SIU vs Valparaiso 1:00 pm, Saturday 3/5 at The A-R-C (Magic 95.1 & ESPN+)
Series History:
Last time out – Back on New Year's Eve we beat Valpo for our first conference win of the season 62-52. Abby had 19, Mak had 18 and Gabby had 17. The Beacons were paced by Shay Frederick and Leah Earnest who each scored 17. The overall series between us is brief, we never played them before they joined The Valley. This will be just the tenth meeting between us – all regular season conference games – and we lead the series 6-3. The Beacons won three straight in the series prior to the game on New Year’s Eve - all three wins coming at Banterra.
Overview Of The Beacons:
Valpo is in an interesting spot here. They’re battling Drake for the 6 and 7 seed for the Valley Tourney. Both teams are 8-9 and Drake is at ISU Blue. If they finished tied for 6th place Valpo wins the tiebreaker as they swept Drake and avoids the play-in game. Valpo loves to shoot the three ball. A LOT. They have more attempt from three than any other team in The Valley at 695. They have connected on 32% of their threes good for 2nd in the conference. But they only score at 60ppg (8th) and give up 68ppg (7th). We’re number one defensively in 3pt fg% allowed at 25% (which ranks us 11th in the nation.) They are led by Shay Frederick’s 12ppg and Grace White’s 6 rebounds per game. They don’t get a lot of rebounds, and they give up a lot of rebounds. Abby and Gabby both had double figure rebounds and Mak and Link had 5 each against them in December.
Warren Nolan.com has us as a -12 favorite with an 84% chance to win.
Probable Starters for Valpo:
Olivia Brown 5-8 Jr. Guard 7.1ppg
Shay Frederick 5-7 Sr Guard 12.0ppg 4.9apg
Cara VanKempen 6-0 Jr Forward 2.2ppg
Leah Earnest 5-10 So Guard/Forward 7.7ppg
Caitlin Morrison 6-2 Gr-RS-Sr (6th year) Forward 5.3ppg
Bit of a head scratcher here - Their top rebounder and 3rd leading scorer Grace White and 2nd leading scorer Carrie Weinman – both come off of the bench.
Current Standings (NET/RPI)
SIU 15-2 (67/52)
MSU 14-3 (40/38)
UNI 12-5 (57/76)
ISU-R 11-6 (130/160)
Loyola 9-8 (122/173)
Valpo 8-9 (235/275)
Drake 8-9 (85/115)
ISU-B 5-12 (200/260)
Evansville 2-15 (280/318)
Bradley 1-16 (270/322)
How We’re Doing:
We win, we’re outright conference champs. That simple. Coach Stein after the Loyola game basically said “we don’t want to share this with anyone.”
Seeds for Moline aren’t fully cemented yet, so I’ll cover that after today’s action. Missouri State tips off at the same time we do, so I’ll be updating that game as it progresses.
We only scored 51 points at Loyola which is a bit of a testament to their defense. We shot 43% overall and 44% from three. We didn’t have a lot of wild shots as our effective FG% was 50% we just took what they gave us. Loyola just defended well as they forced us into more turnovers than what we average. They kinda dared us to shoot the three and we burned them, especially Brockmeyer, as she was 3-4 from beyond the arc and Payton McCallister was 2-3. But we defended better, holding them to 28 points, on 22% shooting overall and 0% from three. Our least points allowed is 16 to Milliken in 1979. We improved our road record to 8-7.
GO DAWGS!!!
Oh yeah - almost forgot this. Through seven games in conference only stats, we were dead last in three point shooting at 11.8%. Now ten games later, we're 3rd in three point shooting percentage in conference only statistics at 32.2% and 9-1 in that stretch.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Not shooting well. Not rebounding. Abby with two cheap fouls.
After 1
SIU 11
VALPO 14
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Just into the 2nd.
MoSt 14
Loyola 11
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Wow! Poor shooting we're only shooting 28%.
Halftime
SIU 24
Valpo 28
Valpo's threes giving them the lead. They're 4-8. Good news Abby returns in the 2nd half after sitting for 12 minutes.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Loyola up on MSU at haltime 20-17.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Wow - we're about to go down by 10 here early in the 3rd. 33-24 Beacons with a free throw coming after an SIU timeout.
Loyola up by 8 on MoSt.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Jesus Christ...
Abby just got a flagrant foul for holding her space after being fouled. Refs reasoning is that she took her hand off the ball while being grabbed and her elbow swung into Valpo player. What bullshit. Now Abby is out with 3 fouls and were down 10. Haven't scored in the 2nd half.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Loyola up 15 on MSU just before the 4th in Rogers Park.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 3 we're down 10. 48-38 Beacons. Still shooting bad.
Loyola is up TWENTY on Missouri State 7 minutes left in that game.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Looks like we need Loyola to hold on! Can't believe I'm gonna say this..
GO RAMBLERS!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Loyola up 15 3:45 to play.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Gabby about to be called for a flagrant 1.
Down 14 with 2:37 left.
Loyola up 17 with about the same time left.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Loyola up 19 less than 90 seconds left.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
THANK YOU LOYOLA!!!!
FINAL LOYOLA 60
Missouri State 42
We lose, but we win the conference title outright.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Final...
SIU 54
VALPO 67
What a clunker. We shoot 31% Valpo torches us from 3 10 for 21.
Abby in limited minutes 17 & 7. Gabby 11& 9 Mak with 12. 14 of 25 from the line. And 2 of 19 from 3.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
