Valparaiso (11-8, 3-5 MVC)
Game #20 - Sunday, February 2 - 2 p.m.
at UNI (12-7, 4-4 MVC)
McLeod Center (6,650) - Cedar Falls, Iowa
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women’s basketball team opens up the month of February by closing out the Iowa road trip Sunday afternoon in Cedar Falls at UNI. Sunday’s contest will cap off the first half of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule.
Previously: Valpo led at Drake at the end of the first quarter Friday evening in Des Moines, but the Bulldogs pulled away over the middle two quarters as Valpo fell by an 87-66 final. Senior Grace Hales became the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career with a basket late in the fourth quarter to cap a team-high 15-point effort.
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 (19-32) 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: UNI owns a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series over Valpo, and the Panthers have claimed all four meetings since Valpo joined the MVC prior to the 2017-18 season. Last season saw UNI win 71-52 in Cedar Falls and 64-56 in Valparaiso. Addison Stoller scored in double figures in both meetings and averaged a team-best 12 points and six rebounds per game over the two contests.
@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 Drake
- Valpo started Friday’s ballgame on fire from behind the 3-point line. After missing its first attempt from deep, four different players combined to connect on four consecutive triples. Sophomore Shay Frederick became the fifth Valpo starter to knock down a 3-pointer, connecting on a shot from deep with 4:02 to play in the opening quarter to give Valpo a 21-14 lead.
- The lead was still seven points with 1:11 to play in the first as junior Addison Stoller capped an 11-point first quarter with an inside basket, but Drake scored the final four points of the period to cut Valpo’s lead to 25-22 at the break.
- The Bulldogs scored the first basket of the second quarter to move within one before Valpo answered with seven straight points – including a 3-pointer from junior Caitlin Morrison – to earn its largest lead at 32-24 with 5:31 remaining in the first half.
- Drake went on a run into the locker room, out-scoring Valpo 17-2 to take a 41-34 lead into halftime.
- Grace Hales made a 3-pointer 2:30 into the second half to cut the Bulldogs’ advantage to six points, but that proved to be the Crusaders’ lone field goal in the third quarter as Drake led 63-41 with 10 minutes to play.
- The offense turned around in the fourth quarter, as Valpo went 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line over the final 10 minutes to outscore the Bulldogs by one over that stretch.
- Hales scored her 1,000th career point on a driving layup from the left corner with 37.1 seconds to play.
- Hales led the way on Friday with 15 points, including three triples. She is now just two 3-pointers shy of cracking Valpo’s career top-10 chart in that category.
- Stoller finished the evening with 13 points, while Morrison rounded out a trio of Valpo players in double figures with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
- Valpo finished the night 9-of-27 from 3-point range after hitting five of its first six attempts from deep and shot just 37.3% (22-of-59) overall against the three-time defending MVC regular season champions.
- Valpo forced 24 Drake turnovers, the second-most turnovers the Bulldogs have committed in a single game this year. The Crusaders tallied nine steals, including a game-high four from Carie Weinman.
- Valpo led for a total of 15:36 on Friday after never enjoying an outright lead against Drake in the first six meetings since joining the MVC.
...versus Loyola
- Valpo led 17-15 at the end of one quarter, but was out-scored 12-2 in the second quarter as Loyola led 27-19 at intermission. The Rambler advantage was 45-34 at the end of three.
- Valpo trailed by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, was still down 12 with 3:45 to play and found the deficit sitting at 11 points at 57-46 as the clock ticked under three minutes.
- Three 3-pointers in a 40-second span from Caitlin Morrison, Shay Frederick and Grace White helped cut the lead to 62-59 with 52.2 seconds remaining, making it a one-possession game for the first time in the second half.
- A driving layup by Frederick with 19.7 seconds to play brought Valpo within two, and the sophomore then converted two free throws with 12 seconds left to make it 64-63.
- Loyola advanced the ball to inbound in the frontcourt, but Zoe MacKay Zacker took a charge before the ball was inbounded to return possession to Valpo.
- It was Frederick’s heroics from there, as the sophomore drove the ball in an isolation on the right-hand side and finished at the rim through contact with 5.2 seconds to play to put Valpo in front. She stepped up and hit the free throw as well to complete the 3-point play to make it a two-point advantage.
- Zacker then got a hand on the Ramblers’ final inbounds pass, forcing a loose ball for a good bit of the remaining 5.2 seconds. Loyola regained possession in time for one final shot, but its off-balance runner was off the mark as the buzzer sounded to finish out the dramatic win.
- Frederick’s 3-point play at game’s end not only gave Valpo the win, it also ensured the sophomore matched her career high in the scoring column for the third time, as she finished with a game-high 21 points. Frederick also tied a career best with six rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists.
- Morrison scored in double figures for the third time in Valpo’s last six games, going 5-of-8 from the floor for 13 points while also adding three steals.
...looking ahead
- The Brown and Gold return home next weekend as they look to sweep the season series against their fellow Indiana schools in the MVC.
- It will be a Thursday/Saturday set of games at the ARC, as Valpo welcomes Evansville Thursday evening before taking on Indiana State Saturday afternoon.
...on the road
- Valpo is 6-3 in true road games this year. The Brown and Gold went 4-2 in non-conference road play and swept the Indiana State/Evansville road trip before falling at Drake last time out.
- Valpo has won at least six road games this season, the most road victories in a single season since 2006-07.
- Valpo has earned its three largest road wins in the last decade this season - a 22-point win at Evansville and 19-point wins at Detroit Mercy and at Indiana State.
- The 22-point win at Evansville was Valpo’s largest road win since a 66-41 win at Youngstown State on Jan. 14, 2010.
- Three of Valpo’s four road non-conference victories came by double figures - the first time the program won three road non-conference games by 10+ points since 1999-2000.
- Prior to Friday, Valpo had won five straight road games and had not dropped a game away from home since Nov. 21. The five-game streak on the road was the program’s longest since the 2004-05 team won five straight road contests Dec. 18-Jan. 5.
@UNIWBB
- UNI enters Sunday’s game at 12-7 overall and 4-4 in MVC play, most recerntly having defeated Loyola on Friday to snap a two-game losing skid.
- Karli Rucker leads the Panthers with 12.8 points/game and also averages better than three assists/game.
- Kam Finley adds an even 10 points/game off the bench as well for UNI.
Hales Hits 1000
- Senior Grace Hales became the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone for her career with a basket in the final minute last time out at Drake.
- Hales entered the game against the Bulldogs with 985 career points and led Valpo with 15 points, the last two of which gave her four figures for her career.
- Hales is just the fourth Valpo player since 2007 to hit the 1,000-point milestone.
- Hales enters Sunday’s game just 15 points behind Carrie Forsman for 15th in program history
- Hales will reach the mark thanks to her consistency, as she has played in all 113 Valpo games since she stepped on campus as a freshman. She has seen her scoring average go up year by year and is averaging a team-best 12.2 points/game this season.
- Hales also ranks among Valpo’s all-time best in a pair of shooting categories, as she sits second in free throw pct. (.860) and seventh in 3-point pct. (.362).
- In the MVC record book, which will only count years played in the Valley, Hales currently ranks fifth all-time in free throw pct. (161-of-184; .875).
Gotta Hit the Twos
- So far this season, Valpo’s 2-point percentage has been a strong indicator of whether it will emerge victorious or not from any given ballgame.
- In 11 wins this year, Valpo is shooting at a 57.2% clip from inside the arc.
- Meanwhile, in its eight losses, Valpo is shooting just 40.2% from 2-point range.
- The difference has been even more pronounced early on in MVC play, as Valpo has hit 62.5% of its 2-point attempts in its three Valley wins versus just 40.1% in its five losses.
- Last time out against Drake, Valpo was just 13-for-32 (40.6%) from inside the arc, including 1-of-12 in the 15-minute stretch when Drake turned an eight-point deficit into a 22-point lead.
Starters, Assemble
- Valpo has trotted out the same starting five through each of its first 19 games of the season: Shay Frederick, Carie Weinman, Grace Hales, Addison Stoller and Caitlin Morrison.
- Hales and Stoller were regular starters a season ago, while Frederick joined the starting lineup midway through last year. Morrison was a regular starter each of her first two years as well before missing last season due to injury.
- Within MVC play, the quintet has played 104:18 together and has out-scored the opposition 197-175 (75.6-67.1 per 40 minutes). That includes a 33-30 advantage in 17:58 of playing time together against Missouri State, and a 24-23 edge in 12:42 together at Drake.
- Valpo has never had a season where the same five players started every single game. The 2007-08, 1997-98 and 1983-84 Valpo squads had four players who started every game of the season.
Thievery
- One area in which Valpo has been consistent all year long has been coming up with steals on the defensive end.
- Valpo has recorded at least six steals in all but one game this season and is averaging an MVC-best 10.4 steals/game, good for 35th nationally.
- The team is currently on pace to finish with its highest single-season steals total in nearly two decades.
- The numbers have picked up in conference play, as Valpo has tallied 10 or more steals in five of eight MVC games and is averaging 11.1 steals/game against MVC foes.
- Valpo took the thefts to another level in the win at Evansville.
- The Brown and Gold recorded 21 steals in the win over the Purple Aces, tied for the seventh-most in a single game in MVC history.
- 21 steals also is tied for 10th-most in a single game in program history and matches the most in a single game since 1995.
Hitting the Boards
- Through the first four and a half games of MVC play, Valpo had sustained struggles on the defensive glass.
- Over that stretch, Crusader opponents snagged 68 of 158 potential offensive rebounds, a 43% clip - including Illinois State grabbing 11 of 18 potential offensive rebounds in the first half of the Jan. 17 game.
- But in the seven halves since, Valpo has shored up the defensive boards. In the last three and a half games, Valpo’s opponents have come down with just 20 of 94 potential offensive rebounds (21.3%).
What A Rally
- The 13-point comeback in the fourth quarter against Loyola was Valpo’s largest final-quarter rally since the women’s game moved to four quarters.
- Ironically, the last time Valpo rallied from that kind of deficit within the game’s final 10 minutes came at Loyola on Feb. 17, 2011. The Crusaders trailed that day by 14 points with 8:45 to play (and later 8 points with 2:45 to play) and went on to a 72-68 victory.
- Valpo’s largest deficit on Friday was a 14-point deficit late in the third quarter, the largest deficit it has come at any point in a game to win since rallying from down 15 for a 67-59 win at Youngstown State on Jan. 12, 2013.
- Friday’s win was the second rally of that type this year for Valpo, as in non-conference play against BGSU, it trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter and by 8 with 3:30 to play before coming back to force overtime and eventually win.
A Quality Win
- Not only was the manner in which Valpo won against Loyola impressive, the opposition it took down in doing so was impressive as well.
- Loyola entered the game with a 13-4 overall record, a perfect 8-0 record on the road, and among the nation’s top-100 in RPI.
- While the Ramblers fell just outside the top-100 following Friday’s result, it has the potential to be Valpo’s first win over a top-100 RPI team since the 2012-13 season.
- Valpo’s highest-rated victory based on RPI over the previous six seasons was a 65-60 win over #129 Youngstown State on Jan. 23, 2016.
Shay All Day
- Sophomore Shay Frederick was the hero late in the win over Loyola, as she scored the last seven Valpo points, all in a span of 14.5 seconds.
- Frederick had a layup with 19.7 seconds to play, two free throws at 12.0 and the game-winning 3-point play with 5.2 on the clock.
- She also assisted on Grace White’s 3-pointer with 52.2 seconds remaining, which made it a one-possession game for the first time in the second half.
- The totality of her performance stands out as well. Frederick had 14 points in the fourth quarter to close out a 21-point effort to match her career high.
- She also tied her career best with six rebounds - the last of which led directly to the White 3-pointer in the final minute - and led Valpo with five assists - the 13th time this year she has paced Valpo in assists.
- Frederick currently ranks fourth in the Valley in both steals (1.7/game) and assists (4.2/game), as well as fourth in assist/TO ratio. She is on pace to finish among Valpo’s single-season top-10 in assist.
Morrison Rises Up
- Junior Caitlin Morrison has stepped up her game with the start of MVC play.
- Morrison scored in double figures just once in 11 non-conference games, but has posted 10+ points in four of Valpo’s eight MVC contests.
- Morrison set her career high with 13 points early in MVC play against Missouri State, and then broke that with a team-high 15 points versus Bradley.
- In the come-from-behind win against Loyola, Morrison poured in 13 points, and then added 10 points last time out at Drake for her third consecutive double-digit performance.
- After scoring just 4.6 points/game in the non-conference slate, Morrison has more than doubled her scoring average since MVC play began, as she is currently scoring 9.5 points/game in conference action.
