Valparaiso (8-3, 0-0 MVC)
Game #12 - Friday, January 3 - 6 p.m.
Southern Illinois (8-3, 0-0 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Missouri Valley Conference slate kicks off for the Valpo women’s basketball team on Friday evening at the ARC as the Brown and Gold put their seven-game winning streak on the line against Southern Illinois. The Valley schedule promises to be full of tough competition for Valpo, as the MVC currently ranks seventh nationally in conference RPI - on pace for the conference’s best finish ever.
Previously: A perfect month. The best pre-conference record in program history. A stat line by a single player unmatched since 2008, and a career-high scoring performance by another player. A seven-game winning streak to carry into the new year. That and more spawned out of Valpo’s performance Monday night in Charleston, Ill., as the Brown and Gold closed the 2019 calendar year with a 78-66 victory over Eastern Illinois. Valpo led by 12 at the half, but had the lead entirely erased with four minutes to go in the third quarter before hitting five 3-pointers in a six-possession stretch to close the third quarter up 15.
Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: ESPN+
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
Live Stats/Streaming Audio: Available via ValpoAthletics.com
Head Coach Mary Evans: Mary Evans (16-27) is in her second season as head coach of the Valpo women’s basketball program in 2019-20. Evans’ impact on the program was immediately clear in her first year, as Valpo shattered its previous program record of 224 made 3-pointers in a single season by knocking down 276 trifectas - a mark which ranks seventh in MVC history. Valpo ranked among the top-25 nationally in both total 3-pointers and 3-pointers per game in Evans’ first season at the helm of the Valpo program.
Series Notes: It’s a brief series between SIU and Valpo, as the two programs did not meet prior to Valpo joining the MVC in 2017-18. The Salukis have claimed victories in all four games to date, including an 87-65 win in Carbondale and a 58-47 victory in Valparaiso last season. Addison Stoller averaged 23 points per game over those two contests last year, shooting 50% from the floor and 80% from the foul line.
@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo has been selected to finish in eighth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 126 points.
- Valpo is in its third season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in 2019-20.
...looking back at last year
- Valpo posted an 8-24 record last season in head coach Mary Evans’ first year at the helm and went 3-15 in MVC play.
- Last year’s Valpo squad was ravaged by injuries, many times dressing just nine scholarship players.
- Valpo shattered its program record for 3-pointers in a season in 2018-19, knocking down 276 triples to race past the previous record of 224.
- Valpo also moved into seventh place in a single season in MVC history in 3-pointers made.
- Shay Frederick was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team, while Meredith Hamlet was an Honorable Mention MVC Scholar-Athlete.
...at Eastern Illinois
- Valpo went on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter with a 19-10 lead, capped by an 18-footer as time expired from Grace White.
- EIU looked like it had cut its deficit back down to nine at halftime as it scored off a turnover in the waning seconds of the half, but Shay Frederick had other ideas, rushing the ball forward and unloading a 35-footer just before the buzzer that found the basket to make it 44-32 Valpo at intermission.
- The first six minutes of the third quarter were not kind to Valpo, as Eastern Illinois went on a 15-3 run over that span to tie the game at 47 apiece. The Brown and Gold were 0-for-7 from the floor and committed three turnovers in that stretch.
- But the final four minutes of the quarter proved to be the antithesis of the first six and would propel Valpo to victory. The Crusaders had six possessions in the final four minutes and went 5-for-5 from 3-point range with a turnover on those trips down the court. Ilysse Pitts got the party started with a triple, and then Grace Hales and junior Addison Stoller alternated the final four 3-pointers of the period – Stoller connecting on the last one in the final seconds of the quarter.
- Meanwhile, while the offense couldn’t miss, the defense kept EIU completely off the board as well, as Valpo ended the period on a 15-0 run to take a 62-47 lead into the fourth. The run eventually extended to 21-0, as Valpo held EIU without a point for a stretch of 8:18 spanning the third and fourth quarters.
- Hales led the way for Valpo with a career-best 25 points, while White finished with a season-high 20 points and career highs of 10 rebounds and seven assists.
- Valpo enjoyed its most prolific night from the 3-point line of the season to date, knocking down 13 triples and connecting at a 40.6% clip (13-of-32) from downtown. The Crusaders also continued their strong season at the foul line, going 15-of-17 from the charity stripe.
- While Valpo’s defense forced just nine EIU turnovers, an aberration from the recent stretch where it had tallied 10 or more steals in four straight games, the Brown and Gold limited the Panthers to just 38.1% shooting from the floor.
- Valpo also ended the night with a 40-31 advantage on the glass – the first time this season Valpo has out-rebounded its opponent.
...versus Chicago State
- Valpo never trailed on Saturday, as a 3-pointer from senior Grace Hales gave Valpo the lead for good 57 seconds into the game.
- CSU came back with a basket on its next possession before Valpo rattled off 13 straight points over a stretch of 2:40. Junior Grace White had a 3-point play during the run, while junior Caitlin Morrison and sophomore Carie Weinman both had 3-pointers, the latter capping the spurt and giving Valpo a 16-2 lead 4:18 into the game.
- Valpo’s lead extended to 20 points for the first time with 1:34 to play in the opening quarter, as White knocked down the team’s fourth 3-pointer of the period. The advantage was 29-7 at the end of one.
- It was a 47-19 game at halftime, and Valpo’s lead surpassed 30 points for good on a 3-pointer by Hales 4:16 into the second half. The lead reached as many as 37 points in the third quarter, and Valpo entered the final period with a 68-32 advantage.
- The Cougars scored the first basket of the fourth quarter, but Valpo held CSU scoreless over the next four-plus minutes and reeled off 17 consecutive points in that span.
- Offensively, Marlee Profitt led the way, going 7-of-8 from the field for a career-high 17 points – easily surpassing her previous best of 11 points. She also paced Valpo with eight rebounds in the win, a season high and just one off her career best in that category.
- Morrison tied career highs with 11 points and four steals, and set a new personal best with six blocked shots - tied for the third-most in a single game in program history.
- Valpo’s balance was at the forefront on the offensive end, as all 12 players who saw action scored at least two points and 10 of those netted at least five points.
- Valpo finished the game 34-of-63 (54%) from the floor and went 10-of-24 (41.7%) from deep, the fifth time this year the Brown and Gold has made double-digit 3-pointers in a game. Meanwhile, the defense held Chicago State to just 25% (17-of-68) shooting and the Cougars went 0-of-8 from downtown.
- The 46-point margin of victory was Valpo’s largest since defeating IU Kokomo 102-47 on Nov. 21, 2016, and the largest against a Division I opponent since taking down Youngstown State 80-28 on Feb. 13, 2010.
...looking ahead
- The opening weekend of conference play concludes with a Sunday afternoon matinee against nationally-ranked Missouri State.
- Valpo then hits the road for the first time in MVC play, making the Indiana road swing to Indiana State and Evansville next weekend.
...at the ARC
- Friday will be Valpo’s fifth home game of the season and its first MVC home game of the campaign.
- Valpo is currently 4-0 at home this season, with wins over Bowling Green, UIC, Morehead State and Chicago State.
- Valpo went 4-11 at the ARC last year in Mary Evans’ first season at the helm of the program.
- Valpo was just 1-5 last season at home in non-conference action before earning a trio of home wins during MVC play.
@SIU_WBasketball
- Southern Illinois enters Friday’s MVC opener with an 8-3 record this year and is 3-2 in true road games.
- The Salukis most recently cruised to an exhibition win over William Woods on Sunday and have won three regular season games in a row.
- SIU is outscoring opponents by an average of 10 points per game and is led by Makenzie Silvey, who averages 18.7 ppg on 43.1% 3-point shooting.
- Nicole Martin posts 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while Abby Brockmeyer tallies 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
The Streak Continues
- Valpo’s win at Eastern Illinois extended its winning streak to seven consecutive games - the longest current winning streak among MVC teams. It is the seventh winning streak of seven or more games in program history.
- Valpo last won seven or more in a row Jan. 28-March 4, 2002, a 10-game winning streak.
- With a win on Friday, Valpo would have just the sixth winning streak of eight or more consecutive games in program history.
Best Pre-Conference Mark
- With Monday’s win, Valpo closed pre-conference play with an 8-3 record, setting a new program standard for the best winning percentage before the start of conference action.
- The aforementioned 2001-02 team also held the previous best winning percentage in pre-conference play, going 9-4 before opening Mid-Continent Conference action.
Best 11-Game Start
- Valpo’s current seven-game winning streak has pushed its record to 8-3 through 11 games, a mark which matches the best record through 11 games in program history.
- The 1991-92 squad is the only other team in program history to own a 8-3 record through 11 games – that team eventually improved to 9-3 before suffering its fourth loss of the season.
A Month of Winning
- It’s been over a month on the calendar since Valpo last came out on the wrong side of the final score, as its last loss - at Northwestern - came back on Nov. 21.
- The last time Valpo spanned a month between losses came back in 2007-08, as that season’s team fell at Notre Dame on Dec. 12 and then did not lose again until a game at Loyola on Jan. 12.
- Monday’s win secured a perfect month of December for Valpo, as it closed the month with a 5-0 record - just the third perfect month in program history.
- Valpo posted a 7-0 record in February 2002 and an 8-0 mark in January 1998.
Amazing Grace
- The play of Grace Hales and Grace White led the way for Valpo in its win last time out at Eastern Illinois.
- Hales started the night strong, scoring seven points in the first quarter and 15 in the first half en route to a career-high 25 points, surpassing her previous best of 21, which she had done four times.
- Hales ended the night with four 3-pointers and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line, and tallied six rebounds as well.
- Meanwhile, White scored a season-best 20 points, including knocking down each of her first four 3-point attempts.
- Beyond that, White secured a career-high 10 rebounds and set a career best with seven assists, both of which led all players, and added two steals and two blocked shots as well.
- White’s double-double was the first by a Valpo player since Addison Stoller recorded 15 points and 10 boards in last year’s MVC Tournament quarterfinal against Drake.
- White was the first Valpo player to record at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a game since Agnieszka Kulaga posted 20 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in an overtime win over Green Bay in January 2008.
Draining The Triples
- Valpo enjoyed its most prolific game of the season from 3-point range last time out in the win at EIU, going 13-for-32 (40.6%) from deep.
- The 13 3-pointers were a season high and just one shy of cracking the program’s single-game top-10.
- Valpo has hit at better than a 40% clip from the 3-point line in each of its last two games.
- The 13 triples against the Panthers mark the sixth time this year that Valpo has hit at least 10 3-pointers - Valpo has won all six of those games.
- Valpo ended non-conference play averaging 8.1 3-pointers per game and ranks sixth in the nation in 3-point rate and 31st in percentage of points from 3-pointers.
Taking Advantage of Charity
- Valpo has been stellar at the foul line all season long, and continued its success at the stripe in the win at EIU, going 15-for-17 (88.2%).
- Valpo has hit at 75% or better from the line seven times this year, including six of the last seven games, and has been above 80% four times.
- Valpo ranks 21st nationally, hitting at a 76.8% clip from the foul line this year, and ranks 37th in percentage of points from free throws.
- Grace Hales has been nearly automatic from the line this year, going 32-of-34 (94.1%) to rank fourth nationally in free throw percentage.
- Last time out at EIU, Hales surpassed Valpo’s minimum number of attempts for its career free throw percentage chart and currently ranks second in program history (86.0%).
Defense Stands Out
- While the offense stood out last time out, the defense has led the way for much of the current winning streak.
- By limiting Chicago State to 49 points last Saturday, Valpo had a stretch of five straight games where its opponents scored fewer than 60 points.
- Valpo’s late-season winning streak in 2007 was the last time the defense was that stifling for five consecutive games.
- The 37 points Valpo surrendered to UIC were the seventh-fewest given up by a Valpo squad in a single game in program history.
- It was Valpo’s best defensive performance on the scoreboard since giving up just 32 points at Northern Kentucky on Feb. 11, 2016. It also marked Valpo’s fewest points allowed against a non-conference Division I opponent in program history.
- The Valpo defense forced 29 UIC turnovers in that win, the most by a Valpo opponent since the Crusaders forced Wright State into 31 miscues on Jan. 8, 2009.
- Valpo forced 20 or more turnovers six times in the season’s first 10 games, including four straight (25 at UDM, 29 vs. UIC, 22 vs. MSU, 23 vs. CSU). The last time Valpo forced 20+ turnovers in four straight games came Jan. 19-31, 2004.
- Chicago State was 0-for-8 from 3-point range, the third Valpo opponent this year to go scoreless from the 3-point line (NDSU 0-for-14; UIC 0-for-7). Prior to this year, the last time a Valpo opponent went scoreless from 3-point range was FIU in November of 2013.
Morrison’s Awesome Afternoon
- It’s unusual for a player to have a career game on both ends of the court in the same content, but that’s exactly what redshirt junior Caitlin Morrison did last Saturday in the win over Chicago State.
- Offensively, Morrison went 5-of-7 from the floor for 11 points to tie her career high in the scoring column.
- On the defensive end, Morrison tallied four steals to tie a career best as well.
- But that wasn’t even her biggest defensive impact, as Morrison ended the win with six blocked shots to set a career high.
- Morrison’s six rejections were not only a Valpo season high and tied an MVC season best, but it also tied for the third-most blocks in a single game in program history.
- Only a pair of efforts of nine and seven blocks by Michelle Mader in 1992 surpassed Morrison’s total Saturday.
- The six rejections bumped Morrison’s career total to 65, enough to crack Valpo’s career top-10 in the category as well.
