Valparaiso (7-13, 3-6 MVC)
Game #21 - February 1, 2025 - 5 p.m.
at Evansville (5-15, 1-8 MVC)
Meeks Family Fieldhouse (1,164) - Evansville, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team wraps up the first half of Missouri Valley Conference play Saturday evening, as the Beacons look for a sweep of their downstate road swing in a matchup at Evansville.

Previously: Valpo led for nearly the entire 40 minutes in an in-state showdown at Indiana State Thursday evening, as Nevaeh Jackson connected on a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the game and the Beacons never looked back on their way to a 73-54 victory over the Sycamores. Leah Earnest had a monster night with 25 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists — the first D-I player to post such a stat line since December 2022.

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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 67-129. 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 leads the all-time series over the Purple Aces 16-11, and while its edge at Evansville is just 6-5 overall in program history, Valpo has claimed five of the six matchups in Meeks Family Fieldhouse since joining the Valley. Each team won on the other's home court last season as they split the season series - Valpo earned a 70-59 win at Evansville behind a team-best 19 points from Leah Earnest, while Evansville prevailed at the ARC by a 71-68 count despite 19 points from Olivia Brown and a 17 points/12 rebounds double-double from Earnest.

@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 Indiana State
- Valpo never trailed Thursday, as Nevaeh Jackson and Maci Rhoades hit 3-pointers on the Beacons' first two possessions.
- The Beacons pushed their lead to as many as 12 points in the opening period and led 22-14 at the end of one.
- Valpo limited ISU to just seven second-quarter points - including none in the final 5:20 of the half - as the Beacons extended their lead to 36-21 at intermission.
- A pair of 3-pointers from Katie Beyer gave the Beacons their largest advantage to that point just before the midway mark of the third quarter, 46-28.
- Valpo's lead was still 17 points with 3:30 to play in the period, but the Sycamores ended the quarter on a 9-0 run to move within 51-43 with 10 minutes to play.
- A triple by Mor Shabtai 1:42 into the fourth quarter was the first points for either squad in the final period and sparked a 10-1 Valpo run to extend the lead to 17 points. Indiana State got no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
- Valpo now owns a winning record against Indiana State in Terre Haute since joining the Valley, as Thursday's win was Valpo's fourth in seven road showdowns.
- Valpo never trailed on Thursday and led for 39:47 after Jackson's quick triple, but notably, that isn't the longest the program has led a game in Terre Haute. The 2019-20 team led the Sycamores in a road win for all 40 minutes, as an administrative technical foul gave Valpo two free throws before the opening tip.
- Valpo hit at a 47.3% clip from the field in the win while limiting ISU to 33.3% shooting. The Beacons hit 11-of-23 from deep - the 47.8% clip from downtown was the team's second-best of the year, while it was the fourth time this year they have hit double digits in triples.
- Despite being just a +1 in the turnover margin department, Valpo held a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Leah Earnest's monster stat line led the stellar individual efforts on Thursday. The graduate student scored 25 points — her 18th career game with 20 or more points — on 10-of-12 shooting, the best single-game shooting percentage on at least 10 attempts of her career.
- Earnest secured a team-best 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year and the 20th of her career, set a career best with six steals and tied for team-high honors with four assists as well.
- Beyer had a strong effort off the bench with the second-highest scoring game of her career, as the senior poured in 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. She added five rebounds as well.
- Rhoades reached double figures for the fifth time this year as she hit a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 11 points, adding three assists and two steals.

...at UIC
- Valpo jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but UIC claimed the lead for good with 4:10 to play in the opening quarter and led 18-14 at the end of the period.
- Leah Earnest brought the Beacons back to within two with a basket on the opening trip of the second period before the Flames scored the next five to extend their lead.
- UIC scored five points in the final minute of the first half to push its edge to 33-22 at intermission.
- Valpo got to within eight points on a 3-pointer from Nevaeh Jackson just over three minutes into the third quarter, but the Flames scored seven of the next nine points to push their lead back into double figures.
- UIC led 50-37 at the end of the third quarter and the Beacons were unable to get any closer in the final 10 minutes.
- Earnest scored 12 points, while Jackson scored a team-best 14 on 5-of-9 shooting — those two were the only Beacons to crack double figures in scoring.
- Valpo's 45 points tied its season low (at Murray State). The Beacons matched their season low with four made 3-pointers and attempted just four free throws, their lowest total since trying just two Dec. 5, 2021 at Bowling Green.
- Valpo had its second-worst turnover margin of the season as well, forcing just 14 miscues while committing 22 turnovers.

...looking ahead
- After playing seven of their first 10 Valley games on the road, Valpo starts a back half where it will play seven of 10 at the ARC next weekend, hosting Belmont on Friday night and Murray State on Sunday afternoon.

...away from home
- Saturday's game is Valpo's 13th contest of the year away from home.
- The Beacons picked up their first true road win of the year last time out, as they sit at 1-9 in true road games.
- Valpo is also 1-1 in neutral site games.

@UEAthletics_WBB
- Evansville comes into Saturday's game with a 5-15 overall record this year and sits at 1-8 in MVC play.
- The Purple Aces fell to UIC Thursday night, 74-43, for their third straight defeat since earning their lone Valley win over Southern Illinois.
- Maggie Hartwig leads UE with 15.9 points/game and 8.3 rebounds/game, while Camryn Runner is right behind Hartwig in the scoring department, posting 15.6 points/game.

Hoosier State Fun
- The Indiana State/Evansville swing has been the kindest road trip for Valpo since its move to the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Since joining the Valley prior to the 2017-18 season, Valpo is 4-3 in Terre Haute against Indiana State (including Thursday night's win) and is 5-1 at Evansville.
- Valpo swept the road trip in 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
- Notably, despite owning an 9-4 record against the two programs in road games since joining the MVC, Valpo is just 6-8 against its in-state foes when playing them at home.

The Wheels on the Bus
- You can forgive members of the Valpo program if they don't want to hear the words "bus", "road trip" or "itinerary", among others, for a while after this weekend.
- This weekend's trek to Indiana State and Evansville marks the fourth weekend out of the last five on the road for the Beacons.
- At the halfway point of the Valley slate (following the Evansville game), Valpo will have played seven of its 10 games on the road.
- After this trip, five of the Beacons' next six games over the next three weeks are at home.

A Unique Line
- Leah Earnest posted a stat line in Thursday's win at Indiana State that hadn't been matched by a D-I player since December 2022.
- Earnest finished the victory with 25 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists, becoming the first D-I player since Missouri State's Aniya Thomas on Dec. 31, 2022 to hit all four marks in the same game.
- In the era covered by the Her Hoops Stats database (dating back to the 2009-10 season), Earnest is the only Valpo player to post such a line, while her and Thomas are the only MVC players to do so. There have been only 29 such efforts among all D-I players in that span.
- Earnest scored her 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor, the best shooting percentage by a Valpo player (minimum 10 attempts) since Carie Weinman went 9-of-10 against Illinois State Feb. 12, 2022.

Winning With Defense
- Strong defensive efforts have been a common thread in the Beacons' victories this season, and the triumphs over Bradley and Indiana State were 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.
- Valpo wasn't too far off either of those marks in Thursday's triumph over Indiana State, as the Beacons held the Sycamores to 21 first-half points and ISU shot just 33.3% for the game (21.7% from 3-point range).
- 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 7-0; when Valpo's opponent scores at least 60 points, the Beacons are 0-13.

Search for the Shooting Touch
- Valpo's performance from deep against Indiana State looked more like the Beacons of late November through early January than it did in the most recent five-game stretch here in January.
- Valpo went 11-of-23 from deep against the Sycamores, its second-best 3-point percentage of the year and the fourth time it has hit at least 10 triples this season.
- In the last five games prior to Thursday's contest, the Beacons were averaging just 4.4 made 3-pointers/game and hitting at just a .204 clip from 3-point range.
- That stretch followed an eight-game stretch (11/30 vs. North Dakota-1/4 at Drake) 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.

Spreading the Wealth
- Valpo's 11 triples on Thursday came from a number of sources, as five different players hit at least two triples apiece.
- Maci Rhoades went 3-for-5 from deep to lead the way, while Leah Earnest (2-2), Mor Shabtai (2-3), Katie Beyer (2-3) and Nevaeh Jackson (2-5) all hit two triples apiece.
- It marked the first time Valpo has had five players all hit multiple 3-pointers in the same game since Jan. 21, 2022, ironically also in a game against Indiana State.

Forcing Miscues
- The Beacons rank as the MVC's best at forcing miscues, averaging 19.6 turnovers forced/game.
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in 13 of 20 games.
- Valpo also leads the MVC with 9.6 steals/game and has tallied double-figure steals in 10 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 1,440 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 at UIC, moving past Sarrah Stricklett into second on the program's career rebounding chart. She finished the Indiana State game with 785 boards - 85 boards shy of Tamra Braun's program record of 870.
- Earnest is also second all-time at Valpo with 133 games played (8 shy of Caitlin Morrison for the program record), fourth with 308 free throws made (33 shy of third) and fourth with 520 field goals made (75 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 13 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 eight such efforts: 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting last time out in the win at Indiana State, 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting 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 Saturday's game second on the team with 12.9 points/game.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in 14 of 20 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.