Valpo U Women’s Basketball Falls to Drake
The Valpo women’s basketball team looked to erase a double-digit second-half deficit against Drake at the ARC for a second straight year, but Sunday’s effort came up short as the visiting Bulldogs earned a 66-56 victory. Coming off her record-setting performance Thursday night, Milana Nenadic (Kitchener, Ontario/Cameron Heights [Idaho State/Maine]) again paced the Beacon offense with 18 points.
How It Happened
– Valpo jumped on top quickly, as Allia von Schlegell (Downers Grove, Ill./Nazareth Academy), Kayla Sullivan (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran North [State Fair C.C.]) and Kayla Preston (Omaha, Neb./Millard North) knocked down 3-pointers on three straight possessions to give the Beacons a 9-3 lead less than two minutes into the game.
– While it was unable to push the edge past six points, Valpo maintained the lead for the remainder of the opening period, closing the first frame in front by an 18-14 count.
– A layup from Nenadic with 6:42 to play in the second quarter pushed the Beacons’ lead back to six points at 22-16.
– Drake closed the half on a 17-3 run to take a 33-25 lead into halftime.
– The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half to lead by double digits for the first time.
– Drake’s lead reached its apex at 48-34 with 3:36 to play in the third quarter before a Preston 3-point play slowed the Bulldog momentum.
– The Beacons trailed 54-45 with 10 minutes to play.
– Valpo’s defense kept Drake off the board for the first five possessions of the fourth quarter, and on the offensive end, a Preston layup and three points from Nenadic had the Beacons within 54-50 with 6:51 remaining.
– After the scoreless stretch to open the quarter, the Bulldogs scored on three straight possessions to force a Valpo timeout with 5:14 to play and the score 60-50.
– Drake got its lead up to 12 points before a Nenadic triple and a Fiona Connolly (South Burlington, Vt./Brewster Academy [La Salle]) layup had the deficit down to 62-55 with 2:08 to go.
– The Beacons got two more stops in a row on the defensive end to give themselves a chance to inch even closer, but a pair of great looks right at the rim on the offensive side didn’t fall.
Inside the Game
– Coming off her 34-point game Thursday night, Nenadic paced Valpo on Sunday with 18 points and tied for team-high honors with five rebounds.
– Nenadic has scored in double figures in consecutive games after going 13 straight games without a double-digit effort.
– The redshirt junior went 3-for-6 from the 3-point line Sunday and has five triples over the last two games, after having only hit two 3-pointers in the season’s first 17 games.
– Sullivan and Preston both scored in double figures as well, finishing with 11 and 10 points, respectively. For each of them, it was their second-highest scoring output this season.
– Sullivan hit 2-of-3 from the 3-point line, while Preston was 4-for-5 from the field.
– For just the third time this year (at Iowa State, Bradley), Valpo’s two leading scorers on the season —Connolly and von Schlegell — were limited to single digits, as both finished with seven points. Connolly did match Nenadic for team-high honors with five rebounds.
– Mikayla Huffine (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran [Quincy/Iowa Western C.C.]) paced the Beacons with four assists and led all players with three steals.
– Valpo shot just 32.1% from the floor Sunday, but the Beacons were 7-for-19 from 3-point range — they have now hit better than 35% from 3-point range in each of the last two games after doing so just once in the season’s first 17 contests.
– Drake shot 41.1% from the field, but was just 5-for-19 from beyond the arc. Valpo has held its opponents below 30% shooting from deep in five of the last six games.
– One game after winning the turnover battle for the first time this season, the Beacons almost repeated the feat Sunday, as they committed 18 miscues to the Bulldogs’ 17. Valpo did hold the edge in points off turnovers, 17-13.
Next Up
Valpo (0-19, 0-8 MVC) plays just one game next week, a Friday night affair at Bradley. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.