It was a stellar start for the Valpo women's basketball team Sunday as the Beacons hosted their Play4Kay game at the ARC against Murray State, as Valpo led 17-3 more than eight minutes into the contest. But once the Racers got going, the Beacons found them hard to slow down, as Murray State scored 69 points over the final three quarters, pulling away for a 77-57 victory.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo kept the nation's third-highest scoring offense off the board for nearly seven minutes to start the game, as the Racers began 0-for-8 from the field with five turnovers.
• After a 9-0 start, the lead became a double-figure advantage at 13-3 on a Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) basket with 2:18 to play in the period.
• Less than a minute later, consecutive buckets by Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) pushed the lead to 17-3.
• The Racers scored the final five points of the first quarter to make it 17-8 10 minutes in, and continued their run spanning the periods with the first five points of the second quarter.
• MSU came back to tie the game at 24-24 just prior to the midway point of the period.
• Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) answered with six consecutive points to restore the lead to the Beacons. Valpo led for the remainder of the half and carried a 37-34 lead into the locker room.
• The Beacons went cold to start the second half, as they went just 1-for-12 from the field and committed eight turnovers in a five-point third quarter.
• Murray State took the lead for good 43 seconds into the second half and ended the third quarter with a 52-42 lead.
• Earnest connected on a pair of free throws on the first possession of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to eight, but the Racers went on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to pull away.

 
Inside the Game

• Valpo held Murray State, which entered the game third nationally averaging 87.9 points/game, to just 77 points — only UIC has limited the Racers to fewer points within MVC play.
• The Beacons shot 44.4% from the field Sunday, but it was a tale of two halves, as after connecting on 14-of-24 (58.3%) over the opening 20 minutes, they were just 6-of-21 (28.6%) from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
• Valpo ended the game just 2-for-12 from 3-point range. The 12 3-point attempts were the program's fewest since attempting just 12 triples Dec. 19, 2021 at Morehead State. Meanwhile, MSU went 12-for-35 from deep.
• The Beacons did enjoy the free throw line Sunday, posting a season-best free throw percentage of 88.2% (15-for-17). Valpo has hit 70% or more of its free throws in each of the last eight games, four times eclipsing 80%.
• Turnovers were a bugaboo for the Beacons, as they coughed the ball up 28 times versus 18 miscues from the Racers. MSU held a 33-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Valpo did rack up 12 steals, the 12^th time this season it has reached double digits in that department. The Beacons enjoyed a 36-22 advantage in points in the paint as well.
• Earnest finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe while also pacing Valpo with six rebounds. She was the only Beacon in double figures in scoring, however, as Beyer checked in next with eight points.
• With her 10^th game this year with 20 or more points, Earnest pushed her career total to 1,491 points, just seven shy of third place in program history.
• Beyer set a career high and Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) tied her career best as both Beacons racked up a game-high four steals.

 
Post-Game Press Conference - Mary Evans and Leah Earnest

Next Up
Valpo (8-15, 4-8 MVC) closes out its current three-game homestand on Thursday evening at the ARC when it hosts UIC at 6 p.m.