It was a good run, but the Valparaiso Vikings unfortunately witnessed the end of their seven-game winning streak on Saturday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 49-48 to Penn. Valparaiso has not had much luck with Penn recently, as the team's come up short the last five times they've met.
Valparaiso's loss shouldn't obscure the performances of Becca Gerdt, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and four steals, and Lillian Barnes who scored 20 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. The match was Gerdt's 12th in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cadynce Clark, who scored five points.
Jessa Troy continued her habit of posting crazy stat lines for Penn, scoring 22 points. Lauren Walsh was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Valparaiso's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 10-3. As for Penn, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 11-5 record this season.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Valparaiso will wrap up 2023 with a road trip to face off against Noblesville at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Noblesville focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up seven on Friday. Penn will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on New Prairie at 6:30 p.m. on January 2, 2024.
