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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Evansville women’s basketball team used a gritty defensive effort, a career offensive performance by junior forward Amy Gallagher and some clutch free throw shooting in the final minute to survive a scare from the visiting Murray State University Racers, 57-52, on Sunday at Roberts Stadium in Evansville.
Defensively, the Purple Aces held the high-flying Racers to nearly 25 points below their scoring average, while forcing Murray State into 32.8 percent shooting from the floor, including just 11.8 percent shooting from three-point range (2-for-17). Murray State entered the game ranked 22nd nationally in terms of scoring offense at 76.8 points per contest.
“I was really proud of our defensive intensity this afternoon,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “To be
able to hold such a talented offense to just 52 points is a credit to how hard the players worked on the defensive end of the court today.”
Offensively, Gallagher scored a career-high 16 points and dished out a career-best seven assists to power the UE attack, and out-duel another high-powered #23 in Murray State senior forward Ashley Hayes. While Hayes earned the edge in both points (21 to 16) and rebounds (nine to six) over Gallagher, the UE junior dished out a career-best seven assists against just two turnovers in 34 minutes of action which led to an additional 16 points for Evansville on the offensive end.
“Amy was outstanding today,” said Murphy. “She really got us going in the first half, not only by looking for her shot, but also be setting up her teammates with unselfish play. Then, down the stretch, when we needed a basket to get us going, she stepped up and hit a big shot in the lane to get us going again.”
Gallagher scored 10 of her 16 points and dished out six of her seven assists in the first 12 minutes of the contest, as Evansville raced out to a 34-13 edge thanks to 68.2 percent shooting (15-for-22) over the first 12 minutes. The Racers would close the half on a 7-0 run though to trim the deficit back to 34-20 at the break, and the high-powered duo of Hayes and senior guard Amber Guffey, who both entered the game ranked in the nation’s Top 20 in scoring, would heat up in the second half to get Murray State back in the contest.
Hayes would score 19 of her game-high 21 points after halftime to power the Racers, and Guffey added 13 points in the second half to help Murray State eventually tie the game at 48-48 on a pair of Guffey free throws with 2:32 to play. Gallagher would respond with a jumper in the lane on UE’s next possession though to give the Purple Aces a 50-48 lead, and UE would hit seven of eight free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the game and earn Evansville its sixth victory of the year.
“I am really proud of the way the team stepped up and responded in the final two minutes,” said Murphy. “Stephanie Bamberger did a nice job of going to the line and hitting four free throws late, and the way we were able to battle for two key offensive rebounds in the final two minutes to extend out the key possession in the game was huge. We still have a lot to work on as a team, but a win is much better than the alternative, and we’ll take it.”
Hayes and Guffey both reached their averages with 21 and 19 points respectively for Murray State, however, no other Racer scored more than six points in the contest. For Evansville, Gallagher paced the attack with 16 points, while seniors Ashley Austin and Robyn Jennings both chipped in nine points apiece. Sophomore guard Ashlee Barrett added seven points, while Bamberger and senior center Shannon Novosel each added six points.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 6-3 on the season, while Murray State falls to 4-5 on the year. The Purple Aces will now hit the road on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. to battle Ohio Valley Conference member Tennessee Tech in a non-conference contest. Due to a direct time conflict with the UE men’s basketball game at #1 North Carolina, Thursday’s women’s game will be broadcast on-line only at www.gopurpleaces.com.
