Valparaiso (6-12, 2-5 MVC)
Game #19 - January 26, 2025 - 2 p.m.
at UIC (5-11, 2-5 MVC)
Credit Union 1 Arena (8,000) - Chicago, Ill.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After a brief stop at home last weekend, it's right back to the road for the Valpo women's basketball team for its next three games, beginning on Sunday afternoon with a short trip to the Windy City to take on UIC. When this stretch concludes, the Beacons will have played seven of their first 10 Valley games away from home.

Previously: Valpo 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 accounted for nearly half of Valpo's offense, finishing with 27 points, while Nevaeh Jackson recorded her first career double-double.

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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 66-128. 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 renews acquaintances with the most common opponent in program history on Sunday night, as the Beacons match up with UIC for the 57th time - the Flames hold a 31-25 edge in the series. The MVC marks the fourth different conference the two programs have shared affiliation in, as Valpo and UIC were both previously together in the North Star Conference (1988-92), the Mid-Continent Conference (1992-94) and the Horizon League (2007-17). Last season, Valpo won the first matchup in Chicago in dramatic fashion, as Leah Earnest's layup at the buzzer gave the Beacons a 71-70 win. UIC answered with an 82-59 win at the ARC and won the rubber game to open Hoops in the Heartland, 79-77.

@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.

...versus Bradley
- 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 Leah Earnest — on their way to a 17-9 lead at the end of the first.
- The Beacons scored just eight points in the second quarter, but the defense was just as stifling, limiting 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 Nevaeh 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 Beacons successfully kept Bradley's runs at bay in the final period, as the Braves got no closer than five points.
- 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 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.
- 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, 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, 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.
- 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.
- 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.

...versus Illinois State
- An 8-2 spurt to end the first quarter gave the Redbirds a 19-11 advantage.
- After ISU scored the first basket of the second period, Valpo reeled off nine straight points to pull within 21-20. The Beacons had two offensive trips with the 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, but it was the Redbirds scoring the final four points of the period to take a 35-28 lead into halftime.
- After a pair of Beacon free throws made it a five-point game to start the second half, the Redbirds scored 10 straight points over a three-minute span to push their advantage up to 15 points.
- Nevaeh Jackson 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.
- Layla 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.
- Fiona 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.
- 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.

...looking ahead
- Next weekend offers up another road trip, as the Beacons make the swing to visit their in-state rivals.
- Valpo plays at Indiana State Thursday night before continuing south to face Evansville Saturday evening.

...away from home
- Sunday's game is Valpo's 11th contest of the year away from home.
- The Beacons are still in search of their first true road win, as they sit at 0-8 in true road games.
- Valpo is also 1-1 in neutral site games.

@UIC_WBB
- UIC comes into Sunday's game at 5-11 overall and 2-5 in MVC play.
- The Flames snapped a four-game losing streak with a win last Friday over Bradley before dropping a nine-point decision to Illinois State Sunday.
- It is a balanced roster, as no UIC player averages more than 23.8 minutes/game and all eight players who have appeared in every game play at least 15.2 minutes/game.
- Makiyah Williams is the lone Flame averaging in double figures, posting 11.6 points/game, while Jaida McCloud records 8.6 points/game and a team-best 6.0 rebounds/game.

Thrilling Finishes
- If the last two seasons are any indication, fans should be prepared to buckle their seatbelts for a nail-biting finish in Chicago on Sunday.
- When the two squads met last season on UIC's home floor, Leah Earnest was the buzzer-beating hero, making SportsCenter's Top 10 plays as she made a layup at the horn to give Valpo a 71-70 victory.
- That flipped the script from the previous season in Chicago, when UIC erased an eight-point Valpo lead inside the final five minutes and secured a 51-50 win on a 3-pointer by Josie Filer with 1.9 seconds to play.

The Wheels on the Bus
- While last weekend provided a brief respite to the Beacons' bus life, it's back to travel itineraries this week.
- This week is Valpo's single-game week against its travel partner in UIC, while next weekend sees the Beacons trek to Indiana State and Evansville.
- In all, Valpo is in the middle of a stretch of four out of five weekends on the road - at the halfway point of the Valley slate (following the Evansville game), Valpo will have played seven of its 10 games on the road.

Winning With Defense
- Strong defensive efforts have been a common thread in the Beacons' victories this season, and Sunday's triumph over Bradley was no different.
- Valpo allowed Bradley to shoot just 30.5% from the field - the lowest mark by a Valpo D-I opponent this year and the second lowest by a D-I opponent over the last three seasons.
- The Braves scored in single digits in each of the first two quarters and had just 17 points at intermission - the lowest mark by a Valpo D-I opponent at halftime since the Beacons went on the road and limited South Dakota to 17 first-half points on Dec. 10, 2021.
- It's actually been quite simple if you look at it: when the Beacons have held their opponent under 60 points this year, they are 6-0; when Valpo's opponent scores at least 61 points, the Beacons are 0-12.

Search for the Shooting Touch
- Valpo has suffered through some shooting woes the last two weekends, a marked departure from the previous month and a half.
- Over the last four games, the Beacons are averaging just 4.5 made 3-pointers/game and hitting at just a .196 clip from 3-point range.
- The last four efforts from deep come 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 19.9 turnovers forced/game.
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in 12 of 18 games.
- Valpo also leads the MVC with 9.8 steals/game and has tallied double-figure steals in nine games this year.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in eight 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.

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 1,403 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 last time out in the win over Bradley, moving past Gray for third on the program's career rebounding chart. She finished the Bradley game with 768 boards - next up there is Sarrah Stricklett in second position with 772 career boards.
- Earnest is also second all-time at Valpo with 131 games played (10 shy of Caitlin Morrison for the program record), fourth with 304 free throws made (37 shy of third) and fourth with 505 field goals made (moved up 1 spot versus Bradley; 90 shy of third).
- 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.

20/20/20/20 Vision
- Valpo has four different players with 12 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 seven such efforts: 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting last time out in the win over Bradley, 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.

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 Sunday's game second on the team with 13.1 points/game.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in 13 of 18 games, highlighted by her 26-point effort at Saint Louis.

Gold Standard
- After averaging just 3.4 points/game as a freshman last year, sophomore Layla Gold has taken a significant step forward this year as well.
- Gold ranks third on the team with 8.3 points/game and is second on the team in 3-point percentage.
- Gold has scored in double figures seven times this year, including three of the last five games, after having a season high of nine points last season.

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.