Playing a morning game for the second time this week, the Valpo women's basketball team fell by a 75-64 final at Purdue Fort Wayne Friday morning.
How It Happened
- Valpo turned a tie game into a seven-point lead late in the first quarter, as a run featuring a Dani Guedet (Washington, Ill./Washington) putback, a triple by Maddie Vejsicky (New Concord, Ohio/Newark [Akron]) and a pair of free throws from Osadebamwen Igbinedion Omoruyi (Madrid, Spain/IES Ciudad de los Angeles [UTEP]) gave the Beacons a 19-12 edge with 2:06 to play in the opening period.
- The advantage was 21-15 at the end of the first quarter.
- The Mastodons scored eight points in a row in a 90-second stretch midway through the second quarter to turn a five-point Valpo lead into a three-point edge for PFW.
- Back-to-back baskets from Hillary Offing (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork [Purdue Fort Wayne]) gave Valpo the lead back, but the Mastodons answered with consecutive 3-pointers on their way to leading 37-32 at halftime.
- Valpo was still within five points as Vejsicky hit from downtown to make it 46-41 with 6:15 to play in the third quarter before PFW scored nine in a row in a four-minute span to push its lead to 14 points. The Mastodons held a 58-43 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons started the fourth quarter with six straight points, getting baskets from Denza Allen (Sunbury, Ohio/Big Walnut), Allia von Schlegell (Downers Grove, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and Igbinedion to cut the deficit to single digits with 7:36 to play.
- A 3-pointer from Allen brought Valpo to within 62-56 with 5:40 remaining, and the Beacons had a chance to make it a four or three-point game after getting a defensive stop. But a turnover led to a fast-break layup, and the Mastodons got another fast-break basket to force a Valpo timeout trailing 66-56 with 4:40 remaining. The Beacons were unable to get any closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Inside the Game
- After not scoring in double figures in her first two collegiate seasons, Igbinedion has tallied 10 or more points in each of the last three games, setting her career high Friday with a team-best 13 points while also grabbing six rebounds.
- von Schlegell was the only other Beacon to reach double figures in scoring, finishing with 11 points, while Offing scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting playing against her last program.
- Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, reaching double figures in that department for the first time in her career. She also tied her career best with a game-high four assists while committing just one turnover.
- Jana Nogués (Barcelona, Spain/Escola Sant Gervasi a Mollet del Valles) led all players with three steals.
- Valpo shot just 35.4% (23-for-65) from the field Friday and was just 5-for-25 from 3-point range, while Purdue Fort Wayne hit at a 42.6% (26-for-61) clip and was 10-for-23 from deep.
- The Beacons grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, their third time in the last 11 games dating back to last year racking up at least 17 offensive boards after previously having not done so since February 2018.
- Valpo was unable to convert those offensive boards into an advantage in second-chance points, as the Mastodons got 14 offensive boards of their own and held a 17-16 edge in second-chance points. The Beacons did lead the points in the paint battle for a third straight game (32-26).
Next Up
Valpo (1-3) faces a quick turnaround as they close out their road weekend on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT at Toledo.
