Trailing by 20 points approaching the midway mark of the third quarter at the ARC Thursday evening, a lesser team than the Valpo women's basketball team might have folded. After all, the Beacons were facing a Drake squad which entered the game tied atop the MVC standings and ranked among the top-70 nationally in NET. The Beacons were facing a full-strength Drake team while playing without the two starters they've been without throughout conference play. And the Beacons had given the Bulldogs a strong shot right out of the gate before Drake reeled off a strong 20-minute stretch of basketball to take its 20-point lead.
 
But that's not in the DNA of this year's Valpo squad. The Beacons outscored Drake 39-18 over the final 15-plus minutes of the game to turn the tables on the Bulldogs, capping off a 66-65 victory with two free throws from Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) with 1.7 seconds to play. The 20-point deficit was the largest Valpo has overcome for a win in program history and is believed to tie the MVC record for largest deficit overcome.
 
How It Happened

• As they have done often this season in conference play when facing teams above them in the standings, the Beacons got off to a strong start on Thursday. Earnest had six early points and Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) five as well, and when Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) drilled a 3-pointer, Valpo's lead was 14-4 with 4:32 to play in the first quarter.
• Drake scored the next six points to close to within four. Beyer and Mor Shabtai (Tel Aviv, Israel/Tichonet) hit 3-pointers late in the opening period to help Valpo maintain a 20-15 lead at the end of 10 minutes.
• The Bulldogs opened the second quarter with the first five points to briefly level the game before baskets on back-to-back trips by Earnest and Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) put Valpo up 24-20 approaching the midway point of the period.
• Drake went on a 15-0 run to close the first half, taking a 35-24 lead into halftime.
• The Bulldogs scored the first four of the second half to extend it to a 19-point run. Rhoades hit a 3-pointer to snap the Valpo drought, but Drake responded immediately with a triple of its own to force a Valpo timeout, trailing 42-27 with 7:59 to play in the quarter.
• Drake's lead hit its apex at 47-27 with 5:48 to play in the third period. Valpo cut that lead to 53-43 at the end of the quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 16-6 over that stretch as four different Beacons hit from 3-point range.
• The lead remained right around that 10-point mark for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter before Rhoades cut a little more into it with a triple with 6:24 to play to make it a 59-53 game.
• Two minutes later, it was Beyer again connecting from deep to bring Valpo within 61-56. The Bulldogs hit a 3-pointer on their next offensive possession to push their lead back to eight under the four-minute mark, but at that point, nobody knew Drake would score just one point the rest of the way.
• Valpo's comeback from there began innocuously enough, as Earnest split four free throws to cut the deficit to six. The graduate student got to the line again with 1:41 remaining and hit both this time, making it a 64-60 game.
• The Beacons got a stop on the defensive end and immediately turned it into points thanks to the sophomore connection. Jackson grabbed the rebound and whipped it ahead on the break to Layla Gold (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), who finished at the rim with 1:16 to play to bring Valpo within two.
• Valpo's defense got another stop and Gold was fouled on the offensive end with 27 seconds remaining. The sophomore calmly hit both, tying the game for the first time since the second quarter.
• With the shot clock off, Drake was looking to run the game clock down and did so nearly all the way before the Beacons were called for a foul in a scramble with 2.9 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs split their pair of free throws to take a one-point lead.
• Following a timeout, Valpo inbounded in the frontcourt and got the ball to Earnest, who was fouled outside the 3-point arc with 1.7 seconds remaining. She calmly hit both to put the Beacons in front.
• After a timeout, Drake triggered the inbounds in the frontcourt. The Bulldogs were able to get one final look at the basket, but it was off the mark as the Beacons celebrated their biggest win of the season.

 
Inside the Game

• The rally to win from 20 points down marks the largest come-from-behind victory in program history. Valpo previously overcame a 19-point deficit to beat Ball State Dec. 29, 2012.
• It also ties the largest known come-from-behind victory by an MVC program. The most recent such game came earlier this season, as UNI overcame a 38-18 deficit to earn a 75-64 win over UIC.
• Per ESPN Analytics, Valpo had just a 0.5% chance of winning when Drake took its 47-27 lead with 5:48 to play in the third quarter. The Beacons' chance of winning was still just 1.1% with 2:06 to play.
• The win came off a Drake squad which entered the day tied atop the MVC standings and ranked 69^th nationally in NET. It is the highest-ranked opponent Valpo has knocked off since taking down a UNI squad which concluded the 2021-22 season ranked 54^th in the NET.
• The victory was just the third in program history in 21 all-time meetings against Drake and was the Beacons' first of the year when trailing at halftime (1-14).
• Dating back to its Feb. 13 win over UIC, Valpo has captured four straight wins at the ARC — its longest home winning streak since winning four straight at home over a 35-day span in early 2020.
• Over the final 3:58 of the game, after a Katie Dinnebier triple gave Drake the 64-56 lead, Valpo went on a 10-1 run, as the Bulldogs missed their final six shots from the field.
• Valpo hit at a 42.3% clip from 3-point range in the win, going 11-of-26 from deep — including a 7-of-11 mark in the second half. It was the eighth time this season the Beacons have hit at least 10 triples and the eighth time they have connected on at least 40% of their 3-point attempts.
• Valpo also took advantage of its trips to the foul line, hitting 13-of-15 from the stripe — the 86.7% clip its second-best of the season.
• Earnest led four Valpo players in double figures with 16 points. She outright led the Beacons in all five major statistical categories, also posting seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
• Earnest sits three rebounds away from tying and four from passing Tamra Braun's program record of 870 career rebounds.
• Earnest pushed her season scoring total to 509 points in the win, good for fourth in program history.
• Jackson scored in double figures for the 22^nd time this year, finishing with 15 points. With two 3-pointers, the sophomore has 69 triples this season — tied for fifth-most in a season in program history.
• Beyer scored in double figures for the ninth time this season as she knocked down a career-best four 3-pointers for 12 points, while Rhoades tied her season high with three triples on her way to 11 points while also grabbing six rebounds.

Post-Game Press Conference - Mary Evans, Leah Earnest, Katie Beyer, Nevaeh Jackson

Next Up
Valpo (13-17, 9-10 MVC) closes the regular season on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the ARC against UNI.