-time top-five for career 3-pointers made last weekend as well.