Valparaiso (0-2, 0-0 MVC)
Game #3 - Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026 - 11 a.m.
Culver-Stockton (2-3, 0-0 Heart of America)
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: Morning basketball comes to you from the ARC this Tuesday AM, as the Valpo women's basketball team hosts its annual Education Day game against Culver-Stockton at 11 a.m.

Previously: The Beacons held a six-point lead with just over four minutes to play Saturday afternoon in their home opener at the ARC, but visiting Detroit Mercy outscored Valpo 15-5 down the stretch to emerge 67-63 victors. Hillary Offing led four Valpo players in double figures with 17 points.

Following Valpo Basketball: Video: ESPN+ - Brian Jennings (PxP) and Renee' Turpa (Analyst)
Radio: WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso)
Streaming Audio: TuneIn app
Links for live coverage: Available via ValpoAthletics.com

Head Coach Courtney Boyd (0-34 at Valpo, 2nd season; 180-102 [.638] 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 will be the first meeting between the two programs. This won't be Valpo's first matchup against a current member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, though - notably, Valpo matched up against Clarke, the school which jumpstarted Courtney Boyd's head coaching career, twice in the mid-1980's, winning both matchups.

@ValpoWBB...
...versus Detroit Mercy
- Valpo led by six late in the second quarter, but Detroit Mercy scored seven points on its last three first-half possessions and the Beacons needed a Hillary Offing jumper before the buzzer to lead 30-29 at halftime.
- The Beacons' edge was six at 44-38 with 3:49 to play in the third quarter, but UDM scored six in a row over the next two minutes to tie things up, and the Titans got a last-second basket to hold a 48-47 lead entering the fourth quarter.
- A little 6-0 stretch midway through the final period — containing baskets from Osade Igbinedion and Dani Guedet and a pair of free throws from Offing — gave Valpo some breathing room, pushing its lead to five. The Titans connected from the floor a minute later, but Maci Rhoades answered with a big triple to make it 58-52 Valpo with 4:18 to play.
- Valpo was limited to just one point on its next five possessions, and the Titans' Paula Lopez connected on 3-pointers on consecutive trips to kick off an 11-1 run which turned it into a 63-59 UDM lead with 1:35 to play.
- Jana Nogués converted a driving layup with 1:20 to play to cut the deficit to two, but UDM answered with a basket of its own, and while Igbinedion finished inside with 31 seconds remaining to again make it a two-point game, the Titans hit the key free throws late.
- Offing came off the bench to lead the Beacons with 17 points, her second-highest effort at the D-I level. She also set her high as a D-I player with three steals.
- Playing her first home game since March 2025, Rhoades finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and led Valpo with a career-high eight rebounds.
- Igbinedion scored in double figures for the first time in her collegiate career, posting 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
- Denza Allen rounded out the quartet in double figures, hitting 5-of-8 from the field for 11 points while also grabbing six rebounds and leading Valpo in the +/- department with a +12.
- While both teams shot nearly identical percentages from the field — UDM 36.8% and Valpo 37.3% — the Titans were 5-for-14 from 3-point range versus the Beacons' 4-for-22 effort from deep. The Titans also hit 20-of-28 at the foul line, while Valpo was just 9-of-21 at the stripe.

...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
- Valpo faces a two-game road trip next weekend, replicating a conference road trip as it plays at Purdue Fort Wayne Friday morning ahead of a Sunday afternoon game at Toledo.
- The Beacons' next home game is Friday, Nov. 20 versus South Dakota.

...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
- Tuesday's game is the second of 15 regular season home games for the Beacons this season. Valpo currently owns an 0-1 record at home.
- 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.

...versus non D-I opponents
- Valpo has won 30 consecutive regular season games against non-Division I opponents, dating back to the 1987-88 season.
- Valpo's last loss to a non D-I was a 77-55 loss at Indiana Tech Jan. 5, 1988.
- The Beacons last faced non D-I opposition in the regular season with games versus Trinity Christian and Goshen in the 2024-25 season - prior to that, you have to go back to the 2017-18 season.

@CSCWomensBBall
- The Wildcats, who are playing Tuesday's game as an exhibition game, own a 2-3 record this season, most recently dropping a 72-41 decision on the road against NAIA #1 Marian.
- Culver-Stockton posted a 21-9 record last season and went 14-6 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action. It was picked to finish fifth in the conference this season.
- Chloe Burnham leads the Wildcats through five games, averaging 13.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

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 fittingly returned to action against those very same Titans last time out - her first appearance for the Beacons in 686 days.
- 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 - she returned to competition in the season opener at Michigan State.
- 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 its roster 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.

Education Day History
- This year marks the third straight season Valpo has hosted an Education Day game, welcoming fifth graders from Valparaiso Community Schools to campus.
- The students receive a virtual campus tour with the Valpo department of admissions and hear about careers of Valpo grads, before making their way over to the ARC, where they visit the ESPN production room and the in-arena control area to see what goes into putting a sporting event on.
- Valpo's first Education Day game came on Nov. 12, 2024, an 81-40 win over Trinity Christian, while last season's came in MVC play versus Indiana State on Jan. 29, 2026, a 77-63 victory for the Sycamores.

Owning the Paint
- Valpo held the advantage inside last time out against Detroit Mercy, finishing with 40 points in the paint - a 12-point edge in that department over the Titans.
- It was the program's largest positive margin in the paint since a +12 mark at Bradley Feb. 27, 2025.
- The 40 points in the paint were the Beacons' single-game high back to Jan. 17, 2025 versus Illinois State, when they also racked up 40 points in the paint.

Taking Advantage of Second Chances
- The Beacons turned 16 offensive rebounds last time out versus Detroit Mercy into 18 second chance points, holding an 18-7 edge in that department.
- It was the team's most second-chance points and biggest advantage in the category since an identical 18-7 edge in the department at Evansville Feb. 25, 2018.

Trending Up
- While we're not here for moral victories, there's plenty of positive notes coming out of Saturday's contest against Detroit Mercy as compared to last season that show the upward trend of the program.
- Most notably, the scoring margin was 26 points better, as UDM won 78-48 in Detroit last season versus this year's 67-63 final.
- Valpo finished with four players in double figures in the scoring column, something it accomplished just twice last year.
- The Beacons led at intermission after doing so just three times last season.
- Valpo finished the game with a better field goal percentage and fewer turnovers than the Titans, which it did just once and twice, respectively, last year.
- The Beacons' 10 team steals tied their season high from last season.

Off(ing) and Running
- Purdue Fort Wayne transfer Hillary Offing has made her presence felt in the frontcourt on the offensive end.
- Offing came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points in 21 minutes last time out against Detroit Mercy, hitting 5-11 from the floor and 7-9 from the foul line.
- While stats from the preseason closed scrimmages and exhibition game were not disclosed, let's just say double digits were needed in the scoring column for her there as well.
- Offing also came up with her D-I best with three steals against the Titans, making her one of just three Valpo players in the Her Hoop Stats era (2009-on) to tally at least 17 points and three steals off the bench - Grace White did so in a February 2022 win at Drake, while Lauren Kenney did so twice in a week's span in January 2010.

Stock(s) Rising for Denza
- While it's perhaps a somewhat crude measurement of defensive impact, redshirt freshman Denza Allen's count of eight stocks (steals + blocks) through two games stands out.
- Allen had three blocks and two steals in the season opener at Michigan State before posting two steals and a block last time out versus Detroit Mercy.
- Her average of four stocks/game is the best of any MVC player through the opening weekend of action.
- Obviously it's way too soon to project out based on two games, but it's worth noting that only three players in program history have averaged at least one steal and blocked shot per game across a full season: Caitlin Morrison (2017-18 & 2019-20), Marlous Nieuwveen (2001-02) and Deb Lahti (1983-84).