Valparaiso (8-14, 4-7 MVC)
Game #23 - February 9, 2025 - 1 p.m.
Murray State (14-6, 8-3 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team looks to bounce back from a Friday night defeat when it returns to the court on Sunday to host Murray State. This is just the second time in program history the Beacons will welcome the Racers to the ARC.

Previously: Valpo was unable to keep pace with MVC leader Belmont Friday evening in the Beacons' return home to the ARC, as the visiting Bruins pulled away in the second half to a 69-41 victory.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
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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 68-130. 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: It's a brief series between the Beacons and the Racers, as the two programs did not meet prior to Murray State joining the MVC. The Racers have claimed victories in all four meetings, including an 82-45 win in Murray last month in the first meeting of the season. Valpo led after the first quarter of that contest before MSU pulled away. Nevaeh Jackson paced the Beacons with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, and pulled down five rebounds as well.

@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.

...versus Belmont
- Belmont led 10-6 just past the halfway mark of the opening period before the Beacons held the Bruins scoreless for nearly four minutes. Baskets by Katie Beyer, Leah Earnest and Nevaeh Jackson during that stretch gave Valpo a 12-10 advantage.
- The Bruins hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute of the first quarter to lead 16-12 10 minutes in.
- Belmont's lead reached double figures for the first time halfway through the second quarter and the Bruins held a 34-25 lead at halftime.
- Belmont scored the first six points of the third quarter to pull out to a 15-point lead. Five points from Fiona Connolly brought Valpo back to within 42-32 with 4:20 to play in the quarter, but the Bruins went on a 12-3 spurt to end the period and lead 54-35 with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons were able to connect on just one field goal in the fourth quarter as Belmont pulled away for the final margin.
- Valpo's 41 points were a season low. The Beacons shot just 26.9% from the field, were just 4-for-25 from 3-point range and committed 21 turnovers which Belmont turned into 23 points.
- Beyer and Earnest tied for team-high honors with eight points. It marks the first time in Beyer's career she has held or shared the team scoring lead.
- No Beacon reached double figures in the scoring column for the first time since Dec. 19, 2023 against Bethune-Cookman.
- Connolly finished with seven points and five rebounds, one off her career best.

...at Evansville
- It was a slow start offensively for the Beacons Saturday, who connected on just two shots from the field in the opening quarter. Valpo had a stretch where it didn't score for over six minutes, during which time Evansville went on a 9-0 run on its way to a 14-10 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
- The Beacons tightened the screws on the defensive end in the second quarter, allowing the Purple Aces to go just 1-for-10 from the field and forcing eight turnovers. A 3-pointer three minutes into the period accounted for Evansville's lone points of the quarter.
- While Valpo scored just 11 points itself in the second period, that proved enough to take the lead. Leah Earnest converted inside with 3:59 to play in the opening half to give the Beacons the lead for good, and Valpo's advantage was 21-17 at intermission.
- The plot flipped in the third quarter, as both teams shot better than 50% from the floor and outscored their respective point totals from the first half.
- Valpo's lead got down to one point twice in the third period, but both times the Beacons held the Purple Aces from gaining the advantage. When the dust settled, both teams had put 22 points on the board for the quarter and Valpo's lead was 43-39 with 10 minutes to play.
- A bucket from Katie Beyer and a 3-pointer from Layla Gold accounted for a mini 5-0 spurt which pushed Valpo's lead to nine points — its largest of the game to that point. Evansville countered immediately with a 3-pointer, but Maci Rhoades answered on Valpo's next trip with a triple of her own to make it 53-44 with 5:53 to play.
- Evansville was within seven as the clock ticked under three minutes before Nevaeh Jackson hit from deep to push the Beacons' lead to double digits. Two possessions later, Earnest drilled a dagger 3-pointer to secure the win.
- Valpo swept the Indiana State/Evansville road trip for the fourth time since joining the MVC, having previously done so in 2019-20, 2021-22 and 2022-23.
- Valpo forced 28 Evansville turnovers, one shy of a season high for a Valpo opponent, and was a +13 in the turnover margin department. 15 of those miscues were Beacon steals, tying a season high and the 11th time this year they have racked up at least 10 steals. All five of Valpo's starters recorded at least two thefts.
- The Beacons also did a great job keeping UE off the foul line, as the Purple Aces were just 4-for-4 at the charity stripe versus Valpo's 17-for-21 mark. The four free throw attempts were the fewest by a Valpo opponent since Miami (Ohio) attempted four free throws Nov. 10, 2021.
- Earnest battled through a rough shooting night to score 22 points, her ninth 20-point game of the season. She secured her sixth double-double of the year with a game-high 12 rebounds and also led all players with five assists.
- Jackson matched her high-scoring performance in MVC play to date this year as she tallied 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Rhoades scored in double figures for the second straight game with a 10-point effort.

...looking ahead
- The Beacons take on travel partner UIC Thursday evening at the ARC in their third consecutive home game.
- Valpo hits the road after that, making the long journey to Springfield, Mo. for a conference game for the final time as it visits Missouri State.

...at the ARC
- Sunday's game is the tenth of 15 home games this season for the Beacons, as Valpo hosted five nonconference games in addition to its 10 MVC home games.
- Valpo is 5-4 at the ARC this season.

@RacersWBB
- Murray State comes into Sunday's game with a 14-6 overall record and an 8-3 mark in Valley play.
- The Racers have dropped their last two games, however, as they fell at Belmont last Saturday and came up short at UIC Thursday evening.
- Katelyn Young leads all Valley players as she averages 20.6 points/game. She gets plenty of help in the scoring department for a Racers squad which posts 87.9 points/game, however, as Halli Poock (16.2), Haven Ford (15.4) and Ava Learn (13.6) all average in double figures as well.

Tough Tests
- This weekend not only brings the teams currently in first place and tied for third place in the Valley to the ARC, it also pits Valpo against the two teams with the best NET ratings in the Valley.
- Prior to Thursday's games, Belmont sat at 55 in the NET, while Murray State was at 57.
- In all, five MVC teams currently sit within the top-100 of the NET.

Oh Wow, a Homestand!
- For the first and only time this year, Valpo is in the midst of three consecutive games at home, as they played Belmont Friday and host Murray State Sunday before facing UIC next Thursday.
- In all, five of the Beacons' next six games are at the ARC, and they close the season with seven of their final 10 games at home.
- This comes after the just-concluded stretch during which Valpo was on the road for four out of five weekends.

Looking to the Rim
- While the 3-point shot is still a big part of the Beacons' offensive attack, the numbers show Valpo has been more intentional about getting shots at the basket this season.
- Through their first 10 MVC games, the Beacons have attempted 22.1 3-pointers per game, which accounts for just 42.0% of their field goal attempts.
- Both marks are on pace to be the lowest within MVC play in Mary Evans' seven seasons at the helm - the 2022-23 team attempted 22.5 3-pointers/game in conference, while the 2019-20 team had 44.6% of its attempts from deep in Valley play.
- Notably, this year's team is also on pace to be the first under Evans to attempt fewer 3-pointers than its opponents in conference - in fact, Valpo has not attempted more triples than its opponent since the Illinois State game Jan. 17.

Unique Lines
- Leah Earnest posted a stat line in last 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.
- While her performance last Saturday wasn't quite as unique, Earnest did post 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in the Evansville win - there have been only four games in the last 15 years where a Valpo player has totaled at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Earnest owns two of those, as she did the same to Bradley at the ARC last season.
- Elsewhere against the Purple Aces, Mor Shabtai had a strong line with four assists, four steals and no turnovers. Layla Gold posted a similar stat line earlier this season in the win over Western Michigan, but only two other Valpo players have done so in the last 15 years.

Winning With Defense
- Strong defensive efforts have been a common thread in the Beacons' victories this season, and their last three wins over Bradley, Indiana State and Evansville have been no different.
- Valpo limited both Bradley and Evansville to 17 first-half points apiece in those victories - 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.
- The Braves scored in single digits in each of the first two quarters, while the Purple Aces hit just one field goal in a three-point second quarter - the lowest-scoring quarter by a Valpo opponent since it held Indiana State scoreless in the second period Feb. 8, 2020.
- 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.
- Valpo wasn't too far off either of those marks in the win at Indiana State, as the Beacons held the Sycamores to 21 first-half points and ISU shot just 33.3% for the game.
- 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 8-0; when Valpo's opponent scores at least 60 points, the Beacons are 0-14.

Forcing Miscues
- The Beacons rank as the MVC's best at forcing miscues, averaging 19.9 turnovers forced/game.
- The Beacons have forced more turnovers than they've committed in 14 of 22 games.
- Valpo also leads the MVC with 9.7 steals/game and has tallied double-figure steals in 11 games this year.
- Valpo has forced at least 20 turnovers in nine games so far, highlighted by 29 forced turnovers against Detroit Mercy and 28 in the win at Evansville.
- The Beacons have racked up a season-best 15 steals in three of their victories, reaching the mark in wins over Goshen, Western Michigan and Evansville.
- 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 fourth all-time at Valpo with 1,470 career points.
- With free throws late in the fourth quarter at Evansville, Earnest surpassed Jeanette Gray (1,460 points) for fourth place.
- Next up for Earnest is Sarrah Stricklett in third with 1,498 career points.
- Earnest continued her march up the career rebounding chart at UIC, moving past Stricklett into second on the program's career rebounding chart. She finished the Belmont game with 800 boards - 70 boards shy of Tamra Braun's program record of 870.
- Earnest is also second all-time at Valpo with 135 games played (6 shy of Caitlin Morrison for the program record), fourth with 322 free throws made (19 shy of third) and fourth with 527 field goals made (68 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 14 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 nine such efforts: 22 points last time out in the win at Evansville, 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting 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 Sunday's game second on the team with 12.9 points/game.
- Jackson has scored in double figures in 15 of 21 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.