Valparaiso (0-1, 0-0 MVC)
Game #2 - Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 - 1 p.m.
Detroit Mercy (1-1, 0-0 Horizon)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valpo women's basketball team continues early-season action with its regular season home opener Saturday afternoon at the ARC, welcoming former conference rival Detroit Mercy to the ARC.

Previously: The Beacons opened the season at a Michigan State team which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and which is currently receiving votes in both national top-25 polls, falling to the Spartans by a 98-44 final.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+ - Leo Staudacher (PxP) and Renee' Turpa (Analyst)
Streaming Audio: YouTube audio
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-33 at Valpo, 2nd season; 180-101 [.641] 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: Detroit Mercy holds a 17-13 advantage in the all-time series, including an 8-6 lead in games played at the ARC. The programs matched up in Detroit last season - the Titans won that contest 78-48, pulling away in the fourth quarter after opening the game on a 21-3 run before Valpo made it a six-point game at the half. The two sides last met at the ARC in December 2024 and played 10 extra minutes, with the Titans eventually prevailing 79-71 in double overtime.

@ValpoWBB...
...at Michigan State
- A triple from Jana Nogués with three and a half minutes to play in the opening period brought the Beacons within five at 11-6. MSU answered with 10 in a row, and while Allia von Schlegell connected on a triple with a minute to play, the Spartans got the last basket of the period to own a 23-9 lead at the end of one.
- MSU outscored Valpo 24-0 in the second period to take a 47-9 lead into halftime.
- After being held scoreless in the second quarter, the Beacons came out and scored 20 in the third period, led by six from Osadebamwen Igbinedion Omoruyi Michigan State put up 36 in that quarter, though, and held an 83-29 lead with 10 minutes to play.
- The Beacons and Spartans played to a 15-15 tie in the final quarter.
- von Schlegell led Valpo with nine points and five rebounds.
- Making her collegiate debut, Nogués finished with eight points.
- The Beacons ended the game shooting 26.7% (16-for-60) from the floor versus MSU's 52.2% (36-for-69) clip. Valpo also committed 30 turnovers which the Spartans turned into 38 points.

...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
- The Beacons remain at home for their annual Education Day game  on Tuesday with an 11 a.m. tip against Culver-Stockton.
- Valpo then faces a two-game road trip next weekend, playing at Purdue Fort Wayne Friday morning ahead of a Sunday afternoon game at Toledo.

...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.

...at the ARC
- Saturday's game is the first of 15 regular season home games for the Beacons this season.
- Valpo hosts five home games in the nonconference slate, highlighted by a visit from Wisconsin, before facing each of the other 10 MVC teams at the ARC in conference play.

...in home openers
- This year's team is attempting to buck a recent trend, as Valpo has won just one of its last eight home openers.
- Last season's team took a tough loss at the ARC to open the home slate, falling 72-67 to Milwaukee in overtime.
- The lone victory in a home opener in that stretch for Valpo was a 72-65 triumph over Southern Miss in the first home contest of the 2022-23 season.
- This year's home opener is the earliest in the calendar in program history, coming on Nov. 7. The previous earliest was Nov. 9, in 2024-25 against Purdue Fort Wayne and in 2012-13 against Indiana.

@Detroit_WBB
- The Titans enter Saturday's game with a 1-1 record already this season, owning a season-opening win over Michigan-Dearborn and a loss at Illinois.
- UDM is coming off a 2025-26 season in which it finished with a 7-24 record and went 4-16 in Horizon League play.
- Paula Lopez, a transfer from Buffalo, has scored in double figures in each of the Titans' first two games, while Mercer transfer Stephanie Utomi led UDM in scoring against UM-Dearborn and Naïma Diawara paced them against Illinois.

Former Conference Foes
- Valpo's all-time series against the Titans includes a 10-year stretch where the two programs shared conference affiliation in the Horizon League (2007-17).
- Saturday's meeting is the fifth between the two programs since Valpo joined the MVC - Valpo has only faced Bowling Green and Western Michigan more often in nonconference play in that time frame.
- UDM is one of three opponents on Valpo's nonconference schedule with whom it has previously shared conference affiliation.
- Valpo and Loyola Chicago were together in the Horizon League from 2007-13 and in the MVC from 2017-22, while Valpo and Western Illinois were together in the Mid-Continent Conference from 1992-2007.

Revenge Tour
- Detroit Mercy is one of four nonconference opponents that Valpo will look to get revenge on after suffering defeats in nonconference play last season.
- The Beacons will also host South Dakota at the ARC, while traveling to SIUE and Central Michigan.

The Mitten State
- Valpo opens the season with back-to-back games against programs from the state of Michigan.
- In all, the Beacons will play four teams from Michigan in nonconference play - Michigan State, Detroit Mercy, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan.
- In all, Valpo's 12 nonconference games come against schools from seven different states.
- This is the first time since the 2021-22 season that Valpo has faced four Michigan-based teams in nonconference play.

Collegiate Debuts
- The Beacons had three players make their collegiate debuts in the season opener at Michigan State.
- Jana Nogués and Dani Guedet were both in the starting lineup as true freshmen, while Denza Allen came off the bench.
- This year is the first season since 2015-16 that Valpo has had multiple freshmen start a season opener - that year, Meredith Hamlet, Hannah Schaub and Amber Lindfors all started their respective first collegiate games at Butler.
- Add sophomore Allia von Schlegell to the mix, and this year is the first time since 2016-17 that at least three underclassmen have started a season opener for Valpo.

Valpo Debuts
- Besides the three freshmen, four other players made their Valpo debuts in Tuesday's game at Michigan State.
- Junior Osadebamwen Igbinedion Omoruyi was in the starting lineup for her first game as a Beacon.
- Coming off the bench for their first appearances at Valpo were graduate student Maddie Vejsicky, redshirt junior Hillary Offing and sophomore Constanza Aravena.

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.
- The trio combined for 26.3% of the team's minutes played and 25.5% of the points scored last season.
- 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.