While the temperature was dropping outside, the Valpo women's basketball team was scorching the net inside the ARC Thursday evening early on, as the Beacons hit six first-quarter 3-pointers and then held off a push from visiting UIC to come away with a 60-51 victory. With a basket in the third quarter, Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) became just the third player in program history to score 1,500 career points.
 
How It Happened

• It took a couple minutes for the Beacons' offense to get going in the opening period, but once it did, it was like a boulder rolling downhill. Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) got things started with a 3-pointer 2:20 into the game which gave Valpo the lead for good.
• After a turnover on their next trip, the Beacons hit the trifecta of trifectas, knocking down 3-pointers on three possessions. First Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]), then Earnest and finally Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) connected from deep, the latter forcing a UIC timeout with Valpo leading 12-3 less than five minutes in.
• A steal and fast-break bucket by Jackson with 3:20 to go in the opening quarter pushed Valpo's lead to double figures for the first time.
• Jackson and Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) made back-to-back triples in the final two minutes of the first period to give Valpo a 24-7 lead at the end of one. The Beacons limited UIC to just six field goal attempts in the opening 10 minutes, forcing nine turnovers over that same stretch.
• The quarter break seemingly did nothing to cool the Beacons off, as Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]) drilled a 3-pointer on Valpo's first possession of the second quarter. The next time down the court, Gold converted a second-chance layup to push the lead to 29-7 with 8:35 to play in the half.
• The offense flipped from hot to cold after that bucket, as Valpo scored just four points the rest of the half. UIC ended the half on a 17-4 run, but it was still a 33-24 edge for the Beacons at intermission.
• The Flames cut Valpo's lead to five points twice in the third quarter, but both times Jackson was there with points to answer immediately.
• The Beacons' largest lead of the third quarter came late, as a Beyer bucket made it an 11-point advantage with 1:26 to play in the period. Valpo carried a 47-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
• A 3-pointer from Mor Shabtai (Tel Aviv, Israel/Tichonet) which was originally ruled to have beaten the shot clock was reviewed and overturned at the media timeout with 5:27 to play, turning what had been an 11-point Valpo lead entering the stoppage into an eight-point advantage. Out of the timeout, UIC scored on each of its next two possessions, pulling with 50-46 — as close as the Flames had been since the opening minutes.
• The Beacon defense got stops on each of UIC's next four trips, and a drive and finish from Earnest with 2:10 to play gave Valpo a little more breathing room.
• UIC scored with 1:16 remaining to make it a five-point game at 53-48.
• On the ensuing offensive possession, a Flame foul led to an inbounds from the sideline. Connolly took the inbounds pass and found herself with room to penetrate the middle. With the defense collapsing into the paint, Connolly kicked to Beyer in the right corner and the senior coolly drilled a 3-pointer with 58 seconds to play.
• UIC hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play, again making it a five-point game. The Flames chose to play defense instead of fouling to extend the game, and Rhoades made them pay, as with the shot clock run nearly all the way down, Rhoades drove for an inside effort. She missed the initial shot, but got her own rebound and went back up with it for a layup which put the game away.

 
Inside the Game

• The win snapped a three-game winning streak for UIC in the series, while it was just the second time the Beacons have prevailed over the Flames in eight attempts since UIC joined the Valley.
• The result was the reverse of the first meeting of the year, when UIC downed the Beacons in Chicago, 60-45. It was the program's largest shift from the first meeting of the season to the second meeting since the 2021-22 team fell to Indiana State by 20 the first time out before winning by five the second time around.
• Valpo improved to 9-0 this year when holding its opponent under 60 points. The 51 points marked UIC's lowest output of the season.
• A basket by Earnest with 5:54 to play in the third quarter marked the 1,500^th point of her career. It also moved her past Sarrah Stricklett for third in program history in career scoring.
• Earnest ended the night with a team-best 15 points, pushing her career total to 1,506 points. Second place on Valpo's all-time chart might take some doing to reach, as Dani Franklin currently resides in that spot with 1,721 points.
• Earnest also registered her seventh double-double of the campaign as she led all players with a season-best 13 rebounds. She was one off her season high as well with a game-high five assists.
• Earnest is the only MVC player this season to reach 15 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in the same game. The last MVC player to do so? Also Earnest, last season in the home win over Bradley. The last MVC player to have a line like that who isn't named Leah Earnest was Missouri State's Kennedy Taylor on Feb. 4, 2023.
• Earnest was one of three Beacons to score in double figures Thursday. Jackson hit the 10-point mark for the 16^th time this season with a 14-point night, while Beyer had her seventh double-digit output of the season with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• Rhoades nearly joined the aforementioned trio, posting nine points and six rebounds — the latter one shy of her career best.
• Valpo cooled off from the 3-point line after the opening 10-plus minutes, as after hitting 7-of-9 to open the game, the Beacons were just 1-of-14 from deep the rest of the night. Valpo was solid inside throughout, however, finishing with a 46% overall clip from the floor as it hit 15-of-27 from 2-point range.
• The Beacons also committed just 14 turnovers Thursday night, their lowest mark in the last seven games.
• Valpo limited UIC to 34.5% shooting from the floor. The Flames went just 2-for-17 from deep, the worst mark by a Valpo opponent since Southern Illinois hit just 1-of-14 from 3-point range in the Valley opener.

Post-Game Press Conference - Mary Evans, Leah Earnest, Katie Beyer, Maci Rhoades
 
Next Up
Valpo (9-15, 5-8 MVC) hits the road for its lone game of the year against Missouri State and its final trip to Springfield, Mo. with the Lady Bears as a member of the MVC. The game tips Sunday at 2 p.m.