Valparaiso (0-5, 0-0 MVC)
Games #6-8 - CSU Invitational
Nov. 26 - 2 p.m. CT - vs. Radford (4-3)
Nov. 28 - noon CT - at Cleveland State (4-1)
Nov. 29 - noon CT - vs. St. Bonaventure (5-1)
Woodling Gymnasium (3,000) - Cleveland, Ohio

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Cleveland this week, as the Beacons take part in the CSU Invitational, where they will take on Radford and St. Bonaventure in addition to the host Vikings.

Previously: Valpo returned to the road last Friday at South Dakota, falling by an 85-44 final. Fiona Connolly paced the Beacons with 16 points.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: YouTube (Wednesday, Saturday); ESPN+ (Friday)
Audio: Wednesday and Friday, streaming only
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-5 at Valpo, 1st season; 190-73 [.722] overall, 9th season): Courtney Boyd was named the ninth head coach of the Valparaiso University women's basketball program on Friday, April 4, 2025. A national championship-winning head coach and player, an NAIA National Coach of the Year, and a two-time conference Coach of the Year, Boyd has won 20 or more games in seven of her first eight seasons as a head coach. She spent the last two seasons at the helm of the Quincy University program after six seasons as head coach at Clarke University, leading the latter program to the NAIA national title in 2022-23.

Series Notes: Valpo will be matching up with Radford and St. Bonaventure for the first time, the latter despite twice making appearances at tournaments hosted by the Bonnies. Valpo owns a 15-17 record all-time versus Cleveland State, but the two programs have not met since Valpo departed the Horizon League following the 2016-17 season.

@ValpoWBB...
...at South Dakota
- A drive and finish from Fiona Connolly had the Beacons within 10-5 at the halfway mark of the first quarter before the Coyotes closed the period on a 13-0 run to lead 23-5 after the opening 10 minutes.
- Connolly and Milana Nenadic combined for all 13 of Valpo's points in the second quarter, while the Beacon defense limited USD to 4-of-16 shooting from the field as they outscored the Coyotes 13-9 for the period to close within 32-18 at halftime.
- South Dakota started the second half on an 11-2 run to pull away and led 60-31 at the end of the third quarter before scoring the first nine points of the fourth quarter.
- Connolly was the lone Beacon in double figures, scoring 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting — the second-highest output of her career and her third double-digit game of the year.
- Mikayla Huffine scored a season-best seven points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
- Valpo shot 26.2% from the floor and hit just 2-of-22 from 3-point range, while South Dakota hit at a 44% clip from the field.
- The Coyotes outrebounded the Beacons 62-34, including 19 offensive rebounds they turned into 22 second-chance points.

...versus Milwaukee
- Milwaukee led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Beacons held a 31-29 advantage at halftime and the Panthers were up 48-45 with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
- Valpo took its first lead of the fourth quarter on an Autumn Dibb basket with 4:20 to go, but the Panthers responded to retake the lead and pushed their edge to three points twice in the final two minutes.
- Valpo answered immediately both times with baskets from Mor Shabtai and Dibb, the latter bringing the Beacons within 59-58 with 41 seconds to go.
- Valpo got a stop on the defensive end and then put the ball in the hands of Mikayla Huffine, who was fouled while shooting with 3.4 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to make it 60-59 Beacons.
- After the Panthers advanced the ball with a timeout, the Beacons were called for a shooting foul with 0.6 seconds remaining. Grace Lomen knocked down the first to tie the game, but came up short on the second to send the game to overtime.
- It took nearly half the extra period to knock the lid off the baskets, but after Milwaukee knocked down a 3-pointer to open the scoring, Shabtai responded with a triple of her own to tie things up at 63-63 with 2:18 to go in overtime.
- The Panthers followed with a score on the ensuing possession to take the lead for good. Kylie Waytashek converted a layup with 54 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game, but Milwaukee hit two free throws on its next trip and the Beacons missed a pair of chances near the rim as the Panthers closed it out.
- Valpo took Milwaukee to overtime after the last six meetings in the series had all been double-digit wins for the Panthers.
- A balanced Beacon offense was led by a strong effort off the bench from Allia von Schlegel, who set season highs with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.
- Valpo's second-leading scorer also came off the bench, as Kamryn Winch recorded career bests with 12 points and 12 rebounds, securing her first collegiate double-double.
- The Beacons' bench outscored Milwaukee's by a 36-16 count.
- Shabtai scored in double figures for the first time in her collegiate career, finishing with 11 points to surpass her previous high of eight points — accomplished twice in the first three games this season.
- Nenadic scored in double figures for the second straight game, rounding out the quartet of Beacons in double digits as she tallied 10 points.
- Valpo won the battle of the boards for the first time this season, 44-42.
- The Beacons handed out a season-best 18 assists on 23 made baskets and had a positive assist/turnover ratio, committing just 17 turnovers. Valpo's turnover total dropped for the third straight game.

...looking ahead
- The Beacons will have eight days between games after this weekend, as they next take the court for their MVC opener at home against UIC Sunday, Dec. 7.

...away from home
- The game against CSU is the fifth of six nonconference true road games for the Beacons, who will play 10 road games in MVC play as well.
- Valpo is currently 0-4 in true road games.
- Last season's squad posted a 3-11 mark in true road games.
- The games against Radford and St. Bonaventure are the Beacons' lone neutral-site games of the regular season.

....and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo is in its ninth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Valpo was picked outside the top-four of the MVC preseason poll, as the Valley released only the top four selections.
- The Valley finished last season ranked seventh in the NET, matching the conference's highest NET/RPI ranking in Valpo's time as an MVC member (2020-21).

...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished last season with a 13-19 overall record and went 9-11 in MVC play to finish in eighth place.
- Among the Beacons' 13 victories were a thrilling rally from a 20-point deficit for a home win over Drake which entered the game ranked 69th in NET, the program's highest-ranked win since a win over #54 UNI in 2021-22.
- Leah Earnest was tabbed a First Team All-MVC honoree as she concluded a decorated career that saw her finish first in program history in career rebounds and third in career scoring.
- The 2024-25 Beacons hit 245 3-pointers, third-most in a single season in program history, and tallied 314 steals, seventh on the program's single-season chart and the most since 2001-02.

@Radford_WBB
- Radford comes into the tournament with a 4-3 record, most recently defeating Niagara on Saturday, 80-58.
- The Highlanders, who posted a 14-17 record last season, were selected to finish in third place in the Big South preseason poll.
- Angelina Nice is averaging a team-best 10 points/game despite playing just 19.6 minutes/game.

@CSU_WBasketball
- The Vikings enter the tournament with a 4-1 record, but suffered that lone loss last time out at Northwestern, 75-68.
- CSU, which finished last season 27-10 and advanced to the Fab 4 of the WNIT, was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Colbi Maples is averaging a team-high 16.6 points/game.

@BonniesWBB
- St. Bonaventure comes into the tournament with a 5-1 record, but suffered that lone loss last time out against UAlbany, 62-53.
- The Bonnies, who posted a 6-24 record last season, were picked to finish in 14th place in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.
- Laycee Drake paces the Bonnies, averaging 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Together on Turkey Day
- This season marks the third consecutive year that the women's basketball program celebrates Thanksgiving together while on the road.
- In 2023, the Beacons were in Alabama, preparing to take on UAB on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
- Last year, Valpo completed its travels to Bethlehem, Pa. on Thanksgiving Day for the Christmas City Classic, where it faced North Dakota and host Lehigh.

Three Games in Four Days
- You have to go back to the 2003-04 season to find the last time the Valpo women's basketball program played three games in a four-day stretch.
- That year's squad did so in its run through the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament, defeating IUPUI (March 6), UMKC (March 8) and Oral Roberts (March 9) to claim the tournament title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
- To find the last time Valpo had such a stretch during regular season, you have to go all the way back to the 1993-94 campaign - that year's team took on Charlotte (Dec. 3) and South Alabama (Dec. 4) in a tournament at Michigan State before stopping to face Western Michigan (Dec. 6) on the trip back.

Road Warriors
- The well-traveled Beacons are right back at it with the trip to Cleveland State this week.
- Valpo opened the season with three straight on the road and plays seven of its first eight games away from home.
- The last time Valpo played at least three consecutive road games to start a season came in 2020-21, when it opened with four straight road contests.
- The last time Valpo had a stretch like this in terms of games away from home to open the season came in 2013-14, when it started with eight of its first nine games away from home.

Old Friend Alert
- Friday marks the final of four matchups for Valpo in nonconference play against a former league opponent, as it shared membership with Cleveland State in the North Star Conference (1988-92), the Mid-Continent Conference (1992-94) and the Horizon League (2007-17).
- Valpo's other previous games against former league opponents came against DePaul (North Star, 1987-91), Detroit Mercy (Horizon, 2007-17) and Milwaukee (Mid-Con, 1993-94; Horizon, 2007-17).

Close, But No Cigar
- Valpo was within one defensive stop of the first win of the Courtney Boyd era in its home opener before Milwaukee sent the game to overtime, where the Panthers eventually won.
- It was the fourth straight time the Beacons have lost a game which has been tied at the end of regulation.
- Valpo's last overtime win came at Evansville in February 2022.

Who's Back
- The Beacons return seven players from their 2024-25 squad for the 2025-26 campaign.
- While seven players are back for another season in the Brown and Gold, Valpo has to replace its four leading scorers as it lost 73.8% of its scoring and 66.9% of its rebounding from last season's team.
- A pair of seniors who played big roles as incoming transfers last season highlight the group of returnees: Maci Rhoades and Fiona Connolly.
- Raeven Raye-Redmond, Mor Shabtai, Kayla Preston, Kylie Waytashek and Bella Swedlund round out the returning group.

Who's New
- Boyd is blending a diverse group of nine newcomers with the seven returnees to fill out the 16-player roster. 
- The group of newcomers includes four true freshmen and five transfers - one Division I, two Division II and two junior college.
- Senior Mikayla Huffine spent the last two years playing under Boyd's tutelage at Quincy.
- A pair of redshirt junior posts enter their first season as Beacons: Milana Nenadic (Idaho State/Maine) and Kamryn Winch (Maryville).
- Valpo also brings in junior college transfers Kayla Sullivan (State Fair C.C.) and Kennedy Sproule (Bay College).
- Four freshmen will be getting their first taste of college basketball this year: Isabella Anderson, Nuala Connolly, Autumn Dibb and Allia von Schlegell.

International Flavor
- Valpo has a trio of international players on its 2025-26 roster: sophomore Mor Shabtai (Israel) and transfers Milana Nenadic (Ontario, Canada) and Kennedy Sproule (Manitoba, Canada).
- Prior to Shabtai's arrival last year, the Valpo program hadn't had an international player since Sharon Karungi (Uganda) roamed the paint from 2013-15.

Sister Act
- For the third straight season, the Beacons have a pair of sisters on their roster, as freshman Nuala Connolly joins senior sister Fiona on this year's squad.
- The last two years featured identical twins Nevaeh and Saniya Jackson.
- Before that, the last set of sisters to suit up together in the Brown and Gold were the trio of Hamlet sisters: Annemarie (2013-16) overlapped with both older sister Elizabeth (2013-14) and younger sister Meredith (2015-19).