by Facing a deficit which reached as many as 14 points early on Sunday afternoon at the ARC, the Valpo women’s basketball team turned things completely around before halftime, out-scoring visiting Evansville 22-4 in the second quarter to lead by nine at halftime on its way to a 74-62 victory over the Purple Aces.
How It Happened
- Shot clock violations on each of their first two possessions portended the slow start Sunday for the Beacons. It took Valpo over seven and a half minutes to connect on its first field goal, allowing Evansville to build up an early 16-2 lead.
- Ilysse Pitts (Aurora, Ill./Montini Catholic) connected on Valpo’s first made basket, a 3-pointer with 2:16 to play in the quarter that sparked a quick six-point spurt which also featured four points from Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH). A bucket for Evansville in the final seconds of the quarter gave the Purple Aces an 18-9 lead 10 minutes in.
- The script flipped in the second quarter, however, as Valpo held UE to 1-of-14 shooting from the field and a pair of free throws in limiting the Aces to four points for the period.
- It was a slow burn for the Beacons to rally and eventually take the lead. Olivia Brown (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids [St. Bonaventure]) scored five of Valpo’s seven points in the first four-plus minutes of the quarter to make it a five-point game.
- Evansville split a pair of free throws with 5:34 to play in the half to extend the lead to 22-16, but that proved to be the final point of the half for the Aces. Right before the halfway mark of the period, Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) came up with a steal and a fast-break layup, and on Valpo’s next trip, Caitlin Morrison (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) connected from deep to make it a 22-21 game and force an Evansville timeout.
- A four-point possession by Brown gave Valpo the lead for good with under two minutes to play in the half. The junior drew an and-1 opportunity, and while she missed the free throw, Brown beat all four Evansville players to the rebound despite having no other teammates on the lane, went back up and got fouled again and hit both free throws to make it 25-22.
- The next time down the floor, Grace White (Redby, Minn./Red Lake [Denver]) drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to six points. The 15-0 run to end the half fittingly was capped by Brown, who closed out her big second quarter with a long-range bomb in the final seconds to push the Valpo advantage to 31-22 at intermission.
- Evansville had a third-quarter push in it, as the Purple Aces closed to within as close as two points and were down just three at 39-36 at the halfway mark of the period.
- White single-handedly turned the game around again from that point. In a six-possession stretch which covered a span of 2:57, White went 5-for-5 from the field — including three 3-pointers — for 13 points.
- At the same time, the Valpo defense was keeping Evansville off the scoreboard, and when Maya Dunson (Dayton, Ohio/Wayne) knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:16 to play in the quarter, it ended Valpo’s second 15-0 run of the game and put the Beacons up by 18 points.
- The Valpo lead was 54-38 with 10 minutes to play, and reached as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter. The Beacons maintained the double-digit edge for the duration of the game to close pout the victory.
