Valparaiso (0-10, 0-1 MVC)
Game #11 - December 14, 2025 - noon CT
at Western Michigan (2-5, 0-0 MAC)
University Arena (5,421) - Kalamazoo, Mich.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team faces its final road test of the nonconference slate Sunday afternoon, as the Beacons make the short trip to Kalamazoo, Mich. to face off with Western Michigan for the sixth straight year.

Previously: Allia von Schlegell scored a career-best 18 points to lead all scorers as five Beacons scored at least eight points, but it wasn't enough Friday evening at the ARC as visiting SIUE came away with the 76-69 victory.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-10 at Valpo, 1st season; 190-78 [.709] 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 and Western Michigan have met up 16 times on the hardwood, with this being the sixth straight season the two programs will face off. WMU holds an 11-5 advantage in the series, but it was the Beacons who came away victorious last year with a 67-54 triumph at the ARC. Leah Earnest had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way in that win, while Nevaeh Jackson (14) and Maci Rhoades (12) also scored in double figures. 

@ValpoWBB...
...versus SIUE
- The Beacons found themselves in an early hole, as the Cougars opened the game on a 10-2 run over the first four minutes.
- Valpo responded with an 11-2 run featuring points from five different players, and when Milana Nenadic hit a jumper with 2:18 to play in the opening period, the Beacons led 13-12.
- SIUE held a 15-13 edge when the clock expired on the first quarter.
- The Cougars' lead was six approaching the midway point of the second period before Allia von Schlegell and Kennedy Sproule hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, forcing SIUE to call a timeout with the score tied at 21 and 5:19 remaining in the half.
- Out of the stoppage, SIUE went on a 10-2 run over the next three-plus minutes to regain control. The Cougars' lead was 36-30 at halftime.
- The story of the third quarter was close but no cigar for the Beacons. Six separate times, Valpo cut the SIUE advantage to a one-possession game, but was never able to tie or take the lead.
- A 3-point play from Autumn Dibb and a pair of free throws from von Schlegell brought Valpo within 51-50 with 1:59 to play in the third period, but SIUE scored the final four points of the quarter to lead 55-50 with 10 minutes to play.
- Back-to-back triples for the Cougars blew a five-point lead up to 11, forcing a Valpo timeout with 6:02 remaining in the game. The Beacons battled back from as much as a 12-point deficit to get to within five late, but were unable to get any closer.
- von Schlegell finished with a game-high 18 points, outdoing her previous best of 15 from earlier this season at Milwaukee. It was her fourth double-figure scoring effort of the season.
- Fiona Connolly joined her in double figures with 13 points, hitting double digits for the seventh time this year. Connolly also dished out a team-best four assists while not committing a turnover.
- Valpo did a lot of its offensive damage at the foul line Friday, where it was a +14 over SIUE. The Beacons hit 20-of-24 from the stripe, their first time hitting at least 20 free throws while shooting at least 80% since doing so last December against Southern Illinois.
- The Beacons held the edge in the rebounding department for the third time in their last five games, finishing with a 38-33 advantage. A balanced team effort on the glass was led by six boards from Dibb.
- Valpo finished with a season-low 12 turnovers.

...versus UIC
- Valpo got off to a flying start to the game, scoring right off the opening tip as Fiona Connolly gained possession and immediately drove to the rim.
- It was the Beacons' defense which carried the day early on, holding UIC to 1-of-7 shooting and forcing two turnovers over the opening four-plus minutes as Valpo led 6-2.
- Valpo went five minutes between baskets as UIC closed the opening period on a 12-2 run to lead 14-8 after the first 10 minutes.
- After a Connolly free throw with 7:10 to play in the second quarter, the Beacons were within 18-13. But UIC scored nine in a row over the next seven minutes to push its lead into double figures.
- Connolly closed the half like she started it, scoring on a putback inside the final 10 seconds and then, after a pair of UIC free throws, banking in a 3-pointer from 25 feet out at the buzzer to bring Valpo within 29-19 at halftime.
- Mor Shabtai connected on a 3-pointer and Mikayla Huffine finished a drive on back-to-back possessions midway through the third quarter, forcing a UIC timeout with 5:19 to play in the period and its lead down to 35-26.
- The Beacons' defense limited the Flames to just two free throws the rest of the quarter, but the offense was unable to take advantage, going scoreless over that same stretch as UIC led 37-26 with 10 minutes remaining.
- UIC went on a 14-3 run over the first half of the fourth quarter to pull away.
- Shabtai set career bests across the board, smashing her previous highs of 11 points and four rebounds with team highs of 16 points and nine rebounds. She went 6-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, as she set new bests for field goals and 3-pointers made as well.
- The sophomore also drew nine fouls while not committing a foul or a turnover in her 29 minutes of action.
- The Beacons shot just 29.8% from the floor Sunday and were just 5-for-21 from 3-point range and 5-for-13 from the foul line. On the flip side, Valpo's defense held UIC to 38.1% shooting, including just 3-for-18 from 3-point range.

...looking ahead
- Valpo closes nonconference play Wednesday evening at the ARC against Central Michigan.
- The heart of the MVC slate kicks off Monday, Dec. 29 as the Beacons host UNI.

...away from home
- - The game at WMU is the last of six nonconference true road games for the Beacons, who will play 10 road games in MVC play as well.
- Valpo is currently 0-5 in true road games.
- Last season's squad posted a 3-11 mark in true road games.

....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.

@WMU_WBB
- Western Michigan enters Sunday's game with a 2-5 record, most recently earning a 58-45 win at Loyola last Sunday.
- The Broncos were picked to finish ninth in the MAC preseason poll.
- Kailey Starks paces WMU, averaging 10.7 points/game.

Matchup of First-Year Coaches
- Sunday marks the third time in nonconference play that first-year head coach Courtney Boyd will coach against a counterpart in their first year as head coach at their current school, as Kate Achter is in her first season heading the Western Michigan program.
- Achter has plenty of familiarity with Valpo, however. She guided Detroit Mercy to a double-overtime win over the Beacons at the ARC last season, while Valpo held a 7-4 edge over Achter-led Loyola teams in five seasons as MVC counterparts (don't bring up the name Shay Frederick around her!).
- Earlier this season, Boyd and Valpo faced first-year head coach Kiefer Haffey at Detroit Mercy, and DePaul head coach Jill Pizzotti coached her first game as permanent head coach against the Beacons, although she led the Blue Demons as interim head coach for the entire 2024-25 campaign.

All For Allia
- Allia von Schlegell enjoyed the highest-scoring game of her young career last time out against SIUE, leading all players with 18 points - outdoing her previous best of 15 against Milwaukee.
- The 18-point output was von Schlegell's fourth double-figure scoring effort of the season.
- With two nonconference games remaining, von Schlegell already has matched the most double-digit scoring outputs within nonconference play by a Valpo freshman since Ali Saunders scored 10+ five times in nonconference action in 2022-23.

Gimme Mor
- Sophomore guard Mor Shabtai had a career performance in the Beacons' MVC opener last Sunday against UIC.
- Shabtai, who entered the game with career highs of 11 points and four rebounds, easily outdid that as she paced Valpo with 16 points and nine rebounds.
- She went 6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, to set new bests in field goals made and 3-pointers made.
- Shabtai is just the third Valpo player in the last six seasons to post at least 16 points, nine rebounds and three made 3-pointers in a single game, joining Leah Earnest (2x) and Shay Frederick.
- Shabtai is the seventh member of this year's team whose career bests for scoring and rebounding have come in the same game (Dibb, Preston, Swedlund, Sullivan, Waytahsek, Winch).

You Again?
- Prior to the 2020-21 season, Valpo and Western Michigan had matched up just twice over the previous 23 years.
- But Sunday's matchup marks the sixth consecutive season the two programs have faced off.
- None of Valpo's other active nonconference series stretch beyond two consecutive seasons.
- The only other comparable stretch in recent program history saw Valpo take on Bowling Green in six consecutive seasons, from 2017-18 through 2022-23.

A Quick Turnaround
- It will be a mere 40 hours between the end of Valpo's home game Friday evening against SIUE and its opening tip Sunday afternoon at Western Michigan.
- The last time Valpo faced this quick of a turnaround from a home game to a road game came in December 2016, when it hosted Eastern Illinois at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 before traveling to face #1 Notre Dame the next day at noon CT.

Home Sweet Home
- After playing their first three games of the year and seven of their first eight away from home, the Beacons will enjoy their beds at home this month.
- Four of Valpo's five games in December are at the ARC, with its lone road game being Sunday's short trip to Kalamazoo to play at Western Michigan.
- Valpo will play its first two MVC games at home as part of this stretch, the first time it opens conference play with two home games since the 2020-21 season.

Winning on the Glass
- Over their three games at the CSU Invitational, the Beacons were a +5 in rebounding margin, including besting their opponent in a pair of games.
- Valpo held a 46-40 edge on the glass in the opener against Radford, and followed two days later by out-boarding Cleveland State, 41-37.
- The +6 edge against Radford was the program's best margin against a D-I opponent since finishing +10 on the glass at Bradley Feb. 15, 2024.
- It was also the first time Valpo has won the rebounding battle in consecutive games since that aforementioned Bradley game, which followed a positive effort on the glass against Evansville.
- The Beacons have won the rebounding battle in three of the last five games after Friday's 38-33 advantage on the glass against SIUE.

Career Bests
- Three Valpo players set D-I career highs in the scoring department over the Beacons' time at the CSU Invitational.
- In the tournament opener against Radford, Fiona Connolly dropped a game-high 21 points - the third time this season she has bested her career high.
- In that same game, Kennedy Sproule - who scored just three points over her first three games at Valpo - scored 11 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point line.
- In the Beacons' finale against St. Bonaventure, Kylie Waytashek easily passed her previous career best with an 18-point effort, hitting 8-of-11 from the floor. She outdid her previous high of 14, set last year against Trinity Christian, and more than doubled her previous high against a D-I opponent of seven, from earlier this season at DePaul.

All-Tournament Honoree
- Fiona Connolly represented Valpo on the All-Tournament Team at the CSU Invitational, as she averaged 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over the Beacons' trio of games in Cleveland.
- Connolly opened with her career-high 21 points and also tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds against Radford.
- She tied for game-high honors with 14 points versus Cleveland State, and closed the tournament with nine points and seven boards against St. Bonaventure.

The Tall and the Short
- This year's Valpo roster features recent extremes on both ends of the height spectrum.
- Mor Shabtai and Mikayla Huffine both are listed at 5-4, making them the shortest Valpo players since 5-3 Rashida Ray (2007-11).
- On the flip side, Kamryn Winch and Milana Nenadic both check in at 6-3, making them the tallest Valpo players since 6-5 Nicole Johanson (2018-19).

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).