Earnest Sets Rebounding Mark; Beacons Fall in Regular Season Finale
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The Valpo women’s basketball program’s career rebounding chart has a new name next to its number one spot, as Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) surpassed Tamra Braun’s previous standard of 870 career boards in the first half Saturday at the ARC. The Beacons dropped their regular season finale to visiting UNI, 85-73, and will open play at the conference tournament Thursday afternoon at noon.
How It Happened
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The two teams were deadlocked at 9-9 approaching the midway point of the opening quarter before the Panthers went on a 12-0 run to gain separation.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) hit a corner 3-pointer to beat the first period buzzer to bring the Beacons with 23-14 after 10 minutes.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Valpo was perfect from the field in the second quarter, hitting all eight of its field goal attempts, including six 3-pointers. But the Beacons committed 10 turnovers in the period as well.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â When the dust settled, it ended up being an even 24-24 score in the second quarter, leaving Valpo trailing 47-38 into halftime.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Valpo had just one field goal over a stretch of nearly six minutes in the third quarter, allowing the Panthers to go on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 18.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â UNI led 65-49 with 10 minutes to play and pushed its lead to as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Inside the Game
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Earnest moved alongside Braun on the career rebounding chart with a board in the closing seconds of the first quarter, and then pulled down a missed free throw just over a minute into the second quarter to pass Braun.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Earnest finished the day with a game-high eight rebounds and now owns 875 career caroms.
–         Valpo’s best player had one of the top offensive games of her career in her final home game Saturday, finishing 10-of-13 from the field — including 3-of-5 from 3-point range — and 8-of-9 from the foul line to lead all players with 31 points.
–         It was the second 30-point game of Earnest’s career, coming up just one point shy of her career high last season at Illinois State.
–         Earnest moved up to fourth on Valpo’s single-season scoring chart with 540 points, just 10 points shy of third, and is in a tie for fifth for field goals made in a season with 182.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) finished with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, and was one off her career high with four assists.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Jackson has hit from deep 73 times this year, fifth-most in a season in program history and just three shy of fourth position.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Rhoades connected on three 3-pointers for the second straight game as she hit double figures with 11 points. The junior also tied her career high with four assists.
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Valpo shot a season-best 53.2% from the field and was 12-for-29 from 3-point range, matching its season high for 3-pointers made.
–         The Beacons committed 21 turnovers, however, and forced just 14 UNI miscues, only five of which were steals — both tied for the team’s second-fewest of the season. The Panthers held a 33-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
Next Up
Valpo (13-18, 9-11 MVC) heads to the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Ford Center as the tournament’s eighth seed and will kick the tournament off at noon on Thursday against ninth-seeded Bradley. The full tournament bracket will be released by the Valley Sunday morning following the updated release of the NCAA NET rankings.