“These three girls have
been great to coach these last four years,” head coach Tracy Dorrow said after
the Valparaiso Lady Crusaders lost to Green Bay on senior night. Coach Dorrow
was very reflective after the game.
“We’ve been through a
lot together as a team this year. It’s been quite the journey. The way that
they’ve enhanced the program, it’s been incredible. They’ve brought in the
things that I’ve wanted for this program,” said Dorrow.
“It’s crazy how these
four years flew by so fast,” senior Abby Dean said.
Dean was one of three
seniors that were honored Saturday, along with Lexi Miller and Jessi Wiedmann.
Wiedmann, who didn’t play in the game, has dealt with back injuries her whole
career. But that didn’t mean she didn’t contribute in a large way.
“She is still always
right there. She sees stuff that we don’t. She has been me and Abby’s
backbone,” Miller said.
Things didn’t look very
good from the start for the Lady Crusaders. Despite shooting 57 percent from
the floor in the first quarter, the Crusaders found themselves down 12 thanks
to eight early turnovers as a team. It didn’t help when the Phoenix shot the
lights out from three, hitting five of their eight shots from downtown in the
first.
Turnovers again plagued
the Crusaders in the second quarter, giving it away on 14 possessions while
only shooting on 13 possessions in the first half. The Phoenix scored 16 points
off of Valparaiso’s turnovers, unfortunately leading to Valpo trailing 35-15 at
the break.
“They’re so physical,”
Coach Dorrow said. “It’s hard to match
their physicality for forty minutes.”
In the third quarter,
Valpo’s offense started to finally get in a rhythm, scoring 14 points in the
quarter, led by Jasmyn Walker and Lexi Miller’s combined 11 points on four of
six shooting.
“We tried to stay as
positive as we could. Towards the end, we tried to beat them this fourth
quarter. Tried to learn from this game and bring it in to next week,” Miller
said.
Things didn’t go as
planned on senior night, with the Valparaiso Women falling at the hands of the
Green Bay Lady Phoenix, 71-35. Jasmyn Walker led all Valpo scorers with 11
points. Both Dean and Miller combined to score 11 points in their final game at
the Athletics Recreation Center.
Despite this being
their last home game, Valparaiso’s regular season isn’t over, with a rematch
against Youngstown State coming next Thursday in Ohio. With a great test in
Green Bay behind them, the Crusaders feel like this game will help them moving
forward.
“That’s a great team.
We prepared very well all week. We beat Youngstown and we know they’re going to
be coming after us. We’re going to be working hard. We’re moving in the right
direction,” said Dean.
“If you can execute
against Green Bay, you can execute against anyone,” Miller said.
