VALPARAISO — Freshman Jasmyn Walker doesn’t care if she drops in 20 points or goes 0-for-10 from the field as long as the Valparaiso University women’s basketball team posts the victory.
An 18-point, 13-rebound effort will likely lead to more wins than losses, though, since Walker is one of the more efficient players on the court with her shot selection.
That was obvious Thursday night as the 5-foot-10 forward from Muskegon, Michigan, finished 8-for-13 from the field in the Crusaders’ 69-56 win over Milwaukee in Horizon League action at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Freshman Dani Franklin added 15 points off the bench, while senior Jessica Carr tallied 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.
It was VU’s second Horizon League win in three tries after starting 0-7.
Dani and I talked before the season started about stepping up,” said Walker, who is second on the team shooting 43 percent. “It doesn’t mater how much I score as long as we win and that was a great win for us.”
It was even more impressive since VU (6-17, 2-8) was embarrassed 90-79 at Milwaukee on Jan. 21. On that night, the Panthers’ Ashley Green recorded 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting and made five steals to lead her team to victory.
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Green scord 24 points Thursday, but shot just 8-for-20 and fouled out with under three minutes remaining. The rest of her team shot a dismal 26 percent (11-for-43), not helping the cause.
VU coach Tracey Dorow said her team was very focused on defense against Milwaukee (8-14, 4-6).
“I was very pleased with our effort on defense and that led to our offensive production,” she said. “We also made some adjustments from last time that really helped our game.”
VU didn’t take a lot of outside shots in the win either. Instead, the team pounded the ball inside as Franklin, Walker and the guards went into the paint for easy buckets.
“I think the inside worked really well because it opened everything up,” said Franklin, who was 6-for-13 shooting. “And we started to play better because of it.”
VU also protected the ball recording a season-low 10 turnovers.
Ryan Haskell is a freelance writer.