Valparaiso (11-18, 9-9 MVC)
Hoops in the Heartland - Moline, Ill.
Game #30 - March 11, 2022 - 8:30 p.m.
vs. UNI (20-9, 13-5 MVC)
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After finishing in a tie for sixth place in the MVC regular season standings, the Valpo women’s basketball team earned the sixth seed for Hoops in the Heartland and the corresponding bye into the tournament quarterfinals. The Beacons will have to win three games over three days to capture the tournament crown, beginning with a Friday night quarterfinal matchup against third-seeded UNI.
Previously: It was a Senior Day to remember Saturday for Caitlin Morrison, Carie Weinman and Grace White, as the trio combined for 39 points in their final game at the ARC, leading the way as Valpo got the better of MVC regular season champion Southern Illinois by a 67-54 final.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
Streaming Audio: TuneIn app
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com
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 48-67. 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: UNI holds a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series over Valpo, most of which has been contested since Valpo joined the MVC. The Beacons have won three of the last five meetings. This season, the two squads split the series, each winning on their respective home floor - Valpo 60-58 at the ARC, UNI 68-38 in Cedar Falls.
@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was picked to finish in sixth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 208 points. For the second straight year, the Beacons finished the regular season by matching their preseason prediction.
- The sixth-place finish matches the program’s best since joining the Valley, as does the Beacons’ 9-9 record in conference action.
- Valpo is in its fifth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley is ranked 10th in conference NET this year, was ranked seventh nationally in conference NET in 2020-21 and was eighth nationally in conference RPI in 2019-20.
...versus Southern Illinois
- After trailing for much of the first quarter, Valpo led SIU 14-11 at the end of the period and extended its lead to 24-20 at halftime.
- The Beacons led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter and were up 48-38 with 10 minutes to play.
- The advantage reached as many as 18 points in the final period.
- The win was Valpo’s first over the conference regular season champion since delivering Green Bay its only loss of the 2007-08 Horizon League campaign.
- Valpo snapped SIU’s eight-game winning streak, while the 67 points the Beacons scored are the most the Salukis have surrendered in conference play this season. Prior to Saturday, SIU’s only MVC losses had come at Missouri State and at UNI.
- The win was Valpo’s fourth over a top-100 NET team in Valley action this year, joining the Beacons’ pair of victories against Drake and the home win over UNI.
- All three of Valpo’s Senior Day honorees scored in double figures on Saturday. Leading the way was Carie Weinman, who finished with 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
- As usual, Grace White filled up the stat sheet, hitting 3-of-4 from deep on her way to 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, dishing out three assists as well.
- Caitlin Morrison finished 4-of-6 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, for an 11-point night of her own. Morrison extended her program records for games played (140) and games started (136) on Saturday.
- Valpo enjoyed an efficient night shooting the basketball, going 10-for-21 (47.6%) from deep. It was the eighth time in MVC play the Beacons hit at least 10 triples, and the seventh time in those eight games they shot at least 40%.
- Meanwhile, Southern Illinois was just 2-for-19 from the 3-point line, matching the fewest triples by a Valpo opponent this season. The Beacons limited the Salukis to 31.7% shooting overall, the second-lowest clip by a Valpo opponent on the year.
...versus Missouri State
- Valpo used a 10-0 run to take an early 10-5 lead before the Lady Bears ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 16-12 at the end of the period.
- The second quarter was a defensive struggle, as Valpo outscored MSU 7-6 for the quarter to pull to within 22-19 at the half.
- Missouri State took control of the game out of the locker room, however, going on a 21-5 run over the first 6:38 of the second half to pull out to a 19-point lead.
- The Lady Bears led 49-30 with 10 minutes to play and extended their lead with a 3-pointer on their first trip of the fourth quarter.
- Valpo had one big push remaining, hitting four 3-pointers in a span of 2:34 — two from Grace White and one each from Ilysse Pitts and Olivia Brown — to close to within 54-42.
- The Beacons actually had a shot to make it a 10-point game with 5:24 to play, but couldn’t get a layup to fall, and the Lady Bears scored the next six points to put the game away.
- Shay Frederick led Valpo on Thursday with 11 points, her 19th double-figure effort of the season.
- The Beacons connected on seven 3-pointers Thursday evening, giving them 227 on the season — third-most in a single campaign in program history.
- Valpo actually held the edge in field goal percentage over Missouri State, 37.8%-36.9%, but the Lady Bears had 20 more field goal attempts, thanks in large part to 17 offensive rebounds.
- The Beacons committed 21 turnovers as well, their worst number in that department in the last 12 games.
...away from home
- Friday marks the first neutral-site game of the year for Valpo.
- The Beacons were just 5-11 away from home in the regular season, but won three of their last four road games.
@UNIwbb
- UNI enters Hoops in the Heartland with a 20-9 record in the regular season.
- The Panthers went 13-5 in MVC play to finish in third place in the Valley.
- UNI enters the conference tournament on a four-game winning streak, with its last loss coming back on Feb. 19.
- Karli Rucker leads the Panthers, averaging 12.9 points/game and dishing out 3.2 assists/game. Kam Finley scores in double figures as well for UNI, which surrenders just 59.3 points/game defensively.
A Look Back at the UNI Games
...60-58 win, Jan. 7
- Valpo trailed by nine points with 10 minutes to play, and by 13 (53-40) after UNI converted a four-point play on its first possession of the fourth quarter.
- The Beacons held the Panthers to just two points over a stretch of nearly eight minutes, putting together a 15-2 run to tie the game with 2:10 to play.
- An Olivia Brown layup with 1:15 remaining gave Valpo its first lead of the game, 57-56.
- UNI reclaimed the lead on a floater by Karli Rucker with 1:02 to play, but a 3-point play from Shay Frederick with 51 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding basket.
- The 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter tied the program’s largest comeback in the final period since the move to quarters.
- The defense and rebounding were the highlights in the fourth quarter for the Beacons. After surrendering the four-point play on the first trip of the period, Valpo limited UNI to just five points over its final 16 possessions of the game. Meanwhile, the Panthers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, but none of them came in the final six-plus minutes of the game.
- The Beacons got contributions up and down the rotation from all eight players who were in uniform, highlighted by a standout performance from Brown. The junior scored a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and knocked down three of her four 3-point attempts.
- Frederick added 13 points, capped by the decisive 3-point play, and dished out five assists in the winning effort.
...68-38 loss, Feb. 6
- Valpo never led, trailing 17-7 at the end of the first quarter and 34-13 at halftime.
- Carie Weinman reached the 1,000-point milestone for her collegiate career with a basket early in the fourth quarter.
- Valpo’s 38 points marked its second-lowest output of the season (South Dakota). The Beacons shot just 25% from the floor, matched a season low with four 3-pointers and committed 17 turnovers.
- Weinman paced the Beacons with seven points, while Caitlin Morrison scored six and led Valpo with five rebounds.
Success in the Postseason
- Discounting the canceled 2020 MVC Tournament, Valpo has won a conference tournament game five straight years and in eight of the last nine seasons.
- However, seven of those eight wins have come in first-round action against teams seeded eighth or worse in the bracket.
- The lone outlier came in the 2016 Horizon League Tournament, where a ninth-seeded Valpo squad bested fourth-seeded Detroit before falling to fifth-seeded Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.
- Valpo has earned first-round wins in each of its first three appearances at Hoops in the Heartland, beating Evansville in 2021, Indiana State in 2019 and Loyola in 2018.
- This is the second time Valpo has earned a bye into the quarterfinals of Hoops in the Heartland - the 2019-20 squad had received the sixth seed as well before that year’s tournament was canceled.
Moving On Up
- Senior guard Shay Frederick is making an impact on a number of Valpo’s charts in the record book as the season nears its close.
- Frederick moved into Valpo’s career top-10 in scoring in its win at Indiana State, and currently ranks in eighth place on that chart with 1,256 career points.
- Frederick also continues to rack up the assists, as she ranks second in program history with 490 career assists. That total is good for 17th in MVC history, and she is looking to become just one of 17 players in conference history with 500 career assists.
- Frederick also has moved into fourth place in program history for free throws made (277) and fifth place for career 3-pointers made (191).
- On the season, Frederick has dished out 141 assists - seventh-most in a single year in program history and the most assists in a season by a Valpo player since 2000.
- In the win at Indiana State, Frederick went 14-for-14 at the foul line to set a new program single-game record for free throws made without a miss.
Reaching 1K
- Frederick is one of three Valpo players to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career this season.
- Carie Weinman hit 1,000 collegiate points in January as the Beacons played at UNI.
- Weinman now owns 1,107 career points, 916 of which have come in her three seasons at Valpo.
- Meanwhile, Grace White became the third Beacon to reach the milestone this season in the team’s thrilling victory last month at Indiana State.
- White has scored 1,024 points, 747 of which have come in the Valpo uniform.
Down 10? No Problem
- Five of Valpo’s nine 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 15 times in head coach Mary Evans’ four-year tenure at the helm of the program.
- Valpo faced a 13-point deficit in the second quarter at Indiana State and came back to earn the five-point win.
- Valpo overcame a 12-point deficit in the second quarter to earn the win over Bradley at the ARC.
- 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 at the ARC, 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.
- Valpo completed its first season sweep of Bradley with the home win over the Braves.
Top 100 Wins
- Valpo has made a habit of knocking off top-100 opponents in MVC play over the last few seasons and did so again Saturday, taking down a Southern Illinois squad which entered the game at #67 in the NET.
- Four times in MVC play this year, the Beacons have earned a victory over a top-100 team.
- 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.
- The road win at Drake came over a Bulldogs squad which entered the day at #84.
- Valpo now has nine 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.
Leading the Way
- Two Valpo players are currently on pace to lead the MVC in statistical categories this year.
- One season after leading the Valley in assists, Frederick again tops the chart this season as she’s averaging 4.9 assists/game.
- 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).
- Frederick currently ranks 47th nationally in assists/game this season, while her 490 career assists are 29th-most among active players.
- Grace White is attempting to lead the conference in steals/game, as she enters Hoops in the Heartland with a conference-best 2.2/game.
- Should White lead the MVC in steals, it would be the third consecutive year a Valpo player took top honors in that category, as Carie Weinman has paced the Valley each of the last two seasons.
