by The Valpo women’s basketball team went blow-for-blow with MVC leader Illinois State on Saturday afternoon at the ARC, rallying multiple times from large deficits to get back into contention, but at the end of the day, the Redbirds edged by the Beacons by an 85-80 final.
How It Happened
- Illinois State got off to a hot start to the game, scoring on each of its first seven possessions of the contest to go ahead 16-8 at the halfway mark of the first quarter.
- The Redbirds closed out a 9-0 run with two more baskets to push their lead to 20-8 with 3:25 to play in the period.
- Valpo closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run, getting five defensive stops in a row and scoring at the rim four times in a five-possession stretch. Olivia Brown (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids [St. Bonaventure]), Grace White (Redby, Minn./Red Lake [Denver]), Carie Weinman (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South [Denver]) and Ilysse Pitts (Aurora, Ill./Montini Catholic) all had baskets during that span as the Beacons were within 20-16 at the end of the first.
- Illinois State held the lead for the entirety of the second quarter and pushed out its lead to 43-32 with 2:10 to play in the opening half.
- Valpo closed the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points, capped by Shay Frederick (Greenville, Wis./Hortonville) finding Weinman for a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the half to make it a 45-40 ballgame at intermission.
- Much like they started the game, the Redbirds came out of the gates hot to start the second half. Illinois State scored on eight of its first nine possessions of the half and was 7-for-7 from the floor over the first six minutes of the third quarter to pull away to a 65-47 advantage with under four minutes to play in the period.
- It took Valpo just four trips down the floor over a span of 1:41 to significantly cut into its deficit, however. Weinman connected on a 3-pointer, Frederick and White made layups and Lauren Gunn (Fishers, Ind./Lawrence North) converted a 3-point play for a quick 10-0 run late in the quarter to move to within six points.
- Trailing 69-63 with 10 minutes to play, it took the Beacons just one possession to halve the Redbirds’ lead, as White got a putback basket while being fouled and finished the 3-point play to make it a 69-66 game.
- The Illinois State edge shifted between three and seven points for the next five minutes and was at seven points (77-70) with 4:52 to play.
- Valpo scored the next five, including a layup from Weinman and a fast-break basket by Frederick, the latter bringing the Beacons to within 77-75 with 3:32 to play — the closest they had been since the game’s opening minutes.
- Valpo actually had a shot to take the lead on its next trip, but it was off the mark, and back-to-back turnovers helped the Redbirds extend their lead back out to six points.
- Frederick came up with a big shot with 1:31 to play, as she drilled a 3-pointer to make it an 81-78 game. But on the ensuing Illinois State possession, JuJu Redmond capped a 37-point night with a turnaround jumper with the shot clock winding down, and Valpo would not score again until the final seconds.
Inside the Game
- White followed up a 20-point performance on Thursday with 19 points on Saturday, including a perfect 7-for-7 mark form the foul line. White also led all players with eight rebounds and blocked three shots as well.
