Valparaiso (5-11, 1-4 MVC)
Game #17 - January 17, 2025 - 6 p.m.
Illinois State (9-7, 3-2 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: Coming off of back-to-back challenging road weekends in Valley play, the Valpo women's basketball team returns home to the ARC for the first time since Dec. 29 Friday evening as the Beacons host Illinois State.

Previously: The first quarter proved to be the difference for Valpo on Sunday, as despite getting as close as six points in the second half, the Beacons were unable to overcome a 13-point deficit after the opening period as they fell 67-53 at Belmont. Leah Earnest led the Beacons with 14 points.

Following Valpo Basketball: 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 65-127. 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: Illinois State leads the all-time series over Valpo, 13-4, including wins in each of the last six matchups. The Beacons forced the Redbirds to rally in both games last season, however, as Valpo led 37-35 at halftime at the ARC before ISU won 77-68, and later in the season, Valpo held a 59-54 lead with 6:17 to play in Normal before ISU won 78-64. Leah Earnest had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the home game and 32 points and 13 rebounds in the road matchup.

@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 Belmont
- After the teams traded baskets over the first two minutes of the game, the Bruins went on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to pull out to an 18-4 lead and held a 25-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
- Belmont's lead remained in double figures throughout the second quarter as it led 38-26 at halftime.
- Belmont pushed its edge to 16 points early in the third quarter before the Beacons responded with a 9-0 run to move within single digits. Valpo trailed 51-43 with 10 minutes to play.
- Layla Gold converted a driving layup on the Beacons' second possession of the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game.
- Valpo limited Belmont to just two baskets over the first six-plus minutes of the final period, but was unable to make any more headway as the Beacons had just Gold's field goal over the same stretch. The difference came at the free throw line, where the Bruins took their opportunities to go on a 9-2 run after Gold's basket to extend their lead back to double digits for good.
- Sunday's game concluded a stretch of four road games in 11 days for the Beacons, all of which came against top-100 NET teams. Belmont entered Sunday's contest ranked #57 in the NET.
- After shooting season worsts from the field and 3-point range at Murray State, the Beacons had their second-worst marks in both departments Sunday, hitting just 33.3% (19-of-57) from the field and 17.9% (5-of-28) from 3-point range.
- Valpo did limit Belmont to 42.3% shooting from the floor and 24% from 3-point range on the defensive end.
- The Beacons were a +7 in turnover margin on Sunday, committing just 12 miscues — matching their season low against a D-I opponent — while forcing 19 Belmont turnovers. Valpo outscored the Bruins 21-12 in points off turnovers.
- Valpo also held a 10-7 edge in second-chance points over the Bruins.
- Leah Earnest paced Valpo with 15 points on Sunday and added five rebounds as well.
- Katie Beyer came off the bench with 10 points — her fifth double-figure scoring effort of the year — and a team-high seven rebounds — setting a career high.

...at Murray State
- Valpo opened the game on a 7-0 run and led from start to finish in the first quarter, holding the Racers to 4-of-21 shooting over the first 10 minutes.
- The Beacons' lead was 13-9 at the end of the opening period.
- Nevaeh Jackson answered a Racer 3-pointer to open the second quarter with a triple of her own, and after five straight points for Murray State gave MSU its first lead, Layla Gold came up with a steal and fast-break layup to make it 18-17 Beacons with six minutes to play in the half.
- Murray State ended the half on a 21-5 run, including the final nine points of the quarter, to take a 38-23 lead into the locker room.
- A drive and finish from Mor Shabtai just over a minute into the third quarter was the first points for either team, bringing the Beacons back within 13. But the Racers scored the next eight in a row on their way to leading 64-36 with 10 minutes to play.
- Valpo shot just 29.6% (16-of-54) from the field Friday and was just 4-for-24 (16.7%) from 3-point range — both marks the team's worst of the season.
- On the defensive end, the Beacons held the Racers to 35.9% shooting — the second-lowest shooting percentage of the year by a Valpo D-I opponent. But Murray State was 28-of-78 from the field, earning 24 more field goal attempts as it gathered 28 offensive rebounds and scored 24 second-chance points.
- Valpo committed 23 turnovers, but did force 19 Murray State miscues as well. However, the Racers finished with a 21-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Jackson paced the Beacons with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and pulled down five rebounds as well.
- Gold joined Jackson in double figures as she hit 5-of-9 from the field for 11 points.

...looking ahead
- The Beacons conclude their home weekend on Sunday versus Bradley.
- Next week is a light week for Valpo, with a single game next Sunday, Jan. 26, at UIC.

...at the ARC
- Sunday's game is the seventh of 15 home games this season for the Beacons, as Valpo hosted five nonconference games in addition to its 10 MVC home games.
- Valpo is 4-2 at the ARC this season, including a win in its last home game - the MVC opener against Southern Illinois.

@RedbirdWBB
- Illinois State enters Friday's game with a 9-7 overall record this season. The Redbirds sit at 3-2 in MVC play, but had a three-game winning streak snapped last time out on Sunday at Drake.
- Illinois State leads the Valley in team field goal percentage (.488), led by two of the conference's top three individuals - Addison Martin (.640, 10.4 PPG) and Nevaeh Thomas (.593, 13.1 PPG).
- Shannon Dowell leads four Redbirds averaging in double figures in the scoring department with 16.1 PPG.

In the Rear View Mirror
- Perhaps Valpo's most challenging stretch of four games since joining the MVC is behind the Beacons now, capped by last Sunday's game at Belmont.
- Valpo played four road games in 11 days, only the second time since joining the Valley (outside of the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign) it has played four straight road games.
- Not only that, the four opponents - UNI, Drake, Murray State and Belmont - are all ranked in the top-70 of the NET and are the top four Valley teams in that metric.
- Valpo's highest-rated opponent in the NET prior to this stretch was its road game at Lehigh, which comes in at 90.

The Road Awaits Again
- This weekend provides a brief respite to the Beacons' bus life, but more travel itineraries are right around the corner.
- Next week is Valpo's single-game week against its travel partner, as it will head to UIC next Sunday.
- The following weekend sees the Beacons trek to Indiana State and Evansville.
- At the halfway point of the Valley slate (following the Evansville game), Valpo will have played seven of its 10 games on the road.

Gotta Make Shots
- Valpo suffered through its two worst shooting performances of the year last weekend, posting a .296 field goal percentage at Murray State and a .333 field goal percentage at Belmont.
- The Beacons had their worst games of the year from 3-point range as well, hitting below 20% from deep in both contests and combining to go just 9-for-52 (.173) on 3-pointers over the two games.
- Those two efforts came after an eight-game stretch during which Valpo hit at a .376 clip from 3-point range and averaged 8.5 3-pointers made per game.
- The Beacons shot at better than a 40% clip from 3-point range in four of the eight games in that stretch.
 
Forcing Miscues
- The Beacons rank as the MVC's best at forcing miscues, averaging 20.0 turnovers forced/game.
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in 10 of 16 games.
- Valpo also leads the MVC with 9.9 steals/game and has tallied double-figure steals in eight games this year.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in seven games so far, highlighted by 29 forced turnovers against Detroit Mercy and 26 in back-to-back 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.

20/20/20/20 Vision
- Valpo has four different players with 11 combined 20-point games under their belt this season.
- That is already more players and more 20-point games as last year's team, which featured just two different players who combined for nine 20-point efforts.
- Leah Earnest has six such efforts: 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting at Drake, a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting at UNI, 22 points in the win over SIU, 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting versus Detroit Mercy, 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win over Western Michigan and 29 points - the second-highest output of her career - at Lehigh.
- Earnest scored 20+ in four consecutive games Dec. 21-Jan. 4, the first Valpo player to do so in at least 15 years - the last time a Valpo player had scored 20+ in even three straight games was Shay Frederick in the 2020-21 campaign.
- Layla Gold joined Earnest in crossing the 20-point mark versus UDM, finishing with 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Earlier this year, Gold more than doubled her previous career best of 11 points with a 23-point night - which included five 3-pointers - at Milwaukee.
- Nevaeh Jackson raced past her previous career high with 26 points at Saint Louis; this coming after 20-point performances earlier in the season in the win over Goshen and against Purdue Fort Wayne.
- Against Trinity Christian, Kayla Preston smashed her previous best, going for 20 points on 7-10 FG and 6-8 FT.

Zooming Up the Charts
- Leah Earnest entered the season 14th in program history in career scoring, but has jumped all the way up to fifth all-time at Valpo with 1,370 career points.
- Earnest moved up from sixth to fifth at Drake with her final basket of the game, surpassing Meredith Hamlet and her 1,350 points.
- Next up for Earnest is Jeanette Gray in fourth with 1,460 career points.
- Earnest continued her match up the career rebounding chart against UDM, moving past Tabitha Gerardot for fourth on the program's career rebounding chart. She finished the Belmont game with 758 boards - next up there is Gray in third position with 766 career boards.
- Earnest is also second all-time at Valpo with 129 games played (12 shy of Caitlin Morrison for the program record), fourth with 296 free throws made (45 shy of third) and fifth with 493 field goals made (moved up two spots at Belmont; 9 shy of 4th).
- 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.

No Sophomore Slump
- After ranking fourth on the team in scoring (7.2 points/game) as a rookie, sophomore Nevaeh Jackson has cemented herself as a consistent second scorer this season.
- Jackson has nearly doubled her scoring average, entering Friday's game second on the team with 13.4 points/game.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in 11 of 16 games, highlighted by her 26-point effort at Saint Louis.

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.

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.

Missing Pieces
- Valpo is down two starters for the remainder of the season due to injury.
- Saniya Jackson did not see any game action this year, undergoing successful knee surgery in early November.
- Raeven Raye-Redmond suffered a lower leg injury late in regulation Dec. 21 against Detroit Mercy and will miss the rest of the year as well.