Valparaiso (2-4, 0-0 MVC)
Christmas City Classic - Bethlehem, Pa.
Game #7 - November 30, 2024 - 1:30 p.m. CT
vs. North Dakota (2-3, 0-0 Summit)
Game #8 - December 1, 2024 - 11 a.m./1:30 p.m. CT
at Lehigh (4-2, 0-0 Patriot) OR vs. Marist (3-3, 0-0 MAAC)

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team hits the road over Thanksgiving weekend, trekking to eastern Pennsylvania and the campus of Lehigh University for the Christmas City Classic. The Beacons open tournament play Saturday afternoon against North Dakota, and will then play either Marist or the host Mountain Hawks Sunday.

Previously: Valpo began the holiday week on a winning note, jumping out to a 20-point halftime lead en route to a 72-41 victory Monday evening over Goshen. Nevaeh Jackson led four Beacons in double figures in the scoring department, matching her career best with 20 points.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+ for games including Lehigh; stream through Lehigh website for games not including Lehigh
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 62-120. 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: North Dakota - Valpo has faced off with North Dakota twice in program history, with the Fighting Hawks winning both ends of a home-and-home series over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. In the last meeting, North Dakota edged out Valpo in Grand Forks, 65-63, on Nov. 17, 2019.

Marist - First meeting.

Lehigh - Valpo and Lehigh have met twice, both on Valpo's home court with each team winning once. The most recent matchup was a 41-39 Lehigh win at the ARC on Dec. 3, 2011.

@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.

...versus Goshen
- After a quick start for the Beacons, Goshen put together a run and led 13-8 just past the midway point of the opening quarter.
- Valpo turned things around with a 15-2 run to close the period with a 23-15 lead. Leah Earnest scored five points during that run, while Katie Beyer and Nevaeh Jackson contributed a pair of baskets apiece.
- Valpo's defense didn't surrender a field goal until the final minute of the second quarter, holding the Maple Leafs to 1-of-11 shooting in the period. The lead reached as many as 22 points before the Beacons took a 43-23 lead into the locker room.
- Goshen cut Valpo's edge to 15 points at one point in the third quarter, but the Beacons were able to extend back out to a 58-36 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- In a fourth quarter played entirely by Beacon reserves, Valpo limited Goshen to just five points over the final 10 minutes of action.
- Jackson matched her career high as she led all players with 20 points, hitting 8-of-13 from the field — including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line.
- She was one of four Beacons in double figures in the scoring column, as Beyer finished with 12, Earnest 11 and Kayla Preston 10.
- Jackson, Beyer and Preston each had three steals as the Beacons racked up 15 as a team - their most in exactly one calendar year.
- Valpo out-scored Goshen in the paint, 40-26 — the fifth consecutive game the Beacons have held the advantage in the paint, and the fourth straight contest it has been a double-figure margin inside.

...at Loyola
- The Ramblers opened the game on an 11-3 run over the first seven minutes, and while Valpo got to within three with 1:36 to play in the opening period, Loyola scored the final two baskets of the quarter to lead 15-8 at the end of the first.
- Loyola closed the first half with an 11-2 run over three-plus minutes to extend its lead to 42-22 at halftime.
- The Beacons forced turnovers on each of the Ramblers' first nine possessions of the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter to cut their deficit to eight.
- Valpo got as close as seven points in the quarter and trailed 51-42 with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons were within five early in the fourth quarter and had two shots to make it a one-possession game, but were unable to convert on either. Valpo got to within five late as well, but could get no closer.
- Neveah Jackson scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with a team-high 17 points.
- Leah Earnest scored 16 points (5-9 FG, 6-8 FT), her fourth effort of 15+ points this season.  She stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, leading the team in all three categories.
- Maci Rhoades established a season high with 10 points, enjoying her first double-figure scoring output in a Valpo uniform.
- After Loyola went 8-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half (including 5-of-6 in the second quarter), the Beacons held the Ramblers to 1-of-6 from beyond the arc after the intermission.
- In the third quarter alone, Valpo had seven steals and forced 11 Loyola turnovers. The Beacons had a dozen steals for the game and forced the Ramblers into 23 turnovers.

...looking ahead
- Valpo faces a pretty quick turnaround after a lengthy trip back from Pennsylvania, as it hosts Western Michigan at the ARC next Wednesday evening.
- Following that game, the Beacons will go two weeks before returning to action Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Saint Louis.

...away from home
- This weekend's games will mark the fourth and fifth of six games away from home for Valpo in nonconference action.
- The Beacons' game against North Dakota will be their second on a neutral court this year, as they lost their season opener to Liberty in Xenia, Ohio.
- Valpo is 0-2 so far this year in true road games.

@UNDwbasketball
- North Dakota enters Saturday's game at 2-3 this season and has dropped its last three games.
- Three Fighting Hawks starters are averaging in double figures, led by Kiera Pemberton, who posts 15.6 points/game and a team-best 7.0 rebounds/game.
- North Dakota posted a 9-21 overall record last year and finished sixth in the Summit League with a 5-11 mark in league play.

@MaristWBB
- Marist comes into the weekend with a 3-3 record, most recently edging Yale Tuesday evening, 67-65.
- Lexie Tarul leads the Red Foxes with 13.2 points/game this season.
- Marist went 6-25 last season and finished tied for 10th in MAAC play with a 4-16 record in conference action.

@LehighWBB
- Lehigh enters the weekend with a 4-2 record, having had a three-game winning streak snapped Tuesday evening with a 65-62 loss at La Salle.
- The Mountain Hawks are led by Maddie Albrecht, who averages 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this year.
- Lehigh posted a 17-13 record last season and went 9-9 in Patriot League play, tying for fifth in the league standings.
 
Forcing Miscues
- Last time out marked the most turnovers by a Valpo opponent so far this season, as the Beacons forced 26 Goshen turnovers.
- 15 of those turnovers were Valpo steals - also a season high. Notably, it was the program's highest number of steals in a single game in exactly one calendar year, as Valpo tallied 16 steals Nov. 25 of last year at UAB.
- The Beacons are averaging 20.2 turnovers forced per game this year, best in the Valley, and have forced more turnovers than they've committed in five of six games. Their turnover margin of +2.50 ranks second in the Valley as well.

Consistent Scorer
- Sophomore Nevaeh Jackson has proved to be a consistent threat on the offensive end early in her second season with the Beacons.
- After opening the season with a nine-point effort, Jackson has been in double figures each of the last five games.
- She has scored a career-best 20 points on two occasions, most recently last time out against Goshen as she went 8-of-13 from the floor to set a career high for field goals made.
- Jackson is already nearing her total of eight games in double figures from last year. As a freshman, she had just one instance scoring 10+ points in back-to-back games.

20/20/20 Vision
- Six games into the season, and Valpo already has three different players with four combined 20-point games under their belt.
- That is already more than last year's team, which featured just two different players with at least one 20-point effort.
- Most recently, Nevaeh Jackson went 8-of-13 from the field last time out for her second 20-point game of the season.
- Sophomore Layla Gold shattered her previous career high of 11 points with a 23-point night - which included five 3-pointers - at Milwaukee.
- Against Trinity Christian, Kayla Preston smashed her previous best, going for 20 points on 7-10 FG and 6-8 FT.
- Jackson hit four 3-pointers en route to a career-high 20 points against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- Notably, Leah Earnest - who had nine 20-point games last season - is not among the trio with a 20-point game so far this year.

Career Highs
- Five of Valpo's seven returnees have set career bests in the scoring column this season - the only returnees who haven't are Saniya Jackson, who is out for the season, and Earnest.
- Joining the trio above are senior Katie Beyer and sophomore Raeven Raye-Redmond.
- Raye-Redmond smashed past her previous best of nine with a 15-point night on 6-of-9 shooting at Milwaukee.
- Beyer hit three 3-pointers on her way to a 14-point game in the season opener versus Liberty.

The Paint is Ours
- Valpo held a double-digit advantage in the paint last time out against Goshen, outscoring the Maple Leafs inside 40-26.
- That marks the fifth consecutive game the Beacons held an edge on inside points, the last four of which have all been double-digit margins.
- Points in the paint went to Valpo 36-26 at Loyola, 40-28 at Milwaukee, 36-20 in their win over Trinity Christian and 28-24 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- With this stretch, this year's team has surpassed last year's squad, as the 2023-24 team only had four games where it outscored its opponent in the paint.
- Prior to this current stretch, the last time the Beacons outscored their opponent in the paint in back-to-back games came in December 2022 against Western Michigan and Western Illinois.
- To find the last stretch of at least three such games, you have to go back to December 2019, when Valpo held the edge in the paint in four straight contests against Detroit Mercy, UIC, Morehead State and Chicago State.
- The last time Valpo outscored its opponent in the paint in five consecutive contests? You have to go all the way back to January 2010, when Valpo bettered Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Detroit, Wright State and Milwaukee in consecutive games inside.

Notables From Goshen
- Goshen's high scorer had nine points - it was the first time a Valpo opponent has failed to have a double-digit scorer since Jan. 20, 2019 against Evansville.
- With 26 turnovers, the Maple Leafs were the first Valpo opponent with 25 or more miscues since March 11, 2021 against Evansville at the MVC Tournament.
- Goshen hit just 1-of-14 from 3-point range, the first time since Jan. 2, 2022 at Missouri State a Valpo opponent has shot under 10% from the 3-point line.

Notables From Trinity Christian
- Valpo surrendered just 40 points to Trinity Christian, the lowest mark by a Valpo team since giving up just 37 in a win over UIC Dec. 15, 2019.
- The 41-point margin of victory (81-40) was the program's largest since a 95-49 win over Chicago State Dec. 28, 2019.
- The Beacons dished out 25 assists on 29 made field goals, the program's highest single-game assist total since a 26-assist performance against Purdue Calumet Dec. 9, 1998.
- Valpo's 43 rebounds was the highest team single-game total since grabbing 44 against UAB Nov. 21, 2022.

The First Time
- Valpo fans got their first look at five of the program's six newcomers in the season opener against Liberty.
- Transfers Maci Rhoades (Radford) and Fiona Connolly (La Salle) were both in Valpo's starting lineup against the Flames.
- True freshmen Lexi Castator, Mor Shabtai and Kylie Waytashek came off the bench for the Beacons.
- The final of Valpo's newcomers, transfer Bella Swedlund (Toledo/Kansas) made her collegiate debut against Trinity Christian.

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 currently ranks seventh in program history in career rebounding (683) and 13th on the career scoring chart (1,181).
- For reference, should she duplicate her season totals from last year, Earnest would close her career third all-time at Valpo in scoring and second in rebounding.