Valparaiso (4-5, 0-0 MVC)
Game #10 - December 18, 2024 - 4 p.m.
at Saint Louis (4-7, 0-0 A-10)
Chaifetz Arena (10,600) - St. Louis, Mo.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After a stretch of two weeks away from competition which included the fall semester final exam week, the Valpo women's basketball team returns to the court for its penultimate nonconference matchup of the season Wednesday afternoon at Saint Louis.

Previously: The Beacons entered their December game hiatus on a winning note on Dec. 4, never trailing at the ARC in a 67-54 victory over Western Michigan. Leah Earnest led all players with her second consecutive double-double, finishing the game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Following Valpo Basketball: TV: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest
Video: ESPN+
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 64-121. 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: SLU owns a slight 5-4 edge in an all-time series which hasn't been contested in over a decade and just twice in the last quarter-century. The last matchup came in St. Louis on Nov. 10, 2013, a 78-56 win for the Billikens where they opened the game on a 26-4 run. Charae Richardson led Valpo in that contest wtih 15 points.

@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 Western Michigan
- Valpo opened the game on a 9-2 run over the first four minutes, and then bookended the first quarter with a 10-2 run to lead 21-8 at the end of the first quarter.
- Leah Earnest hit a 3-pointer on Valpo's first possession of the second quarter to extend the advantage to 16 points, but WMU scored seven straight to force a Beacon timeout with 6:57 to play in the half and the lead cut to 24-15.
- The Broncos got no closer than nine in the second quarter, however, and a steal and buzzer-beating layup from Nevaeh Jackson heading into halftime gave the Beacons a 34-20 lead.
- A trifecta from Maci Rhoades on the opening trip of the third quarter gave Valpo its largest lead of the game at 17. WMU came back with a 12-3 run over the next four-plus minutes, cutting its deficit to 40-32 halfway through the period.
- 3-pointers on consecutive possessions by Kayla Preston and Earnest staved off that Bronco threat, and the Beacons' advantage was 51-36 with 10 minutes to play.
- WMU pulled back to within eight as it scored eight points in less than two minutes to open the fourth quarter, making it a 52-44 game.
- Valpo kept the Broncos off the board on their next four possessions and took advantage on the offensive end, as Lexi Castator hit a pair of free throws and Jackson and Rhoades converted layups to push the lead back to 58-44 with five minutes to play. WMU got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
 -Valpo extended its home winning streak to three straight games with the win.
- The victory was just the second for Valpo in seven meetings with WMU over the last 13 seasons.
- The Beacons enjoyed their second-best shooting game of the season, as they hit 50% (22-of-44) from the field and 40% (8-of-20) from 3-point range — numbers outdone only by their performance in the North Dakota win.
- Earnest paced the Beacons' offense with 23 points (6-of-10 FG), the 12th game of her career with 20 or more points. Earnest tallied 10 rebounds as well as she registered her second straight double-double and the 18th of her career.
- Jackson continued her consistent year with a 14-point night, going 5-of-9 from the field as she scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. The sophomore added three steals as well to match her season best.
- Rhoades tied her career high with 12 points, going 5-of-9 from the field and hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
- Layla Gold handed out a team-high four assists to set a career high and matched her career best with four steals.
- Raeven Raye-Redmond filled up the stat sheet with four points, four rebounds, three assists and six steals — the latter mark the second-highest single-game total of her career.

...at Lehigh
- Valpo held an 11-10 lead six minutes into the game before Lehigh closed the first quarter on a 13-4 run to lead 23-15 10 minutes in.
- Lehigh scored on its first possession of the second quarter to extend its lead to double figures before the Beacons went on an 11-0 run in a span of just over two minutes, bookended by 3-point plays from Leah Earnest, to edge in front, 26-25.
- 3-pointers from sophomore Layla Gold and Earnest were the only field goals Valpo came up with over the final six minutes of the half, however, as Lehigh regained the lead and took a 42-36 lead into halftime.
- The Beacons' struggles from the field continued after halftime, as an Earnest drive and finish in the first minute of the third quarter was their only field goal of the period.
- The Mountain Hawks extended their lead to 55-42 with 10 minutes to play and Valpo got no closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.
- Earnest posted her 17th career double-double with her game highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds. The 29-point output was the second-best effort of her career.
- Gold was the only Beacon to join Earnest in double figures, scoring 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
- Valpo shot just 35.4% for the game to Lehigh's 43.4% clip. The Mountain Hawks doubled up the Beacons from the 3-point line, connecting on 12 triples to Valpo's six.
- One day after owning a +24 advantage in points off turnovers, Valpo was a -13 on Sunday (20-7) as it committed 18 turnovers, while Lehigh turned the ball over just 12 times.
- Valpo did finish the game with a 31-29 advantage on the boards, the first D-I opponent the Beacons have outrebounded this season.

...looking ahead
- Valpo's final game before Christmas is at the ARC on Saturday afternoon versus Detroit Mercy.
- On the other side of the holiday is the start of MVC play, as the Beacons kick off Valley action Sunday, Dec. 29 against Southern Illinois at the ARC.

...away from home
- Wednesday's game is the last of six games away from home for Valpo in nonconference action.
- The Beacons are 1-1 in neutral-site games and 0-3 in true road games.

@SaintLouisWBB
- Saint Louis comes into Wednesday's game at 4-7 on the season, most recently stopping a three-game losing streak with a 96-52 victory over Ohio on Sunday.
- The Billikens won the WNIT last season and were A-10 tournament champions in 2023, advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
- Four SLU players are averaging in double figures, led by Peyton Kennedy with 15.6 points/game.

Taking on the Valley
- While SLU is a member of the A-10, its nonconference schedule is chock full of MVC opponents.
- Remarkably, Valpo is the Billikens' fifth Valley foe in their nonconference slate.
- SLU enters Wednesday's game 1-3 to date against MVC teams, with a win over Illinois State (78-71) and losses to Drake (95-70), Missouri State (91-68) and Murray State (91-66).
 
Forcing Miscues
- Through nine games this year, Valpo is averaging 20.1 turnovers forced/game, easily the most in the MVC. 
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in seven of nine games and rank third in the Valley with a +2.56 turnover margin.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in five games so far, highlighted by back-to-back games forcing 26 miscues in wins over Goshen and North Dakota.
- Against Goshen, the Beacons racked up 15 steals, a season high and the team's highest total in exactly one calendar year. The Beacons matched that mark in the win over Western Michigan as well.
- In the win over North Dakota, Valpo turned the Fighting Hawks' 26 turnovers into 33 points and held a massive 33-9 edge in points off turnovers. It was the program's greatest number of points off turnovers and the highest edge in the category since a Feb. 22, 2020 win at Loyola, when Valpo forced 31 turnovers and owns a 38-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Paint is Ours
- All good things must come to an end, and while the Beacons defeated North Dakota in their opener at the Christmas City Classic, the points in the paint went slightly to the Fighting Hawks by a 34-32 margin.
- That snapped a streak of five straight games where Valpo held the edge in points in the paint, the last four of those advantages being double-figure margins.
- The 2023-24 team only had four games total where it outscored its opponent in the paint.
- Prior to this five-game streak, 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.
- The last time Valpo outscored its opponent in the paint in five consecutive contests prior to this season? 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.
- Last time out in the win over Western Michigan, the Beacons were right back to their inside dominance, outscoring the Broncos in the paint by a 26-16 margin.

In Close Is Where It's At
- It's no surprise given the offensive philosophy of head coach Mary Evans that nearly every single two-point basket by the Beacons this season is in the paint.
- Through nine games this year, 138 of Valpo's 139 two-pointers have been recorded as in the paint - including each of the last 77.
- The lone two-point field goal outside the paint for the Beacons to date this season was a one-handed runner by Leah Earnest from the right block early in the second quarter at Loyola.

20/20/20/20 Vision
- Nine games into the season, and Valpo already has four different players with six 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, Leah Earnest hit the 20-point mark for the 11th time with the second-highest scoring output of her career, finishing with 29 points at Lehigh, and followed the very next outing with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win over Western Michigan.
- Nevaeh Jackson went 8-of-13 from the field against Goshen and knocked down four 3-pointers against Purdue Fort Wayne in a pair of 20-point performances.
- 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.

Spreading the Wealth
- Through just nine games this season, the Beacons have already had three games where they've seen four different players reach double figures in the scoring column.
- Most recently, Leah Earnest, Katie Beyer, Nevaeh Jackson and Maci Rhoades all hit the 10-point mark in the win over North Dakota.
- Against Goshen, it was Jackson, Beyer, Earnest and Kayla Preston hitting double digits.
- At Milwaukee, Layla Gold, Earnest, Raeven Raye-Redmond and Jackson all scored at least 13 points.
- The fact this year's team has already had three such games is notable, as last year's squad had no more than three players score in double figures in the same game.

All-Tournament Honors
- Valpo had a pair of players recognized as All-Tournament Team honorees following the conclusion of the Christmas City Classic.
- Leah Earnest averaged 23.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game over the Beacons' two contests.
- Katie Beyer earned her selection by virtue of a strong 16-point performance, surpassing her career high, in the win over North Dakota.

Zooming Up the Charts
- It took Leah Earnest just 26 hours to leapfrog from 13th to ninth on Valpo's career scoring chart over the Beacons' two games at the Christmas City Classic.
- Earnest enters Wednesday's game with 1,251 career points, 13 shy of eighth, 22 shy of seventh and 25 shy of sixth in program history.
- Last time out, Earnest moved into a tie for fifth place on Valpo's career chart with Dani Franklin with her 713th career rebound - 10 shy of fourth.
- The grad student is also tied for fifth all-time at Valpo with 122 games played, seventh with 271 free throws made and tied for 10th with 451 field goals made.
- Earnest impacted the program's single-game record book as well at the Christmas City Classic as she went 12-for-12 at the foul line against Lehigh. She is one of just 12 players to hit 100% from the foul line in a game (minimum 10 attempts) and one of just four to do so on at least 12 tries.

Filling the Box Score
- Both of Earnest's efforts at Lehigh were notable insomuch as to how many categories she posted notable totals in.
- She scored a game-high 18 points in the win over North Dakota, while also pacing all players with eight rebounds, six assists — tying her career high — and a career-best three blocked shots.
- Earnest is one of just two D-I players to reach all four of those marks in the same game this season and is the first Valpo player to do so in at least 15 years.
- She followed 24 hours later with game highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds against Lehigh, one of just two MVC players this season to reach both marks in the same game.
- There have been just four individual games by a Valpo player with at least 29 points and 12 rebounds in the last 15 seasons, and Earnest owns two of those, doing so last year at Illinois State as well.

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 who had their first career 20-point efforts 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, and then against North Dakota, surpassed that again with a 16-point effort.

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.

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.
- 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.