Earnest’s Late 3-Pointer Lifts Valpo Over Bradley

Earnest’s Late 3-Pointer Lifts Valpo Over Bradley

For most of Thursday night’s game at Bradley, it didn’t look like the Valpo women’s basketball team would need late heroics to come out victorious. But when the contest shifted in that direction, Leah Earnest (Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) came up with the biggest shot of the night, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6.4 seconds to play to lift the Beacons over the Braves, 66-64. The win was Valpo’s third in a row and its eighth consecutive against Bradley.

How It Happened

–          Valpo led by 16 entering the fourth quarter before the Braves put together a 14-5 run over the opening half of the period to close to within 58-51.

–          Nevaeh Jackson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) had an acrobatic 3-point play to briefly restore the double-digit lead, but Bradley split a pair of free throws on its next possession and proceeded to hit 3-pointers on each of its next three possessions while the Beacons were unable to score to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:38 remaining.

–          Maci Rhoades (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek [Radford]) split a pair of free throws to give Valpo the lead back with 1:24 to play. The Beacons came up with a subsequent steal on the defensive end, but following a timeout, an inbounding violation returned possession to Bradley and the Braves took advantage, hitting yet another triple with 42 seconds left to take a 64-62 lead.

–          Jackson was fouled on the floor while Valpo was in the bonus on the offensive end and split her free throws to halve the deficit, but with the shot clock off, the Beacons were forced to foul on the other end and did so with 21 seconds to play. Bradley missed both its free throws and Earnest secured the rebound off the second miss, setting up her game-winner. Bradley’s last-second heave from 35 feet was off the mark, allowing the Beacons to leave Peoria victorious.

–          Until the fourth quarter, the game was all Valpo. The Beacons jumped out to a 21-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes, hitting 9-of-13 from the field in the first quarter.

–          Valpo led by as many as 16 points late in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 35-22 lead after holding the Braves to just 2-of-13 shooting from the field for the period.

–          An 8-0 run midway through the third quarter gave the Beacons their largest lead of the game at 53-32. Bradley scored the final five points of the quarter to make it a 16-point game entering the fourth period.

Inside the Game

–          The game-winning basket by Earnest was the second of her collegiate career within the game’s final 10 seconds. Last season, she beat the buzzer with a game-winning layup at UIC.

–          The Beacons have won their last three games, their first three-game winning streak since Feb. 17-23, 2023.

–          Valpo has won four of its last five contests for the first time since a four-game winning streak Feb. 20-28, 2021.

–          Thursday’s win was the program’s eighth straight over Bradley over the last four seasons. That is Valpo’s longest active streak against a single opponent, and the program’s longest winning streak against a conference foe since defeating Centenary in all eight meetings as Mid-Continent Conference opponents in the mid-2000’s.

–          The win over the Braves guarantees that Valpo will be donning its home jersey on the first day of the Credit Union 1 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament, as the Beacons can finish no worse than a tie for eighth place in the final regular season standings and will have the tiebreaker by virtue of the season sweep over Bradley if that is the case.

–          While Earnest had the final shot, the performance of Jackson set the Beacons up for Thursday’s win. The sophomore was one point off her career high with her fourth 20-point game of the year, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

–          Jackson also tallied four rebounds, three assists and a game-high four steals.

–          Earnest battled through a tough shooting night to finish with 13 points and lead the Beacons with eight rebounds while also tallying three steals.

–          When Earnest stepped on the court Thursday, she tied Valpo alum Caitlin Morrison for the most games played in the Brown and Gold, donning the uniform for the 141^st time. She moved up into a tie for seventh on the program’s single-season scoring chart (481 points) and is now within 17 rebounds of the program’s career record.

–          Rhoades added 10 points and a team-best four assists while not committing a turnover, while Katie Beyer (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) chipped in eight points and six rebounds.

–          Valpo limited the Braves to 30% shooting from the field through the game’s first three quarters before Bradley hit 8-of-10 from the field — including five 3-pointers — over the final 10 minutes.

–          The Beacons did hit double figures in steals for the 16^th time this year, posting 10 thefts.

Next Up

Valpo (12-16, 8-9 MVC) goes after its fourth win in a row Saturday afternoon in Normal, Ill., looking to complete the sweep of the central Illinois road trip at Illinois State. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.