The Valpo women's basketball team never trailed Wednesday evening at the ARC in its last game before a break for final exams, as the Beacons defeated Western Michigan by a 67-54 final. Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) led all players with her second consecutive double-double, finishing the game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo got off to a quick start, as four different players scored in a 9-2 spurt to open the game which forced a WMU timeout 3:55 into the contest.
• The Beacons bookended the quarter with a similar run over the final three and a half minutes. Sophomore Raeven Raye-Redmond (Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood Madison) and senior Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to start the run. Beyer had another basket late in the period, and a layup just before the buzzer from Earnest capped the 10-2 run which pushed Valpo's lead to 21-8 at the end of the first.
• 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 sophomore Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) heading into halftime gave the Beacons a 34-20 lead.
• A trifecta from junior Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) 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 sophomore Kayla Preston (Omaha, Neb./Millard North) 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 freshman Lexi Castator (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) 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.

 
Inside the Game

• Valpo extended its home winning streak to three straight games with Wednesday's 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 on Saturday.
• Valpo tied its season high with 15 steals as it forced 22 WMU turnovers — the fifth time in nine games this season the Beacons have forced at least 20 turnovers. Valpo finished with a 24-14 advantage in points off turnovers.
• For the fifth time in the last seven games, the Beacons held a double-digit edge in points in the paint, closing the win with a 28-18 advantage inside.
• Earnest paced the Beacons' offense with 23 points (6-of-10 FG), the 12^th 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 18^th of her career. Her final rebound was the 713^th of her career, moving her into a tie for fifth place on Valpo's career chart with Dani Franklin.
• Earnest is one of just three MVC players this season who own multiple 20-point double-doubles.
• 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.
• Sophomore Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) handed out a team-high four assists to set a career high and matched her career best with four steals.
• 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.

 
Next Up
It's a lengthy break from game action for Valpo (4-5), as the Beacons return to competition in two weeks on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Saint Louis.