Valparaiso (0-18, 0-7 MVC)
Game #19 - January 18, 2026 - 1 p.m.
Drake (4-12, 3-3 MVC)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team comes home to the ARC Sunday afternoon to take on Drake.

Previously: Milana Nenadic had the game of her life Thursday evening at Illinois State, setting a program record for field goals made in a single game by going 16-for-25 from the floor in a 34-point performance. The Beacons led the Redbirds after the opening quarter, but Illinois State took the lead for good in the second quarter in an eventual 93-74 win.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
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Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-18 at Valpo, 1st season; 180-86 [.677] 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: Drake leads the all-time series with Valpo, 18-3, but one of those Valpo wins came in the last meeting and was among the most memorable in program history. After falling to the Bulldogs by 18 points earlier in the season, the Beacons trailed at home to Drake by 20 points in the second half before storming back for an improbable 66-65 come-from-behind victory.

@ValpoWBB...
...at Illinois State
- Allia von Schlegell knocked down a pair of early 3-pointers, Fiona Connolly hit from deep and Milana Nenadic had five quick points as the Beacons used a 11-2 run to jump out to a 14-8 lead approaching the midway mark of the first quarter.
- von Schlegell hit her third triple of the game with 2:28 to play in the period, and after Illinois State moved within one late in the quarter, converted a driving layup to put the Beacons up 23-20 after 10 minutes.
- The Redbirds regained the lead early in the second quarter, but von Schlegell returned the lead to the Beacons with another triple with 7:25 to play in the half. After a quick five-point spurt from ISU, Connolly slowed the Redbird momentum with a triple.
- Valpo was within 34-33 at the halfway mark of the second period before Illinois State went on a 17-2 run, closing the half leading 51-35.
- The Redbirds started the second half with another 17-2 run to push their lead to 68-37. The Beacons outscored ISU 13-8 over the final half of the third quarter — including nine points from Nenadic — to make it a 76-50 game with 10 minutes to play.
- After winning the first quarter, Valpo closed the game by winning the fourth quarter as well, 24-17. Nenadic nearly outscored the Redbirds herself in the final period, dropping 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting over the final 10 minutes.
- Nenadic was the story of the night for the Beacons, coming off the bench to deliver 34 points on 16-of-25 shooting - breaking the program's single-game record for made field goals and moving into a tie for fifth in program history in points scored.
- Thursday marked the second time in the last three years a Beacon has dropped 30 or more at Illinois State, as Leah Earnest finished with 32 points at CEFCU Arena in 2024. No other Valpo opponent has had more than one 30-point performance against them since the start of the 2009-10 season.
- The game was bookended by big periods, as Nenadic closed with a 14-point quarter after von Schlegell had kicked off the game with 11 points in the first quarter.
- The freshman finished with 16 points, her 10th double-figure scoring effort of the year. She matched her season best for made field goals, going 6-of-9 from the floor — including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
- von Schlegell also dished out a season-high five assists, matching Mikayla Huffine for team-high honors.

...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.

...looking ahead
- Valpo returns to central Illinois Friday, Jan. 23 as it makes the trip to Bradley.
- The Beacons come back to the ARC Thursday, Jan. 29 for a Kids Day game versus Indiana State at 11 a.m.

...at the ARC
- Saturday's game is the seventh of 13 home games this season for the Beacons, as Valpo hosts three nonconference games and 10 MVC games.
- The Beacons are currently 0-6 at the ARC this year.
- Valpo posted a 9-6 record at the ARC last season, the program's first winning record at home since the 2019-20 season.

....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.

@DrakeWBB
- Drake enters Saturday's game at 4-12 overall, but sits at 3-3 in MVC play.
- The Bulldogs got out to a 3-0 start to kick off Valley action, but dropped both ends of the Belmont/Murray State road swing and most recently fell at home Friday night to Bradley, 71-64.
- Abbie Aalsma leads the Bulldogs in the scoring department with 15.9 points/game, while Grace Knutson contributes 11.8 points/game coming off the bench.

Nenadic's Night
- It was truly a night to remember last time out for Milana Nenadic last time out at Illinois State, coming off the bench to deliver 34 points on 16-of-25 shooting.
- The 16 field goals made broke the program record for baskets in a single game, as the previous mark was shared at 15 by Deb Lahti (Feb. 19, 1983 vs. Carthage) and Lyn Swanson (Feb. 8, 1986 at Carthage).
- Nenadic is tied for ninth among NCAA D-I players this season for field goals in a game.
- Nenadic's 25 field goal attempts are tied for eighth-most in a single game in Valpo history.
- The junior now shares fifth on Valpo's single-game scoring chart with Dani Franklin, who dropped 34 at Stetson Nov. 12, 2016. Those two are the only Valpo players to score at least 34 in a game since 1992.
- To reiterate, Nenadic came off the bench on Thursday — the 34 points are the most by a reserve in program history.
- She scored her 34 points Thursday while being matched up primarily against a likely All-MVC honoree in Illinois State's Doneelah Washington — notable, as Nenadic's previous career best was 20 points earlier this year while facing All-American Audi Crooks at Iowa State.

Some Good Company
- Nenadic is just the fourth MVC player in the last nine seasons with at least 16 baskets in a game, and joins a few pretty solid players in that department — Drake's Katie Dinnebier (shoutout Katie, analyst for Drake's radio broadcast Sunday), Belmont's Destinee Wells and Murray State's Katelyn Young. She is tied for 24th overall in MVC history for baskets in a game.
- You want an even bigger name? Nenadic is the first D-I player to score at least 34 points in a game without a single free throw attempt since UConn's Azzi Fudd scored 34 with zero trips to the foul line last February against St. John's.

More on the Illinois State Trip
- Led by Nenadic and von Schlegell, Valpo shot a season best from the field, hitting 32-of-72 — its 32 made baskets the program's most in a single game since Dec. 28, 2019 against Chicago State.
- The Beacons gave themselves that many chances at the basket because they committed a season-low eight turnovers, their lowest mark since committing just eight miscues against Bradley Jan. 29, 2023. Contrast that with the team's 17 assists, their second-best mark of the season.
- Despite forcing just nine turnovers, Valpo won the turnover battle for the first time this season.

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 17 appearances and being held under eight points just once.
- Connolly is averaging a team-best 12.0 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 seven times in Valpo's last nine games, averaging 14.19 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 second among MVC freshmen in scoring (9.9 points/game) and first in 3-pointers made (33).

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 at 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 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).