Evansville hosts Valparaiso after Earnest's 25-point outing

Valparaiso Beacons (6-13, 3-6 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (5-15, 1-8 MVC)

Evansville, Indiana; Saturday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Valparaiso visits Evansville after Leah Earnest scored 25 points in Valparaiso's 73-54 victory over the Indiana State Sycamores.

The Purple Aces are 5-3 on their home court. Evansville has a 1-2 record in one-possession games.

The Beacons are 3-6 in MVC play. Valparaiso has a 2-9 record against teams over .500.

Evansville is shooting 36.9% from the field this season, 5.4 percentage points lower than the 42.3% Valparaiso allows to opponents. Valparaiso averages 7.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.5 more makes per game than Evansville allows.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Maggie Hartwig is shooting 39.7% and averaging 15.9 points for the Purple Aces. Camryn Runner is averaging 13.1 points over the last 10 games.

Earnest is averaging 17.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Beacons. Nevaeh Jackson is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Purple Aces: 1-9, averaging 59.8 points, 28.2 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 35.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.2 points per game.

Beacons: 3-7, averaging 61.4 points, 25.4 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 9.1 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 40.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.9 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.