Valparaiso (3-5, 0-0 MVC)
Game #9 - December 4, 2024 - 6 p.m.
Western Michigan (2-4, 0-0 MAC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team faces a quick turnaround from its Thanksgiving weekend tournament in Pennsylvania, as the Beacons return home to the ARC to host Western Michigan Wednesday evening. The game against the Broncos will be Valpo's last before a two-week stretch away from competition.

Previously: Valpo split its pair of games last weekend at the Christmas City Classic, earning an opening win over North Dakota before falling to host Lehigh in the championship game. Leah Earnest and Katie Beyer represented the Beacons on the All-Tournament Team.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
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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 63-121. 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: Valpo and Western Michigan have met up 15 times on the hardwood, with the Broncos holding an 11-4 advantage in the series. WMU has a narrow edge at Valpo, winning four of seven meetings at the ARC. This marks the fifth consecutive years the the Beacons and Broncos have played, with WMU winning each of the last three seasons. In last season's meeting in Kalamazoo, WMU's Kaiden Glenn banked in a 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to force overtime, where the Broncos went on to win, 75-71. Leah Earnest went 10-of-16 from the field for 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Olivia Brown tallied 16 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.

...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.

...versus North Dakota
- Valpo opened the game on a 9-2 run, but North Dakota closed the opening period on a 10-2 spurt to tie the game at 14-14 after one quarter.
- The Fighting Hawks hit a 3-pointer on their first possession of the second quarter, but Valpo limited UND to just one free throw over the next four minutes, allowing the Beacons to go on a 12-1 run — led by five points by Nevaeh Jackson — to pull out to a 26-18 lead.
- Valpo led 36-28 at halftime after going 7-of-12 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line for a 22-point second quarter, scoring 13 of those points off of 11 North Dakota turnovers.
- Valpo scored on each of its first four possessions of the second half to push its lead to 46-30 and force a timeout from the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota dropped the lead to 12 just past the halfway mark of the third quarter, but Valpo outscored UND 11-5 over the remainder of the frame to lead 60-42 with 10 minutes to play. Valpo went 8-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, in the third quarter and assisted on all eight baskets while committing just two turnovers.
- Katie Beyer continued her strong afternoon by scoring Valpo's first five points of the fourth quarter, in the process pushing the lead up over the 20-point mark, and North Dakota got no closer than 16 the rest of the way.
- North Dakota committed 26 turnovers, the second straight game Valpo's opponent has turned it over 26 times.
- Remarkably, Valpo then turned those turnovers into 33 points on the offensive end, finishing the game with a 33-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
- It was a total team effort to force the North Dakota turnovers. 11 of those miscues were Beacon steals, but no single player had more than two steals and seven different players had at least one theft.
- Offensively, the Beacons featured balance as well, with four players finishing in double figures in the scoring column. Leading the way was Leah Earnest with a game-high 18 points. The grad student also paced all players with eight rebounds and six assists — the latter tying her career high — while registering a career-best three blocked shots as well.
- Valpo's shooting percentages across the board were its highest of the season. The Beacons broke the 50% mark from the field for the first time this year, hitting 52.0% from the floor, and hit at a 43.5% clip from deep, knocking down 10 triples. They were 14-for-17 (82.4%) from the foul line as well.
- After allowing its first four D-I opponents of the year to hit at a 48.9% clip from the 3-point line and average 11 3-pointers/game, Valpo limited North Dakota to 3-of-19 shooting from deep Saturday.

...looking ahead
- After Wednesday, it will be two weeks before the Beacons return to action, as their next game is Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Saint Louis.
- Valpo's final game before Christmas is at the ARC Saturday, Dec. 21 versus Detroit Mercy.

...at the ARC
- Wednesday's game is the fourth of 15 home games this season for the Beacons, as Valpo will host five nonconference games and 10 MVC games.
- Valpo is 2-1 at the ARC this season and went 2-10 at home last season.

@WMU_WBB
- Western Michigan enters Wednesday's game with a 2-4 overall record, snapping a four-game losing streak last time out last Wednesday with a 70-48 win over Cleary.
- The Broncos, who posted a 12-18 overall record and a 7-11 mark in MAC play last season, were picked to finish in 10th place in the MAC preseason poll.
- Marina Asensio leads WMU this season, averaging 11.0 points and 3.8 assists per 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 Saturday's win over North Dakota.

Zooming Up the Charts
- Leah Earnest entered last weekend 13th in program history in career scoring, but in the span of 26 hours, leapfrogged four spots to ninth all-time at Valpo.
- Earnest surpassed Aimee Forsman for 12th in the win over North Dakota, moved past Marlous Nieuwveen and Tabitha Gerardot in the first half versus Lehigh and jumped Stephanie Greer in the second half, closing the game with 1,228 career points.
- Earnest also moved into a tie for sixth in program history with Amber Schober on the career rebounding chart, finishing the weekend with 703 boards.
- The grad student is also tied for sixth all-time at Valpo with 121 games played, seventh with 262 free throws made and just six buckets shy from the top-10 in career field goals.
- Earnest impacted the program's single-game record book as well last weekend 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 last weekend 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.

Spreading the Wealth
- Through just eight 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.

Forcing Miscues
- Through eight games this year, Valpo is averaging 19.9 turnovers forced/game, easily the most in the MVC. 
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in six of eight games and rank second in the Valley with a +2.38 turnover margin.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in four 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.
- 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.

20/20/20 Vision
- Eight games into the season, and Valpo already has four different players with five 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.
- 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.

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, and then against North Dakota, surpassed that again with a 16-point effort.

The Paint is Ours
- All good things must come to an end, and while the Beacons defeated North Dakota on Saturday, 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.

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.