The Valpo women’s basketball team opened the Holiday Hoops Classic in DeLand, Fla. Tuesday afternoon, falling to Bethune-Cookman in a neutral-site matchup, 61-35. A 3-pointer early in the third quarter by Olivia Brown (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids [St. Bonaventure]) moved her past the 1,000-point milestone for her collegiate career.

How It Happened

• Early baskets from Saniya Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) and Ava Interrante (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) had the Beacons within 6-4 four minutes into the game.
• Bethune-Cookman went on a 9-0 run over the remainder of the first quarter to pull out to a 15-4 lead at the end of one.
• The Wildcats pushed their lead to 13 early in the second quarter before the Beacons were able to cut into it, getting within eight with 3:49 to play in the first half on a bucket by Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop).
• Bethune-Cookman scored the final two baskets of the half, however, to lead 23-11 at intermission.
• Brown connected on a 3-pointer 1:37 into the third quarter for her milestone point. It was also the first basket for either team in the second half, cutting the deficit to single digits.
• Valpo was still within nine at 27-18 following an Interrante driving layup with 7:03 to play in the third period, but in a two-minute span between media timeouts, the Wildcats put nine straight points on the board to push their lead to 18.
• Bethune-Cookman led 45-24 at the end of the third quarter, and Valpo was unable to close to any closer than 18 points in the final period.

Inside the Game

• Brown reached 1,000 collegiate points in her 119^th game overall and her 68^th game at Valpo. She closed the afternoon with 1,006 career points, 640 of which have come at Valpo.
• The Beacons shot just 22.4% (11-of-49) from the floor on Tuesday, including a 2-of-23 mark from 3-point range.
• Interrante paced Valpo with eight points, hitting four of her five attempts inside the arc, while Brown’s seven points were second-best on the team.
• Nevaeh Jackson led the Beacon effort on the glass with nine rebounds and Saniya Jackson pulled down six boards, both of which were season highs for the freshmen.
• The Valpo defense limited Bethune-Cookman to 35.4% shooting (23-of-65), the lowest field goal percentage by a Beacon opponent this year. The Beacons also held the Wildcats to just two triples.
• Bethune-Cookman did grab 18 offensive rebounds, however, which it turned into 24 second-chance points.

Next Up

Valpo (1-7) has a quick turnaround in search of a rebound Wednesday morning, as the Beacons come right back and face host Stetson at 10 a.m. CT. The game can be seen live on ESPN+.