VALPARAISO | For the third straight game, Valparaiso junior Agnieszka Kulaga has played one of her best games in a Crusader uniform. And for the third straight game, she has found herself in the winning locker room.
Kulaga set career-highs with 26 points and eight rebounds, and the junior tied her career-high with five assists as she led Valparaiso to a 73-61 victory over North Texas on Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Crusaders a three-game winning streak after they started the season 0-5.
For her part, Kulaga admits that it could be anyone doing the scoring, she's just lucky enough to be the one filling out the score sheet.
"We're still figuring it out, every game someone else can set up," Kulaga said. "I was just taking what they gave me. I would drive until they would stop me and when they didn't stop me, I finished."
The Crusaders (3-5), who led by as many as 22 with 15:41 left in the game, struggled to finish off the Mean Green, as North Texas (5-6) cut the lead down to six on the strength of a 13-1 run late in the second half. Launa Hochstetler knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to nine and Kulaga iced the game with her effectiveness at the free-throw line. The junior has converted on 21 of her last 23 freebies.
"We built up our lead by playing defense," Kulaga said. "They came back because I guess we had some possessions where we didn't score and we didn't get back in time."
Valparaiso coach Keith Freeman made a point after the game to compliment Kulaga's ability to move without the ball, something that he has been preaching to her since she arrived on campus two years ago.
"I really believe if she learns how to move without the ball, she becomes hard to guard," Freeman said. "The best thing Aggie did is she gave up the ball and then became harder to guard away from the ball."
Sporting a fresh black eye from a collision in practice, Aimee Litka added 15 points and six rebounds and had three of the team's 10 3-pointers. The Crusaders are averaging eight 3-pointers a game during the winning streak.
