Merrillville and Valparaiso met for a duel on Wednesday where Merrillville couldn't get it done. The Merrillville Pirates received a blow as they fell 65-51 to the Valparaiso Vikings. The defeat continues a trend for the Pirates in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now lost three in a row.
Merrillville lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Erin Mukes, who went 5 for 8 en route to 11 points plus seven rebounds. Another player making a difference was Malika Jenkins, who had 12 points in addition to eight rebounds and four steals.
Lillian Barnes was her usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 23 points and nine rebounds for Valparaiso. That makes it five consecutive games in which Barnes has scored at least a third of Valparaiso's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cadynce Clark, who earned nine points along with three steals.
Merrillville's loss dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Valparaiso, their record is now 3-4.
Merrillville has already played their next matchup, a 64-42 defeat against Fort Wayne Snider on the 29th. As for Valparaiso, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 72-21 win against La Porte on the 6th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
