Sophomore Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) smashed her previous career high with a game-high 26 points and the Valpo women's basketball team held the lead entering the fourth quarter Wednesday at Saint Louis, but the host Billikens outscored the Beacons by 13 in the final 10 minutes to claim a 69-59 win.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo jumped out to a quick start, scoring the opening eight points in just over two minutes to force an early SLU timeout. 3-pointers from junior Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) and sophomore Raeven Raye-Redmond (Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) sandwiched a fast-break layup from Jackson for the early scoring.
• The Billikens rallied to within two points multiple times later in the opening period, but Valpo kept them at bay. A driving layup from grad student Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) with 10 seconds to play gave the Beacons a 20-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• The second quarter was tightly contested, featuring three ties and six lead changes as it was played almost entirely with no team holding more than a one-possession edge.
• A 3-pointer by Jackson with 1:15 to play in the half capped a 17-point half for the sophomore and proved to be the difference at intermission, as the Beacons headed into the locker room with a 32-29 lead.
• Saint Louis scored the first basket of the second half to briefly tie the game, but Valpo responded with 11 points in a row — a 3-pointer by Rhoades, a layup from Raye-Redmond and back-to-back Jackson triples — to earn its largest lead at 43-32 with 5:06 to play and force a SLU timeout.
• Right out of the stoppage, the Billikens turned the tables with 11 points of their own in a row over the next four-plus minutes to tie the game with less than a minute to play in the quarter. Senior Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) hit from deep in the final seconds of the period to give Valpo the lead back with 10 minutes to play, 46-43.
• After the teams traded baskets to open the fourth quarter, SLU scored nine points over four possessions while keeping the Beacons off the board to pull ahead, 54-48, and force a Valpo timeout with 7:03 to play.
• Sophomore Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) drove and finished on Valpo's first possession after the timeout to cut its deficit to four, but that was as close as the Beacons would get the rest of the way.

Inside the Game

• Wednesday's loss came against a Saint Louis program which won the 2024 WNIT and the 2023 A-10 Tournament, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in the latter year.
• Jackson's performance was the highlight of the evening for the Beacons. The sophomore, who entered the game with a career high of 20 points accomplished twice this season, nearly hit that mark in the first half alone before racing past it in the second half.
• Jackson finished the game with a game-high 26 points, including a 6-of-11 mark from 3-point range to match her career best for triples made. Jackson also set a career best with nine field goals made.
• Rhoades reached double figures in scoring for the fourth time this season as she scored 11 points, hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
• Earnest tallied 11 points as well, but had to work for them as she was held to 4-of-17 shooting. She did also finish with a team-high seven rebounds, led all players with three blocked shots and handed out four assists.
• Raye-Redmond tied a career best with five rebounds and tied for game-high honors with three steals, while Gold posted a career-high six assists and did not commit a turnover.
• The Beacons enjoyed their best shooting game of the year from the perimeter, finishing 12-of-25 from downtown, but were limited to 9-of-36 shooting from inside the arc. After dominating the points in the paint for the vast majority of its games this year, Valpo was outscored 40-16 in the paint by SLU.
• The Beacons did continue to force turnovers at a high rate, as the Billikens coughed the ball up 19 times, but Valpo committed 16 turnovers as well and SLU actually held a slight 21-17 edge in points off turnovers.

Thoughts From Coach Evans
"I thought we played three good quarters of basketball to take the lead into the fourth. We need to be able to maintain our composure when things aren't going our way and continue to play together as a unit on both ends of the court to put ourselves into a position to win these games."
 
Next Up
Valpo (4-6) closes the nonconference schedule on Saturday afternoon at the ARC when it faces off against former Horizon League foe Detroit Mercy. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m.