Recap: Valpo 35 Green Bay 71

“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.