The 2025-26 campaign came to a close for the Valpo women's basketball team Thursday evening at the Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, as the 11^th-seeded Beacons fell in opening-round action to sixth-seeded Drake, 81-55.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo held a one-point edge on three occasions in the opening quarter, including after Drake had pulled out to four and five-point leads to stay within striking distance.
• The Bulldogs got a putback in the final seconds of the first period to lead 16-15 after 10 minutes.
• The Beacons were still within two points at 22-20 with 6:47 to play in the first half after a triple from Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]).
• Drake scored the next seven points, starting a longer 21-7 stretch to end the half as the Bulldogs carried a 43-27 lead into halftime.
• A 3-pointer by Allia von Schlegell (Downers Grove, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and a Connolly drive and finish gave Valpo five straight to start the second half, cutting the Drake advantage to 43-32 just 80 seconds into the half.
• The Bulldogs answered with nine of the next 12 points to push their lead to 52-35 with 6:21 to play in the third quarter.
• Valpo held Drake without a point for the next four minutes, but was unable to make significant headway into the deficit, scoring just four points of its own in that same stretch.
• The Bulldogs busted their slump with eight points in a three-possession span to pull away. Drake led 60-41 at the end of the third quarter, and Valpo got no closer than 17 points in the final period.

 
Inside the Game

• Connolly paced Valpo with 14 points, her 20^th double-digit scoring effort this season and the 13^th time she led the Beacons.
• Milana Nenadic (Kitchener, Ontario/Cameron Heights [Idaho State/Maine]) added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, her 13^th game with at least 10 points this year.
• von Schlegell came up just short of joining the aforementioned duo in double figures, finishing with nine points. She closed the season with 358 points, third-most by a freshman in Valpo program history.
• The rookie also connected on both her free throws Thursday to finish the year 64-of-74 (.865). While her 74 attempts are one shy of the minimum required to qualify for Valpo's single-season chart, if you count that one additional attempt as a miss, von Schlegell ranks sixth on the single-season chart.
• Playing her final career game, Mikayla Huffine (Rockford, Ill./Rockford [Quincy/Iowa Western C.C.]) scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
• One of the nation's top rebounders per 40 minutes, Kamryn Winch (Bonne Terre, Mo./North County [Maryville]) led Valpo on Thursday with seven rebounds in her 19 minutes of action — the 12^th time this year she paced the Beacons on the glass.
• Valpo shot at a 32.8% clip from the floor and was just 7-for-31 from 3-point range, while Drake hit 41.5% from the field and was 8-for-27 from 3-point range. The Bulldogs were a +13 at the foul line, going 19-for-22 at the stripe while the Beacons were a perfect 6-for-6.

 
Inside the Careers

• Three Valpo players appeared in their final collegiate game Thursday.
• Connolly played her first two seasons at La Salle before closing her career with two years at Valpo. She averaged a team-high 12.7 points/game this season — a 9.2 point/game improvement over her first year as a Beacon — and finished her career with 552 points, 231 rebounds, 167 assists and 86 steals.
• Bella Swedlund (Winner, S.D./Winner [Toledo/Kansas]) appeared in her 24^th collegiate game Thursday — all of which came in her two years at Valpo. She finished her career with eight points and 11 rebounds.
• Huffine started all 32 games this season in her first season at Valpo and led the Beacons in assists, after spending the last two years alongside head coach Courtney Boyd at Quincy following her freshman year at Iowa Western C.C. In her three seasons at four-year institutions, Huffine racked up 403 points, 183 rebounds and 216 assists.