by The Valpo women’s basketball program will have some more experience on its side when it takes the court for the 2021-22 season, as it announced Friday that senior Grace White (Redby, Minn./Red Lake [Ojibwe/Sioux]) will utilize the additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA to winter sport student-athletes due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020-21 season.
“Of course, there were things to think about, but I knew that another year of education and playing basketball would be beneficial for my future career,” White said. “I had discussed with my coach and family if we would be given another year, and we were all up for it.”
White has seen action in 45 games in her two seasons since transferring to Valpo, starting all 22 of her appearances this past season. She averaged 11.1 points/game during the 2020-21 campaign, highlighted by a 17-point effort in the win at Illinois and a game-high 20 points in the victory at Purdue. White led Valpo in rebounding this past year, averaging 5.9 rebounds/game, and was also second on the team in assists (61), steals (46) and blocked shots (21). She ranked in the top-15 among MVC players in all five categories, including ranking fourth in the steals department.
“We have been working extremely hard this offseason and I am excited for the returners and newcomers to do what has to be done next year,” White said. “I am excited to play ball with the group of girls we have and I think we will be a successful team next year. Our team has taken major steps towards getting to where we need to be, and next season, we have to walk the walk. We have to close the games that we would be winning in the third and early fourth quarter. We learned that we can beat any team in our conference and now we have to get the job done.”
White will graduate from Valparaiso University with her bachelor’s degree in psychology in May. She plans to use the extra year of education to begin her MBA.
