Valparaiso (0-0, 0-0 MVC)
Game #1 - Nov. 3, 2026 - 5:30 p.m. CT
at RV/RV Michigan State (0-0, 0-0 B1G)
Breslin Center (14,759) - East Lansing, Mich.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team kicks off the 2026-27 regular season on the road with a challenging opening test Tuesday evening, facing a Michigan State team which is receiving votes in both national top-25 polls.

Previously: The Beacons earned an 82-43 win over Judson in their lone open exhibition game, while also playing closed scrimmages against Northern Kentucky and Northern Illinois.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: BTN+
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) - Eli Conklin and Paul Oren
Streaming Audio: TuneIn app
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-32 at Valpo, 2nd season; 180-100 [.643] 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 nine seasons as a head coach. She spent the two seasons prior to her arrival at Valpo 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: Tuesday is the second all-time meeting between the two programs, with Michigan State earning an 73-62 win in East Lansing on Nov. 16, 2021. The Spartans were also receiving votes nationally in that matchup. Grace White led Valpo in that game with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and six rebounds. Valpo did actually compete in a tournament at Michigan State in December 1993, but did not face the Spartans during the event, as it lost to Charlotte and defeated South Alabama.

@ValpoWBB...
...looking back at last year
- The Beacons went 0-32 during the 2025-26 season.
- Allia von Schlegell earned a spot on the MVC All-Freshman Team, Valpo's first All-Freshman Team honoree since 2022-23 and only its third in its time in the MVC.
- Fiona Connolly averaged a team-high 12.7 points/game, a 9.2 points/game improvement in her scoring average year-over-year - the second-highest jump by a Valpo player in the last two decades.

...looking ahead
- Valpo steps foot on the court for its home opener at the ARC on Saturday, Nov. 7 when it hosts Detroit Mercy.
- The Beacons remain at home for their annual Education Day game Tuesday, Nov. 10 - an 11 a.m. tip against Culver-Stockton.

...in the MVC
- Valpo is in its 10th season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, having joined the Valley prior to the 2017-18 school year.
- The Beacons were picked outside of the top-six of the MVC preeason poll, as the Valley released only the top six selections.
- For the first time, the MVC Women's Basketball Tournament will be part of Arch Madness in St. Louis this season.

...on the road
- Tuesday's game is the first of 17 on the road for the Beacons this season.
- Valpo faces seven road games in the nonconference slate before facing each of the other 10 MVC teams on their home court in conference play.

...in season openers
- This year's team is attempting to buck a recent trend, as Valpo has won just one of its last eight season openers.
- Last season's team dropped a 92-54 decision at DePaul in its season opener.
- The lone season-opening win in that stretch for Valpo was a 71-64 triumph at Central Michigan to kick off the 2022-23 campaign.
- This year's season opener is the earliest in the calendar in program history, coming on Nov. 3, edging out the Beacons' Nov. 4 first game each of the last two seasons.

@MSU_WBasketball
- Michigan State is receiving votes in the preseason editions of both national top-25 polls.
- The Spartans are coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which they posted a 23-9 record, including an 11-7 mark in Big Ten play, and advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.
- Kennedy Blair is MSU's leading returner, having averaged 14.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.4 steals per game a season ago. Blair was recently named to the preseason watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the top point guard in D-I women's basketball.

A B1G Test
- Valpo faces its first of two matchups with Big Ten teams in this season's nonconference schedule, as the Beacons will host Wisconsin in December.
- Tuesday's game is Valpo's first against a Big Ten opponent since playing at Purdue Dec. 3, 2023.
- Valpo's last wins over Big Ten opponents came in December of 2020, when it won at Illinois (62-59) and at Purdue (52-47) in a five-day span - it was nearly three wins against the Big Ten that season, as Valpo took Wisconsin to overtime before dropping a tight decision.

Who's Back
- The Beacons return six players from last season's roster, but only three who saw action.
- Allia von Schlegell and Autumn Dibb both saw action in all 32 games, with von Schlegell starting 25 times and Dibb starting on three occasions.
- Isabella Anderson appeared in 20 games off the bench.
- Maci Rhoades, Raeven Raye-Redmond and Nuala Connolly are all back at Valpo this season after sitting out last season due to injury.

Who's New
- Valpo adds eight newcomers to its roster for the 2025-26 season - six transfers, four of whom have D-I experience, and two true freshmen.
- Maddie Vejsicky is in her final season of eligibility after spending the last two years at Akron, previously playing at San Diego and Virginia Tech.
- Osadebamwen Igbimedion Omoruyi comes to Valpo after playing two seasons at UTEP.
- Hillary Offing spent the last two years at Purdue Fort Wayne, sitting out the first year, after playing her first collegiate season at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
- Kylee Norkus spent two seasons at Evansville.
- Constanza Aravena played her first season of collegiate basketball at Miami Dade College, a junior college.
- Denza Allen signed with Bowling Green out of high school, but departed the school without competing last year.
- Dani Guedet comes to Valpo as a true freshman from Washington, Ill., while Jana Nogués hails from a few miles further away, as the freshman lives in Barcelona, Spain.

International Flavor
- For the second straight season, the Beacons feature a trio of international players on their roster, but all three are new to the team this season.
- Osadebamwen Igbimedion Omoruyi and Jana Nogués are both from Spain, while Constanza Aravena is from Chile.
- It is the first time the program has had a player from either Spain or Chile on its roster.
- In fact, Aravena is the first South American player in program history.
- The pair of Spaniards are the first players to suit up for Valpo from Europe since Ieva Jansone (2011-13) came from Latvia.
- Prior to last year, the 2006-07 season was the last time Valpo had featured three international players on its roster.

Injury Returns
- Three players on this year's team are back with the Beacons after sitting out the entirety of last season due to injury.
- Raeven Raye-Redmond was Valpo's starting point guard when she suffered an injury versus Detroit Mercy on Dec. 21, 2024 and has not played since.
- Maci Rhoades missed Valpo's 2025 MVC Tournament game against Bradley with an injury which eventually sidelined her for the entirety of the 2025-26 season.
- Nuala Connolly is still looking to make her collegiate debut after missing out due to injury in her first season on campus.
- This is the first time since 2019-20 that Valpo has had players return to action after missing an entire season due to injury - both Marlee Profitt and Caitlin Morrison made their comebacks that year after missing the 2018-19 campaign.

Big Post Presence
- Osadebamwen Igbimedion Omoruyi brings her 6-4 frame to Union Street this season, making her the tallest Valpo player in some time.
- Last year's team featured a pair of 6-3 players, but you have to go back to the 2018-19 season to find someone taller - Nicole Johanson checked in that season at 6-5.

Allia Back For More
- Sophomore Allia von Schlegell returns for her second season in the Valpo uniform after a standout freshman campaign.
- von Schlegell was an MVC All-Freshman Team selection as she averaged 11.2 points/game, second on the team and 61st nationally among freshmen.
- von Schlegell's 358 total points were third-most by a freshman in program history; notably, the rest of the top-seven on that chart ended their careers among the top-12 in program history in career scoring.
- von Schlegell ranked 15th nationally among freshmen for 3-pointers made (62), while ranking third among MVC players in 3-point percentage (.352), fifth in free throw percentage (.865) and sixth in 3-pointers/game
- von Schlegell scored in double figures 18 times, including 12 games of 15+ points - the most by a Valpo freshman since Dani Franklin had 12 such games in 2014-15.

Medal-Winning Experience
- While she's a newcomer at the collegiate level, Jana Nogués brings plenty of international experience with her.
- Most recently, Nogués was part of Spain's bronze medal team at the 2026 FIBA 3x3 U23 World Cup, where she was the tournament's youngest player at the age of 19.
- Nogués averaged 5.6 points/game and was tied for third among tournament players with 39 total points scored.
- She scored six points in the third-place clincher against Latvia, including the game's deciding basket.
- Nogués has also competed internationally in FIBA 3x3 events at the U21 and U18 levels, and played for Spanish national teams in 5-on-5 from U12 through U15.
- Nogués' most recently played 5-on-5 last season for CB Adareva in the LF Challenge, the second division of Spanish basketball.