It wasn't always pretty, but the Valpo women's basketball team found a way to take care of business Sunday afternoon at the ARC, grinding out a 73-68 victory over Indiana State — its third win in the last four games. Prior to the game, the Beacons celebrated Senior Day, honoring Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) and Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) as their collegiate careers start to wind down.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo carried a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, but early foul trouble in the final period threatened to hurt the Beacons' hopes. Indiana State was in the bonus less than 80 seconds into the quarter and scored its first six points of the period over the opening three minutes from the foul line.
• A 3-pointer by Kylie Waytashek (Royalton, Minn./Royalton) and a layup by Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) over that same stretch helped keep the Sycamores from pulling in front.
• Gold hit a 3-pointer and found Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) over the top of the press for an open layup on consecutive possessions to give Valpo breathing room with a 57-51 lead and 6:02 to play, but Indiana State came back with baskets on its next two trips to again make it a one-possession game.
• Valpo's lead was one point as the clock ticked towards two minutes remaining when the Beacons got their biggest shot of the day, a corner triple from Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) to make it a four-point lead. On the defensive end, Jackson got her hand in the passing lane to force a turnover and completed the fast break on the other end to push the lead to 65-59 with 1:41 to go.
• The Sycamores scored four points over their next two possessions around an empty Valpo trip to make it a 65-63 game with 41 seconds to play. After Mor Shabtai (Tel Aviv, Israel/Tichonet) split a pair from the foul line, the Beacons forced an ISU miss and got possession on a rebound out of bounds.
• Earnest and Jackson put the game away from the charity stripe over the final 27 seconds, combining to go 7-for-8 to keep the Sycamores from ever getting the ball back with a chance to tie.
• The opening quarter was played within a four-point range for the vast majority, until Indiana State closed the period on a 7-0 run to lead 19-14 10 minutes into the ballgame.
• The Sycamores led by as many as seven on multiple occasions in the second quarter, the last coming with 7:27 to play in the half. Valpo proceeded to rip off an 11-2 run, which included multiple 3-pointers from Rhoades, to pull in front, eventually taking a 32-30 lead into halftime.
• Indiana State scored on its opening possession of the second half, but the Beacons proceeded to hold the Sycamores scoreless for nearly five minutes as they scored eight straight points — six coming from Jackson — to pull out to a 40-32 lead halfway through the quarter.
• Indiana State battled back to tie the game twice, and Valpo's lead was just 47-45 entering the fourth quarter.

 
Inside the Game

• The win was Valpo's third victory in the last four games, with all three wins coming at the ARC.
• The Beacons secured a winning record at the ARC with Sunday's win, as they sit at 8-5 in home games with two home games to play.
• The five-point final margin was the closest of Valpo's 27 games this season.
• Sunday marked the first time this year Valpo has won a game when giving up 60 or more points. The Beacons are 10-0 this year when surrendering 59 or fewer points, and now 1-16 when giving up at least 60.
• When talking about grinding out the win, it's finding a way to win when struggling to shoot the ball. Valpo finished hitting at just a 32.9% clip from the field Sunday — its lowest shooting percentage in a win since Jan. 5, 2018 — and was just 8-of-30 from 3-point range.
• The Beacons did give themselves more opportunities with a season-best 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 70 field goal attempts — the most by a Valpo team in head coach Mary Evans' tenure. Valpo collected 46 total rebounds, also the most in Evans' tenure.
• Valpo matched its season high for a second straight game with 16 steals and forced 20 total Indiana State turnovers. The Beacons were a +4 in the turnover margin department and were a +9 (20-11) in points off turnovers.
• Six of those steals were recorded by Rhoades, surpassing his previous career best of five, set against Clemson when she played for Radford. The junior also scored in double figures for the eighth time this year with 11 points and was one off her season best with six rebounds as well.
• Jackson and Shabtai racked up three steals apiece, while Gold delivered three blocked shots.
• Jackson finished with 17 points and five rebounds to go with her three thefts, reaching double figures in scoring for the 19^th time this year.
• Celebrating her Senior Day, Beyer received her first starting assignment of the season and delivered nine points and five rebounds.
• Despite struggling shooting the ball from the field, Earnest made plenty of plays to make sure her Senior Day would be a happy one. Earnest finished with a game-high 21 points, including a 10-of-12 mark from the foul line, and a team-best 11 rebounds. It was her 12^th game with 20-plus points this year and her eighth double-double.
• The 10 free throw makes moved Earnest up a pair of Valpo's charts. She now sits third in program history with 345 career made free throws, moving past Betsy Rietema Sunday. 122 of those makes have come this year, bumping her up to sixth on that chart and leaving her just two away from cracking the top-five.
• Earnest's 11 rebounds pushed her career total to 845 boards, leaving her just 25 away from Tamra Braun's program career record. She also played her 140^th game in the Brown and Gold on Sunday, leaving her just one away from matching Caitlin Morrison's program-record mark.

 
Next Up
Valpo (11-16, 7-9 MVC) hits the road for the final time in the regular season next week, starting with a Thursday evening contest at Bradley.