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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—After a slow start, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team exploded for 56 first-half points Friday night and never looked back, as the Purple Aces cruised past the visiting Wichita State Shockers and into a first place tie in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 94-60 victory in the “MVC TV Game of the Week” at Roberts Stadium in Evansville.
After a tight first nine minutes in which the Purple Aces held just an 18-14 lead with 11:19 to play, Evansville used a quick 7-0 run fueled by a three-pointer from junior forward Shannon Novosel and four-straight points by senior guard Rebekah Parker to grab its first double-digit lead of the evening, 25-14, with 9:20 to play.
Wichita State would eventually trim the lead back to nine points, 31-22, on a free throw by reserve guard Shantel Pointer with 4:54 left, but Evansville would score the game’s next 17 points to push UE’s lead to 26, 48-22, with 1:45 left before the half. Rookie forward Stephanie Bamberger came off the bench to hit a pair of three-pointers to ignite the run and Parker added five points as well for UE.
Evansville would take a 56-30 lead into the halftime locker room, and the lead would grow to as much as 36 points on two different occasions in the half before the Purple Aces would settle for the 34-point margin of victory. The Purple Aces would play all 13 healthy members of its roster in the second half, with 11 of the 13 players recording double-figure minutes, and 12 of the 13 players cracking the scoring column.
Novosel paced five UE players in double-figures with 20 points, while Bamberger added a career-high 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Parker, who had nine points and eight rebounds at the half, finished just a rebound shy of her second career double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. Junior guard Ashley Austin (11 points) and sophomore forward Anaris Sickles (10 points) also reached double-figures for UE, which shot 43.9 percent from the floor (29-for-66).
Kiki Stephens was the lone Shockers in double-figures, as she posted a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
With the victory, Evansville extended its winning streak to eight games and improved to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in the MVC. Wichita State, meanwhile, falls to 8-14 and 2-8 in the MVC with the loss. The game was played in front of 2,511 fans on “Fan Appreciation Night” at UE.
“I really want to thank the fans who came out to support us tonight,” said UE head coach Tricia Cullop. “Our fans have been outstanding so far this year, and I’m glad that we could help repay them for their support tonight with a good effort. Hopefully, we’ll see them again on Sunday against Missouri State.”
Evansville will return to action next on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. as the Purple Aces will host the Missouri State University Lady Bears (7-14, 5-5 MVC). Sunday’s game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
