ST. CHARLES, Mo.—A rare five-point possession finally gave the University of Evansville women’s basketball team control of a back-and-forth contest Thursday and helped propel the Purple Aces past the Southern Illinois Salukis, 58-53, in the first round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Missouri on a night when UE senior Shannon Novosel would make school history.

 

After nine ties and 14 lead changes through the first 28 minutes, it was a lay-up by Novosel which sparked the five-point possession. On the play, Novosel was fouled, and following a missed free throw, UE sophomore forward Stephanie Bamberger was fouled on a put-back attempt to send her to the line. Bamberger would go 1-of-2 from the stripe, but on her miss, Novosel would grab the offensive rebound, and UE would eventually find senior guard Ashley Austin for a lay-up which gave UE a 39-36 lead with 10:56 to play.

 

The UE lead would fluctuate between two and six points for the next five minutes, until Novosel would connect on a three-pointer from the right-wing that would help her make school history, and give UE a nine-point cushion, 49-40. On the play, Novosel recorded her 1,000th point, and became the first player in school history, male or female, to record over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals, and 100 blocks in their playing career.

 

“To be honest, at first, I thought it was going to be an air ball,” said Novosel. “So, my first thought was to go grab the rebound.

 

“But, when it went in, it felt great, because that really helped us stretch out the lead and helped us pick up this victory.”

 

Evansville would stretch the lead to as many as 11 points, 55-44, on a jumper by Novosel with 1:40 to play. The Salukis would make one last run to cut the UE lead back to four points on two different occasions with under a minute to play, but Austin would go 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 11 seconds to help UE seal the victory and advance on to Friday’s State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinals against top-seeded Illinois State (24-6 overall) at 12:05 p.m.

 

“I was really proud of the focus and intensity that this group played with tonight,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “From the very start, we played very well as a group on the defensive end of the court, and we had different players step up to contribute on the offensive end.

 

“We are excited because this is a new season for us. We were able to get a fresh start today and pick up the victory. Tomorrow’s game with Illinois State is going to be tough, because they are a great team and they will be rested, but we are going to try and recover tonight, watch film, and we’ll be ready to play tomorrow at noon.”

 

Novosel led all scorers with 18 points, six rebounds, and a career-high four blocked shots. Bamberger joined her in double-figures with 13 points and six rebounds, while Austin chipped in nine points. Reserve guard Christine Presswood paced Southern Illinois with a career-high 15 points, while SIU senior forward Jasmine Gibson scored 10 points in her final game as a Saluki.

 

Evansville’s State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinal game against Illinois State on Friday will tip-off at 12:05 p.m. and it can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.