Valparaiso (0-14, 0-3 MVC)
Game #15 - January 3, 2026 - 3 p.m.
at Evansville (2-11, 0-2 MVC)
Meeks Family Fieldhouse (1,164) - Evansville, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team wraps up its Indiana road swing Saturday afternoon as it heads to the southwest corner of the state to face off with Evansville.

Previously: The Beacons scored a season-high 78 points on Thursday, its highest scoring output in MVC play in nearly two full years, but it was not enough to overcome host Indiana State as the Sycamores earned an 88-78 New Year's Day win. Fiona Connolly led the way for Valpo, matching her career high with 21 points.

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

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-14 at Valpo, 1st season; 190-82 [.699] 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: Valpo leads the all-time series over the Purple Aces 17-11, including a 12-4 advantage since joining the MVC. The Beacons swept the season series last year, winning at Evansville 66-54 and at Valpo 76-55. Notably, Valpo has won in each of its last four visits to Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

@ValpoWBB...
...at Indiana State
- The Beacons got off to a quick start offensively, scoring on each of their first three possessions, and pulled out to a 9-4 edge just over two minutes in on a triple from Allia von Schlegell.
- An 8-0 ISU run over a two-minute stretch mid-quarter turned a five-point Valpo lead into a three-point edge for the Sycamores.
- The teams traded the lead over the last few minutes of the period. A 3-pointer by Kayla Preston had Valpo up 22-21 with 20 seconds to play in the quarter, but the Sycamores got a midrange jumper right before the horn to lead 23-22 10 minutes in.
- It was a one-possession game for the first half of the second quarter, with a free throw from Autumn Dibb tying things up at 30-30 with 5:23 remaining in the half. ISU outscored the Beacons 17-5 over the second half of the period to claim a 47-35 lead at halftime.
- A late-quarter run in favor of the hosts proved vital in the third quarter as well, as after the Beacons had kept the deficit right around that 12-point mark from intermission for most of the period, ISU went on a 12-2 run over three minutes to push out to a 21-point lead – a lead which was 79-58 with 10 minutes to play.
- After giving up 79 points over the first three quarters, Valpo limited ISU to just nine points in the fourth quarter, holding the Sycamores to 3-of-18 shooting, in an attempt to rally. The Beacons got to within 10 late on a 3-pointer from Mikayla Huffine, but were unable to get any closer.
- The 78 points marked a season high for the Beacons, whose previous best this season was a 69-point effort against SIUE.
- The Beacons connected on a season-high 11 3-pointers and hit at a 40.7% clip from the 3-point line, also a season best.
- Valpo was strong at the foul line as well, going 23-for-29 (79.3%) at the charity stripe — also a season best for free throws made.
- For the third straight game, Kayla Sullivan posted a season best in the scoring column, finishing with 14 points. The junior, who made her first start of the season, also matched her season high with six rebounds.
- Fiona Connolly led all players with 21 points, tying her career high set earlier this season against Radford. The senior went 5-of-7 from the floor, including a career-best three 3-pointers, and shattered her career best by making eight free throws (8-for-11).
- von Schlegell finished one off her season high with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, a mark which included three triples to match her season best.
- Huffine filled out the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and seven assists — the six rebounds matched her career best, while the seven assists were the second-highest output of her career in that category.

...versus UNI
- It was a quick start for the Beacons, as Allia von Schlegell hit a 3-pointer and Fiona Connolly drove for a layup on Valpo's first two possessions to give it an early 5-0 lead.
- UNI responded with a 14-2 run over the next three-plus minutes to pull in front.
- Mikayla Huffine stemmed the tide with a triple, and when Kennedy Sproule knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:43 remaining in the quarter, the Beacons were within 21-17.
- The Panthers hit two triples of their own late in the period to lead 27-17 after 10 minutes.
- A 3-pointer from Mor Shabtai was part of a four-point spurt to start the second quarter for Valpo, bringing it within 27-21.
- The margin was still single digits after a free throw by Kayla Sullivan made it 31-22 with 7:37 to play in the first half, before a 13-3 run over the next four-plus minutes from the Panthers pushed their lead to 19.
- UNI was up 47-30 at intermission.
- Connolly scored on the opening possession of the second half to make it a 15-point game, but that proved to be as close as Valpo got in the second half. The Panthers held a 70-46 advantage at the end of the third quarter and scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to pull away.
- After missing Valpo's nonconference finale due to injury, Connolly returned to action and paced the Beacons with 10 points — her ninth double-digit scoring output this season.
- Two other Beacons came off the bench to match their season best in the scoring department. Kayla Preston hit 3-of-5 from the floor for seven points, while Sullivan scored six points and also set a season high with six rebounds.
- Kamryn Winch approached a double-double off the bench as well, posting eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.
- Valpo shot 32.2% from the floor and was 5-of-21 from 3-point range while committing 21 turnovers. The Panthers hit 15-of-31 from deep — the most 3-pointers by a Valpo opponent since Oakland hit 16 Dec. 31, 2016.
- The Beacons did limit the Panthers to 38.5% shooting (15-of-39) inside the 3-point line.

...looking ahead
- Valpo returns home to the ARC Thursday, Jan. 8 as it hosts Bradley.
- It's then a quick turnaround for the Beacons, who return to the road for a Saturday afternoon game at Southern Illinois.

...away from home
- Saturday's game is the second 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 0-7 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.

@UEAthletics_WBB
- Evansville enters Saturday's game at 2-11 overall this year and sits at 0-2 in MVC play.
- The Purple Aces have dropped their last six games, most recently a 90-80 setback versus Murray State this past Monday.
- Camryn Runner leads Evansville, scoring 16.5 points/game and dishing out 4.6 assists/game.

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.

Hoosier State Crown
- Valpo looks to defend the unofficial Hoosier State crown among the Valley's three Indiana-based schools this season.
- The Beacons posted a perfect 4-0 record against Indiana State and Evansville last year, sweeping the road trip and the homestand versus the Sycamores and the Purple Aces.
- Since Valpo joined the MVC, it has posted the best record against its in-state foes three times (2019-20, 4-0; 2021-22, 3-1; 2024-25, 4-0). Indiana State has done so three times (2017-18, 4-0; 2018-19, 3-1; 2023-24, 4-0) and Evansville once (2022-23, 3-1), while all three teams went .500 against the other two in 2020-21.
- The road has been mighty kind for Valpo against ISU and Evansville since joining the Valley, as it holds a 10-5 record at the Hulman Center and Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Fiona Leads the Way
- Senior Fiona Connolly returned from missing the CMU game due to injury to lead the Beacons in scoring in each of the last two games - 10 points versus UNI, and a game-high 21 points at Indiana State to tie her career high.
- Connolly has been a consistent offensive presence for Valpo this season, scoring in double figures in 10 of her 13 appearances and being held under eight points just once.
- Connolly is averaging a team-best 12.8 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 4.1 rebounds/game this season after posting 2.2 boards/game last year.

All For Allia
- Freshman Allia von Schlegell has enjoyed a strong start to her collegiate career, a start which continued with a 17-point effort last time out at Indiana State.
- von Schlegell set and then matched her career high in back-to-back games with 18 points against SIUE and at Western Michigan, leading all players in scoring in both games.
- 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.

KK Comes to Play
- Junior Kayla Sullivan has seen more playing time over the past few games and has taken full advantage.
- Over the season's first 11 games, Sullivan played just 77 minutes - including three DNPs - and tallied just 11 points and 12 rebounds.
- In the nonconference finale against Central Michigan, Sullivan played 15 minutes and scored six points, and followed with six points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of action against UNI.
- Last time out at Indiana State, she started for the first time and played 31 minutes, exploding for 14 points and six rebounds.

Shifting Starters
- With Mor Shabtai missing the Indiana State game due to injury, Valpo used its seventh different starting lineup of the season, as Kayla Sullivan earned her first start as a Beacon and Kamryn Winch also returned to the starting five.
- Shabtai had started 34 consecutive games dating back to last season prior to missing out on Thursday.
- Nine different players have been a part of at least one starting five this year, with only one - Mikayla Huffine - starting every game.

All-Tournament Honoree
- Fiona Connolly represented Valpo on the All-Tournament Team at the CSU Invitational, as she averaged 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game over the Beacons' trio of games in Cleveland.
- Connolly opened with her career-high 21 points and also tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds against Radford.
- She tied for game-high honors with 14 points versus Cleveland State, and closed the tournament with nine points and seven boards against St. Bonaventure.

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).