Belmont Bruins (14-7, 9-1 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons (7-13, 4-6 MVC)

Valparaiso, Indiana; Friday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Valparaiso faces Belmont after Leah Earnest scored 22 points in Valparaiso's 66-54 victory over the Evansville Purple Aces.

The Beacons have gone 4-3 at home. Valparaiso is sixth in the MVC at limiting opponent scoring, giving up 68.0 points while holding opponents to 42.1% shooting.

The Bruins are 9-1 against conference opponents. Belmont ranks fifth in the MVC shooting 33.5% from 3-point range.

Valparaiso makes 42.0% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.0 percentage points higher than Belmont has allowed to its opponents (39.0%). Belmont averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 more makes per game than Valparaiso gives up.

The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Earnest is averaging 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals for the Beacons. Nevaeh Jackson is averaging 13.2 points and 1.9 steals over the last 10 games.

Tuti Jones averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Bruins, scoring 10.9 points while shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc. Jailyn Banks is shooting 44.3% and averaging 13.3 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Beacons: 4-6, averaging 60.9 points, 24.8 rebounds, 11.3 assists, 9.3 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 40.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.4 points per game.

Bruins: 9-1, averaging 76.5 points, 34.0 rebounds, 16.6 assists, 7.8 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 46.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points.

___

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