Valparaiso (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
AIA Total Athlete Tip-Off
Game #1 - November 4, 2024 - noon CT
vs. Liberty (0-0, 0-0 CUSA)
John Wooden Family Fieldhouse (1,200) - Xenia, Ohio

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team kicks off the 2024-25 season on Monday afternoon at a neutral site, as the Beacons open the inaugural AIA Total Athlete Tip-Off in Xenia, Ohio inside the John Wooden Family Fieldhouse against Liberty.

Previously: Valpo chose to play a pair of closed scrimmages in lieu of open exhibition games, facing Central Michigan and Northwestern.

Following Valpo Basketball: Streaming Video: http://www.totalathletetipoff.com/
TV Outlets: Distributed by Gray Media. A list of stations carrying the game is linked on ValpoAthletics.com - none local to Valpo
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 seventh year at the helm of the program in 2024-25 and owns a record of 60-116. Evans' first six seasons at the helm have seen Valpo's six of the top-eight single-season 3-pointers made marks, including each of the top five, while defensively, her teams have racked up steals at a high rate, averaging at least 7.7 steals/game in five of her six seasons. Under her guidance, Valpo players have earned an MVC Sixth Player of the Year honor, five All-Conference accolades, three All-Freshman/Newcomer Team awards and three All-Defensive Team honors.

Series Notes: It is a brief series between Valpo and Liberty, as they've met just twice - a home-and-home series which saw each team defend its home court. Valpo won the initial meeting in November 2016, 70-68, as Amber Lindfors converted a layup at the buzzer. The Flames turned the tables in Lynchburg next December with a 61-40 victory.

@ValpoWBB...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was picked to finish in eighth place in the MVC preseason poll, totaling 193 points to edge out Indiana State.
- The eighth-place projection is two spots ahead of the Beacons' regular-season finish last year.
- Valpo is in its eighth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley was ranked 13th in conference NET last season. In Valpo's time in the MVC, the conference has been ranked as high as seventh in NET (2020-21).

...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished last season with a 5-25 overall record and finished at 4-16 in MVC play, good for 10th in the Valley standings.
- Leah Earnest was a Second Team All-MVC honoree. 
- Valpo won three consecutive road games in Valley play, the second straight year the Beacons have accomplished that - prior to that, the program had last accomplished that feat against three different opponents since 2007.

...looking ahead
- Valpo comes home to the ARC for each of its next two games after the season opener, beginning on Saturday night, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- The Beacons will then hold a school day game at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12 against Trinity Christian.

...at neutral sites
- Monday's game marks the first of at least three neutral site games for the Beacons this year.
- Valpo will take on North Dakota at Lehigh on Nov. 30, and should results fall the same way, could face Marist at Lehigh the next day.
- All MVC Women's Basketball Tournament games will be neutral-site affairs as well, as the tournament heads to the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. for the first time this year.
- Valpo is looking for its first win in a neutral-site game since beating Evansville in the first round of the 2021 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament.
- In all, the Beacons will play six of their 11 nonconference games away from home.

...in season openers
- Valpo dropped its season opener last season at Eastern Illinois by a 75-62 final.
- The previous year, the Beacons earned a 71-64 win at Central Michigan in their season opener - their lone win in a season opener in the last six seasons.

@LibertyWBB
- Liberty was picked second in the CUSA preseason poll, trailing only defending conference champion Middle Tennessee.
- Asia Boone, Emma Hess and Bella Smuda all represented on the Flames on the CUSA preseason All-Conference team, which featured 10 players.
- Liberty is coming off an 18-16 season in 2023-24 and went 11-5 in its inaugural season of CUSA play. The Flames advanced to the conference tournament title game, falling to Middle Tennessee.

Jumping Right In
- Unlike last season, when the Beacons were the second-to-last Division I team to open their campaign, playing their first game seven days into the season, this year's team is diving head-first into game action.
- Valpo tips at noon CT/1 p.m. local on Monday afternoon, making it the second MVC school to get underway, as Drake tips off versus North Dakota State an hour earlier.
- In all, only 19 D-I games will tip off on Monday before the Beacons get going against the Flames.

Leah's Last Ride
- Graduate student Leah Earnest is back for her fifth and final season of eligibility, looking to put a bow on one of the most productive careers in program history.
- Earnest was a Second Team All-MVC selection last season and tabbed a preseason Second Team All-MVC choice this year.
- Earnest became the first Valpo player since 1991-92 to pace the team in scoring, rebounding and assists. 
- She ranked sixth in the Valley in scoring and eighth in rebounding, one of only four Valley players to rank in the top-eight of both categories. 
- Earnest scored 494 points on the season, fifth-most in a single season in program history and second-most since 1994.
- Earnest enters her final year already 14th in program history in career scoring (1,099) and 12th in career rebounding (641), just 14 rebounds away from cracking the top-10 in the latter category. For reference, should she duplicate her season totals from last year, she would close her career third all-time at Valpo in scoring and second in rebounding.

Returning Production
- Led by Earnest, Valpo returns the majority of its production from last season's squad.
- The Beacons return four of their five starters from the vast majority of MVC play, as Saniya Jackson, Nevaeh Jackson and Layla Gold all are back for their respective sophomore years.
- In all, Valpo has seven letterwinners back from last year's squad, as senior Katie Beyer and sophomores Raeven Raye-Redmond and Kayla Preston return as well.
- The returnees accounted for 63.7% of the team's scoring and 69.4% of the team's rebounds last year.

Who's New
- Joining the seven returning letterwinners is a group of six newcomers, split evenly between transfers and true freshmen.
- Juniors Maci Rhoades and Fiona Connolly join the program this year after playing two seasons at Radford and La Salle, respectively.
- Bella Swedlund is looking for her first collegiate action - she redshirted at Kansas in 2022-23 and then sat out last season at Toledo due to injury.
- Freshman Lexi Castator was a prep teammate of the Jackson twins at Northrop [Ind.] H.S., Kylie Waytashek was an Honorable Mention All-State selection as a senior at Royalton [Minn.] H.S. and Mor Shabtai has made the 6,000-plus mile journey from Israel to Valpo.