EVANSVILLE — Camary Williams put together another impressive night for the University of Evansville women's basketball team on Wednesday, leading the Purple Aces to a 63-54 decision over visiting Alabama A&M at the Ford Center.
The win, which came in the final non-conference game of the season for UE, moved the Aces to 5-6. AAMU, meanwhile, dropped to 2-7 overall.
Williams was once again dominant at both ends of the floor, and it started early. After opening the game with a breakaway lay-up and a three-pointer, the senior out of Ft. Myers, Fla., finished with 23 points, a career-best 13 rebounds, six steals and even her first career block.
"This is big for us because we wanted to go into the break on a win," Williams said. "You don't want to have to come back and start conference play after a loss. For me, the way I started the game got me going. After getting the steal, I was a little excited, and then I tried to feed off that energy and keep it up."
All-time leading scorer Sara Dickey finished second on the team with 12 points and five assists, and Sasha Robinson was second in rebounds with 10.
Williams' first quarter exploits propelled UE out to a 23-9 lead after 10 minutes, with the senior guard pouring in 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting as the Aces forced eight turnovers and held the visitors to 36.4% shooting.
The second frame proved a little more difficult for the Aces as AAMU cut the deficit to nine at the break.
Brooke Dossett led a third quarter charge for UE to put the game out of reach, scoring all 11 of her points while taking just four shots in the period. The junior point guard's now put up double-digit points in four of the last six games, and UE is 4-1 on the year when she racks up 10 or more points.
"Against a zone, you can't always predict where the shots are going to come from, but it was a little easier to get her some looks when they switched to man-to-man defense," UE interim head coach Matt Ruffing said. "She's really crafty with the ball, and she can get into the paint too. She hit a big three right in front of our bench, and that sparked us on a run."
However, while the Aces lead ultimately proved the comfortable enough, the Lady Bulldogs would have one last surge in them. After a Macie Lively layup put UE ahead by 26 with 6:12 left in the fourth quarter, AAMU's Jameica Cobb scored 10 points over the course of a 19-2 run to end the contest.
Cobb finished with 15 points, and the duo of Ebony Johnson and Lauren McKee, which had the other nine points in the late-game run, combined for 24. Johnson also had 10 rebounds.
UE will return to action with the start of Missouri Valley Conference play later this month, as Indiana State will pay a visit to the Ford Center on Dec. 30.
NOTES: UE won the tip, marking a first for the Aces this season … Sara Dickey's career point total of 1,824 ranks 16th in Missouri Valley Conference history. She is 21 points away from tying former Indiana State star Kourtney Mennen (1999-03) for 15th … Dickey ranks ninth among the nation's active leading scorers … Despite coming away with six steals on the night, Camary Williams will remain second nationally in the category as Chanette Hicks registered eight for Virginia Tech on Wednesday. Williams entered the day trading the Hokie sophomore by .03 per game … Williams has now recorded five or more takeaways in six games this season. The Aces are 5-1 in such contests … UE is now 5-2 all-time against the state of Alabama.
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