Valparaiso (0-17, 0-6 MVC)
Game #18 - January 15, 2026 - 6:30 p.m.
at Illinois State (9-8, 3-3 MVC)
CEFCU Arena (10,000) - Normal, Ill.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team hits the road once again this week, returning to the state of Illinois for a Thursday night contest at Illinois State.

Previously: The Beacons fell Saturday afternoon at Southern Illinois, 97-59. Allia von Schlegell paced Valpo with 15 points.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-17 at Valpo, 1st season; 180-85 [.679] overall, 9th season): Courtney Boyd was named the ninth head coach of the Valparaiso University women's basketball program on April 4, 2025. A national championship-winning head coach and player, an NAIA National Coach of the Year, and a two-time conference Coach of the Year, Boyd has won 20 or more games in seven of her first eight seasons as a head coach. She spent the last two seasons at the helm of the Quincy University program after six seasons as head coach at Clarke University, leading the latter program to the NAIA national title in 2022-23.

Series Notes: Illinois State leads the all-time series over Valpo, 15-4, including wins in each of the last eight matchups. Last season, the Redbirds swept the season series by scores of 79-65 at Valpo and 90-68 at Illinois State.

@ValpoWBB...
...at SIU
- A mid-range jumper from Allia von Schlegell with 2:45 to play in the first quarter had the Beacons within 14-11 before SIU closed the period on a 13-2 run —including six points in the final minute — to lead 27-13 at the end of the first.
- After the Salukis opened the second quarter on a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 19, Valpo battled back to within 12 with four minutes to play in the first half on a layup from Kayla Preston.
- SIU outscored the Beacons 13-7 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 52-34 lead into halftime.
- Valpo scored three points on its first possession of the third quarter before SIU went on a 18-3 run over the next six-plus minutes to pull away. The Salukis led 74-44 with 10 minutes to play.
- von Schlegell led the Beacons with 15 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 day from the foul line. It was the freshman's ninth time scoring in double figures this season and the sixth time she has paced Valpo in that department.
- von Schlegell was the lone Valpo player in double digits, as its next leading scorer was Fiona Connolly with nine points.
- Milana Nenadic and Kayla Sullivan tied for team-high honors with seven rebounds apiece. For Sullivan, that marked a season high.
- Preston blocked a pair of shots as the Beacons tied their season best with six rejections.
- Valpo shot 36.2% from the floor for the game, while SIU hit at a 50.7% clip. The Beacons hit just 2-for-19 from 3-point range.

...versus Bradley
- It was a slow start for the Beacons, who scored just four first-quarter points. The Valpo defense did force six Bradley turnovers in the opening period, as the Braves' lead was just 14-4 through 10 minutes.
- Valpo was still within 13 at 24-11 with 6:37 to play in the second quarter after a 3-pointer from Kayla Preston, but Bradley scored nine in a row to pull away past the midway point of the period.
- Bradley ended up connecting on six triples in the second quarter and led 40-15 at intermission.
- The Beacons shot 6-of-9 from the floor in the third quarter, but eight turnovers prevented them from putting a dent into the Bradley advantage, as the Braves led 65-32 with 10 minutes remaining.
- Preston finished with 15 points, her career best against a D-I opponent, on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line. The junior's six rebounds were a team high and a career best as well.
- Preston was the lone Beacon to finish in double figures, as Valpo's next leading scorer was Fiona Connolly, who finished with nine points and five rebounds.
0 Mikayla Huffine tied her career best with three steals.
- Valpo shot at a 32.1% clip from the floor and was just 2-of-16 from 3-point range, tying its season low for made 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Bradley shot 48.4% and was 11-of-28 from deep.
- The Beacons did grab 11 offensive rebounds and turned them into 15 second-chance points, while limiting Bradley to just five second-chance points on 12 offensive boards. Valpo also narrowly trailed Bradley in points in the paint, 30-28.

...looking ahead
- The Beacons return home to the ARC on Sunday afternoon as they host Drake.
- Valpo returns to central Illinois next Friday, Jan. 23 as it makes the trip to Bradley.

...away from home
- Saturday's game is the fourth of 10 road games in MVC play for the Beacons, who played six true road games as well in the nonconference slate.
- Valpo is currently 0-8 in true road games.
- Last season's squad posted a 3-11 mark in true road games.

....and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo is in its ninth season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Valpo was picked outside the top-four of the MVC preseason poll, as the Valley released only the top four selections.
- The Valley finished last season ranked seventh in the NET, matching the conference's highest NET/RPI ranking in Valpo's time as an MVC member (2020-21).

...looking back at last year
- Valpo finished last season with a 13-19 overall record and went 9-11 in MVC play to finish in eighth place.
- Among the Beacons' 13 victories were a thrilling rally from a 20-point deficit for a home win over Drake which entered the game ranked 69th in NET, the program's highest-ranked win since a win over #54 UNI in 2021-22.
- Leah Earnest was tabbed a First Team All-MVC honoree as she concluded a decorated career that saw her finish first in program history in career rebounds and third in career scoring.
- The 2024-25 Beacons hit 245 3-pointers, third-most in a single season in program history, and tallied 314 steals, seventh on the program's single-season chart and the most since 2001-02.

@RedbirdWBB
- Illinois State enters Thursday's game at 9-8 overall and with a 3-3 mark in Valley play.
- The Redbirds, who are closing a three-game homestand, have won each of its first two of the homestand, defeating UIC (75-61) and Evansville (82-71).
- Reigning MVC Player of the Week Doneelah Washington paces Illinois State with 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while three other Redbird regulars also average double figures.

A Split Trip
- With 11 teams in the MVC this season, it has created some shifts in scheduling - one of which presents itself in this game.
- For the first time since joining the Valley, Valpo will play road games at Illinois State and at Bradley in separate trips, eight days apart.
- Valpo did travel to Normal without also playing in Peoria during the COVID-affected 2020-21 campaign, playing two road games at Illinois State - Valpo later hosted Bradley for that pair of games.
- At the end of the day, it means double the amount of time for the Beacons to enjoy I-55!

Rejections
- Valpo matched its season high last time out, as it recorded six blocked shots in its game at Southern Illinois.
- The six rejections bumped the Beacons' season average to 3.35/game, good for third in the Valley.
- Meanwhile, on the other end, Valpo had none of its 58 field goal attempts swatted away - the first time this season the Beacons' opponent has not recorded a blocked shot.
- Thanks to Her Hoop Stats, we know that marked the first time Valpo had blocked at least six shots in a game without getting blocked once on the offensive end since tallying six rejections on Jan. 18, 2019 against Indiana State.

Taking Advantage of Second Chances
- Valpo enjoyed its best game in terms of converting offensive rebounds last Thursday not just of this season, but in quite some time.
- The Beacons turned 11 offensive rebounds into 15 points against Bradley, their highest total of second-chance points since tallying 17 second-chance points at Morehead State Nov. 16, 2018.
- Valpo also held Bradley to just five second-chance points - its +10 advantage in the category was its best since being +11 at Evansville Feb. 25, 2018.
- The Beacons held the advantage in second-chance points for just the second time this season (UIC, 9-8).
- Last time out, Valpo nearly matched that mark, as it turned 11 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points at Southern Illinois.

Fiona Leads the Way
- Senior Fiona Connolly has been a consistent offensive presence for Valpo this season, scoring in double figures in 11 of her 16 appearances and being held under eight points just once.
- Connolly is averaging a team-best 12.3 points/game this season, over triple her scoring average of 3.5 points/game last year.
- She has also nearly doubled her production on the boards, averaging 3.9 rebounds/game this season after posting 2.2 boards/game last year.

Allia Heats Up
- Freshman Allia von Schlegell has been on a tear in the scoring department recently.
- von Schlegell has scored in double figures six times in Valpo's last eight games, averaging 13.9 points/game over that stretch.
- Included in the recent run is a 17-point effort at Indiana State; back-to-back 18-point games versus SIUE and at Western Michigan; and a game-high and season-best 19 points at Evansville.
- von Schlegell currently ranks third among MVC freshmen in scoring (9.6 points/game) and first in 3-pointers made (29).

Nonconference Scoring
- von Schlegell scored in double figures six times in nonconference action, among the best in program history in terms of double-digit scoring outputs by a freshman in nonconference games since Valpo joined the North Star Conference for the 1987-88 season:
Dani Franklin, 2014-15, 11
Meredith Hamlet, 2015-16, 8
Tabitha Gerardot, 2010-11, 8
Sarrah Stricklett, 1996-97, at least 7 (2 boxes unavailable)
Debbie Bolen, 1989-90, at least 7 (1 box unavailable)
Jeanette Gray, 1999-2000, 7
Allia von Schlegell, 2025-26, 6
Stephanie Greer, 1987-88, 6
Amy Cole, 1987-88, 6
Linda Batz, 1987-88, 6
Ali Saunders, 2022-23, 5
Jamie Gutowski, 2002-03, 5
- Notably, the six players ahead of von Schlegell on that list all went on to earn All-Freshman/Newcomer Team honors and closed their time at Valpo among the top-12 in program history in career scoring.

Notables from Indiana State
- The 78 points were not only a season high for the Beacons, but it was Valpo's highest-scoring game since scoring 79 at Milwaukee Nov. 14, 2024.
- It was the program's highest-scoring game in Valley play since scoring 79 versus Bradley Jan. 21, 2024.
- Fiona Connolly became the first Valpo player to score at least 21 points with no more than seven field goal attempts (5-7) since Grace White scored 23 points on seven field goal attempts against Xavier Dec. 16, 2020.
- Mikayla Huffine filled out the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and seven assists — the first Valpo player to hit those three marks in the same game since Shay Frederick posted 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists at Loyola Feb. 25, 2022.
- Kayla Sullivan went 8-for-8 from the foul line — the first Valpo player to shoot 100% from the stripe with at least eight attempts since Leah Earnest went 12-for-12 at Lehigh Dec. 1, 2024.

Shifting Starters
- Valpo used its eighth different starting lineup of the season last time out at Southern Illinois, as Kayla Preston made her first collegiate start after coming off the bench in each of her previous 58 collegiate appearances.
- Ten different players have been a part of at least one starting five this year, with only one - Mikayla Huffine - starting every game.
- Mor Shabtai had started 34 consecutive games dating back to last season prior to missing the Indiana State/Evansville road trip due to injury.

The Tall and the Short
- This year's Valpo roster features recent extremes on both ends of the height spectrum.
- Mor Shabtai and Mikayla Huffine both are listed at 5-4, making them the shortest Valpo players since 5-3 Rashida Ray (2007-11).
- On the flip side, Kamryn Winch and Milana Nenadic both check in at 6-3, making them the tallest Valpo players since 6-5 Nicole Johanson (2018-19).

International Flavor
- Valpo has a trio of international players on its 2025-26 roster: sophomore Mor Shabtai (Israel) and transfers Milana Nenadic (Ontario, Canada) and Kennedy Sproule (Manitoba, Canada).
- Prior to Shabtai's arrival last year, the Valpo program hadn't had an international player since Sharon Karungi (Uganda) roamed the paint from 2013-15.

Sister Act
- For the third straight season, the Beacons have a pair of sisters on their roster, as freshman Nuala Connolly joins senior sister Fiona on this year's squad.
- The last two years featured identical twins Nevaeh and Saniya Jackson.
- Before that, the last set of sisters to suit up together in the Brown and Gold were the trio of Hamlet sisters: Annemarie (2013-16) overlapped with both older sister Elizabeth (2013-14) and younger sister Meredith (2015-19).