The Valpo women's basketball team took to the court of the ARC for the first time in three weekends Friday evening, falling to visiting Illinois State by a 79-65 final.
Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) paced three Beacons in double figures in the scoring column with 13 points, while
Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]) scored a collegiate-best 10 points.
How It Happened
- Valpo led briefly early in the first quarter and only trailed by two points at 11-9 with 2:39 to play in the opening period before the Redbirds ended the quarter on an 8-2 spurt to lead 19-11 10 minutes in.
- Illinois State scored the first basket of the second quarter to extend its lead to double digits, but Valpo responded with nine in a row over the next two minutes to close to within 21-20. Gold had five points during the run, while Connolly had drives for layups on consecutive possessions.
- The Beacons actually had two trips with a chance to take the lead, but were unable to take advantage, and Illinois State scored the next six to pull back out to a seven-point edge.
- Valpo got back to within three late in the second quarter on another triple by Gold, but it was the Redbirds scoring the final four points of the period to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.
- Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) connected on a pair of free throws on Valpo's first possession of the second half to make it a five-point game. Over the next three minutes, however, the Redbirds reeled off 10 straight to push their advantage up to 15 points.
- Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) scored five points in just 20 seconds late in the third quarter to bring the Beacons back to within nine.
- Illinois State carried a 52-40 lead into the fourth quarter, and the Beacons were unable to get the deficit back to single digits in the final 10 minutes.
Inside the Game
- Gold scored a team-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers, to reach double figures in the scoring column for the seventh time this year.
- Connolly came off the bench to deliver a career-best 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, surpassing her season best of seven from earlier this month at Drake and her previous collegiate high of eight from last season at Rider. The junior also tallied three assists and matched her career high with three steals.
- Jackson hit double figures in scoring for the 12th time this year as she finished with 10 points as well.
- Lexi Castator (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) hit all three of her field goal attempts and matched her season bests with nine points and four assists.
- Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) delivered a team-best five rebounds off the bench.
- Valpo hit just 5-of-25 from 3-point range Friday, as its three worst shooting marks of the year from deep have come in the last three games. Meanwhile, the Redbirds hit 50% from the field and were 7-of-17 from the 3-point line.
- Illinois State also enjoyed 15 more free throw attempts than Valpo, going 22-of-29 at the stripe to the Beacons' 10-of-14.
- Valpo ended the night a +8 in the turnover margin, committing just 12 miscues for the second straight game while forcing 20 Redbird turnovers, 10 of which were Beacon steals — the ninth time this year they have racked up at least 10 thefts. Despite the +8 advantage in turnovers, Valpo held just a slim 17-16 edge in points off turnovers.
- The Beacons owned a double-digit advantage in the paint, outscoring the Redbirds 40-28 in that category.
Postgame Press Conference - Mary Evans and Fiona Connolly
Next Up
Valpo (5-12, 1-5 MVC) closes out its quick stop back home on Sunday afternoon as the Beacons host Bradley at 1 p.m. Doors open at noon, and the game will feature a kids zone and Wacky Chad performing at halftime. Tickets are available at tickets.valpoathletics.com.
