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PEORIA, Ill.—The University of Evansville women’s basketball team ran its winning streak to six games on Thursday night in Peoria, as the Purple Aces posted a 71-50 victory over the Bradley University Braves at Robertson Field House.
The Purple Aces used a 33-7 run just minutes into the second half to turn a two-point cushion into a 28-point lead, 64-36, with 4:46 to play. Twenty-five of UE’s 33 points in the run came from the Purple Aces’ post players, as overall, UE received 41 points from forwards Shannon Novosel, Robyn Jennings, Anaris Sickles, Jillian Palan, and Stephanie Bamberger.
“I thought that our post players really stepped up in the second half,” said UE head coach Tricia Cullop. “They did a very good job of stepping up defensively and denying Bradley entry into the post in the second half. When they did that, it allowed us to pressure on the perimeter, get some steals, and I thought that the posts did a good job of getting out and running in transition for some easy baskets.
“This is a very good team win for us. I thought that we did a great job of pressuring defensively, and we did a very good job of spreading the ball around offensively. To dish out 21 assists tonight is a credit to the style of team basketball that we played tonight.”
Novosel led a pack of three post players in double-figures for UE with 16 points. Jennings also recorded her second double-double in the last three games, as she had 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sickles joined them in double-figures with 12 points, while Palan also added seven points off of the bench. UE’s reserves stepped up in a big way scoring 30 points, while leading scorers Rebekah Parker (six points, seven assists, eight rebounds), Courtney Felke (six points), and Ashley Austin (one point, four assists) were held to just 13 points.
“Our bench depth was huge tonight,” said Cullop. “We knew that Bradley was a little short-handed due to injury, so we wanted to go deep into our bench and try to wear them out. I think we were able to do that tonight, and it was great to see a lot of different players step up off of the bench.”
In all, 11 of the 12 Purple Aces who played scored in the contest, with seven of the players adding six points or more. Guard Skye Johnson paced Bradley with nine points.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. It represents UE’s best conference start since the 1998-99 season. Bradley, meanwhile, falls to 7-12 overall and 1-7 in the MVC. Evansville will now travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa to battle the University of Northern Iowa Panthers (7-12, 3-5 MVC) on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4:05 p.m. and Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
