Beacons Fall in Opening Round of MVC Tournament

Beacons Fall in Opening Round of MVC Tournament

The eighth-seeded Valpo women’s basketball team dropped its opening-round game at the Credit Union 1 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Evansville, Ind. Thursday afternoon, falling to ninth-seeded Bradley, 64-58, to close its season. Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) led the way for the Beacons, closing her collegiate career with a 25-point, 12-rebound effort.

How It Happened

–          A slow start offensively both ways saw Bradley holding a small 6-4 edge over six minutes into the game.

–          Earnest exploded late in the first quarter, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the opening period in the final three-plus minutes, including a 3-pointer which gave Valpo a 16-10 edge at the end of the period.

–          The Beacons pushed their lead to seven points nearly four minutes into the second quarter and still held a 21-16 advantage with less than four minutes remaining in the half.

–          Bradley closed the half on a 9-2 run to enter halftime with a 25-23 edge.

–          The Braves opened the second half with points on four of their first five possessions, forcing a Valpo timeout as the lead grew to 34-23.

–          Bradley’s lead reached its apex at 15 points in the third quarter, but baskets by Earnest and Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) brought the Beacons within 47-36 with 10 minutes to play.

–          Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]) scored on Valpo’s first possession of the fourth quarter, and when Earnest connected from deep a minute into the period, the Beacons had cut the deficit to 47-41.

–          A triple by the Braves was answered by a 3-pointer by Kylie Waytashek (Royalton, Minn./Royalton) to keep it a six-point game.

–          Bradley scored six in a row to push its edge back to 12 points with 5:50 to go, but Valpo refused to fold, as Earnest converted a 3-point play and Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) hit a triple to again move the Beacons within six halfway through the quarter.

–          A third-chance 3-pointer for Bradley on its next possession looked like a potential dagger, and the Braves had their lead up to 11 as the clock ticked inside three minutes. But Valpo had one final push.

–          Jackson converted a pair of free throws on Valpo’s next trip to make it a single-digit game once again, and two possessions later, Earnest finished a 3-point play to make it a 61-55 game. Then, with 37 seconds to play, Beyer hit from deep to cut the deficit to three points.

–          Bradley split a pair of free throws with the shot clock off to make it a four-point game. Valpo’s last gasp on the offensive end saw the Beacons get an open look off a baseline out-of-bounds play, but it wouldn’t fall as the Braves closed out the win.

Inside the Game

–          The loss was Valpo’s first to Bradley in the last nine meetings.

–          The Beacons shot just 33.3% in the loss, while Bradley hit at a 40% clip from the floor.

–          Valpo did go 15-of-18 from the foul line, its third consecutive game hitting better than 80% from the charity stripe.

–          The Beacons tallied just six assists, their second-lowest total of the season.

–          Valpo came up with 11 steals on the defensive end, the 17^th time this year the Valley leaders in steals/game reached double digits in the category.

–          Earnest posted 25 points and 12 rebounds in her final collegiate game. It was her 14^th 20-point game this season and her ninth double-double of the year.

–          Beyer was the only other Beacon to finish in double figures, scoring 11 points and grabbing six rebounds in just her second start of the year.

Inside the Season

–          As a team, the Beacons knocked down 245 3-pointers in 2024-25, third-most in a single season in program history.

–          Valpo racked up 314 steals as well, seventh-most in a single season in program history and the most since the 2001-02 squad.

–          Earnest scored 565 points for the year, second-most in a season in program history behind only Debbie Bolen’s 1991-92 campaign.

–          Earnest also cracked Valpo’s single-season top-10 chart in rebounding, moving into 10^th position with 246 boards this season.

–          Jackson finished the year with 73 3-pointers, fifth-most in a season in Valpo history and most since 2006-07.

Inside the Careers

–          Thursday brought the collegiate careers of two Valpo players to an end.

–          Earnest closed her time at Valpo as the program’s all-time leader in career games played (145) and rebounds (887).

–          She also ranks third in program history in scoring (1,664), third in free throws made (369), fourth in field goals made (593), seventh in rebounding average (6.1 rpg), ninth in scoring average (11.5 ppg) and ninth in field goal percentage (.461).

–          Beyer saw action in 87 games in her career at Valpo, making 11 starts and scoring in double figures 11 times. She tallied 319 career points and 166 career rebounds.