The Valpo women's basketball team closed out its home weekend at the ARC on a winning note Sunday afternoon, grinding out a 59-52 win over visiting Bradley, the Beacons' seventh consecutive win over the Braves. Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) accounted for nearly half Valpo's offense, finishing with 27 points, while Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) recorded her first career double-double.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo held Bradley without a point for a stretch of over five minutes within the first quarter, part of a bigger stretch during which the Beacons went on a 13-2 run — including six points from Earnest — to lead by double figures in the opening period.
• The Braves hit a 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer to cut Valpo's lead to 17-9 10 minutes in.
• Baskets from Lexi Castator (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) and Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]) on Valpo's first two possessions of the second quarter extended the advantage to 21-9.
• The Beacons' offense scored just four points over the final nine minutes of the first half, but on the other end, the defense limited Bradley to 3-of-15 shooting for the period as Valpo went into halftime with a 25-17 lead.
• Bradley scored the first three points of the second half to move within five, but Valpo had an immediate answer, as Jackson hit a 3-pointer before Earnest converted a fast-break layup and hit a triple of her own to push the edge back to 33-22 just 90 seconds later.
• Valpo's lead hovered on either side of the 10-point mark for the remainder of the third quarter, and the Beacons led 39-31 with 10 minutes to play.
• The story of the fourth quarter was the Beacons making sure small Bradley runs did not become larger runs. Jackson hit a key 3-pointer with 5:57 to play after the Braves had cut their deficit to 43-36.
• Just over a minute later, Bradley got back to within five before Valpo answered with eight straight points. Earnest started the spurt with layups on consecutive possessions and hit Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) for a cutting layup the next time down. When Connolly hit a pair of free throws with 2:54 to play, the Beacons led 54-41.
• The Braves had one final push, closing the gap to 57-52 after making three free throws with 24 seconds to go. Valpo ran seven seconds off the clock before Bradley fouled Earnest, however, and the veteran delivered with two clutch free throws. The Beacons forced a miss on the defensive end and were able to secure the rebound to finish things off.

 
Inside the Game

• Sunday's win was Valpo's seventh consecutive over Bradley dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign, with five of those victories coming by single digits.
• The seven-game winning streak is Valpo's longest active streak against an opponent. It is also the program's longest winning streak against a conference foe since defeating Centenary in all eight meetings as Mid-Continent Conference opponents in the mid-2000's.
• The Beacons' defense led the way Sunday, as Valpo limited Bradley to 30.5% shooting from the field — the lowest mark by a Valpo D-I opponent this season. The Beacons also sent the Braves to the foul line just 11 times and forced 19 turnovers.
• All six of Valpo's wins this year have come when holding its opponent under 60 points, as the Beacons are a perfect 6-0 in such games.
• On the offensive end, Valpo was limited to just 59 points on 36.0% shooting from the floor and 4-of-15 from 3-point range. It was just the program's fifth win in the seven-year tenure of head coach Mary Evans when scoring less than 60 points.
• The four made triples are tied for second-fewest in a victory in Evans' tenure as well.
• Valpo did strong work from the free throw line Sunday, finishing 19-of-22 at the stripe, including 9-of-10 in the fourth quarter. The 86.4% clip from the charity stripe matched the Beacons' best of the year, as they hit the same mark at Lehigh as well.
• Earnest scored nearly half of the Beacons' points Sunday, finishing with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line. The 27 points is the third-highest effort of her career, while the 10 made field goals are tied for a career best.
• Earnest surpassed 1,400 career points in the fourth quarter of the win and now sits at 1,403 points, 57 points away from fourth place in program history.
• Earnest also grabbed eight rebounds Sunday, the seventh of which moved her past Jeanette Gray for third in program history in career boards. She now owns 768 career caroms, just four shy of second position. In addition, she surpassed 500 made field goals for her career and moved past Sarrah Stricklett for fourth all-time at Valpo in that department.
• Jackson connected on a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 11 points and finished the afternoon with her first career double-double, as the sophomore set a career best with a team-high 11 rebounds.
• One game after scoring a career-best 10 points, Connolly was just one point off that mark Sunday, finishing with nine points and tying her career high with three steals.
• Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) tied her career best on the glass with seven rebounds.
• Valpo held a 40-35 advantage on the glass over Bradley, with the Beacons' 40 boards marking their most since Jan. 28, 2024 at Evansville. The Beacons also outscored Bradley in the paint, 28-16 — the second consecutive game they have held a double-digit advantage in the paint.

Postgame Press Conference - Mary Evans, Leah Earnest, Katie Beyer 

Next Up
The stop home was brief for Valpo (6-12, 2-5 MVC), as the Beacons return to the road for their next three games. Next week is a light week, featuring just a single game next Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at UIC.