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ST. CHARLES, Mo.—In what is believed to be the largest comeback in State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament history, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to post an 84-81 overtime victory over the fourth-seeded Bradley Braves at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. UE now advances on to play No. 2 Creighton in Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. championship game for the right to advance on to the NCAA Tournament.
“I can not say enough about the heart, determination, and character this group showed tonight,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “They never quit or gave in and were always fighting, and I can not be more proud of them for the way they played tonight.”
Bradley used an 18-2 run 12 minutes into the first half to build a 36-16 lead. The Braves would eventually take a 17-point lead into the halftime locker room, 40-23, as the Braves hit on 44.8 percent of its shots (13-for-29), including 62.5 percent from three-point range (5-of-8). Evansville, conversely, shot just 32.0 percent in the first half (8-for-25), including 0-of-9 shooting from long range.
“I felt like we played with nerves in the first half,” said Murphy. “In the second half though, we played with heart.”
Evansville would score the first eight points of the second half to quickly trim the Bradley lead back to single digits, 40-31, on a jumper by senior forward Robyn Jennings with 18:12 to play. Evansville would eventually trim the deficit back to just four points, 50-46, with 6:23 to play on a jumper in the lane by freshman forward Eva Benson, but the Braves would respond with a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 59-48 lead into the final media timeout with just 3:24 remaining. That’s when Jennings and rookie guard Jordan Lewis took over for UE.
Jennings and Lewis combined for 11 of UE’s 12 points in a 12-3 run which trimmed the Bradley lead to just two points, 62-60, with 1:17 to play. After a pair of missed free throws by Bradley, UE junior guard Amy Gallagher worked her way to the line and hit two free throws to tie the game at 62-62 with 1:11 left in regulation.
Bradley would score four quick points to grab a 66-62 lead with under a minute to play, but Evansville would respond again with a three-point play by senior guard Ashley Austin to cut the BU lead to 66-65 with 33 seconds to play. Lewis then followed a pair of Bradley free throws with a clutch three-pointer from the left wing with 9.2 seconds left to tie the game at 68-68 and force overtime.
“To be honest, I never thought I would have the ball in my hands in that situation, but I took a dribble and the defender gave me the look, so I took it and hoped that it went in,” said Lewis. “After we tied it up and forced overtime, the entire team felt like we had come too far not to come away with the victory.”
In overtime, the two teams would battle back-and-forth until UE used a jumper by Austin with 1:31 left and a pair of Lewis free throws with 1:22 to play to build a 77-75 cushion. Evansville would then go 7-of-8 from the free throw line the rest of the way, including five-straight free throws by sophomore forward Stephanie Bamberger in the final 18 seconds to seal the victory and advance to the championship game. They were Bamberger’s only points of the game.
Jennings led four Purple Aces in double-figures with 19 points and nine rebounds. Austin added 14 points, while Lewis chipped in a career-high 13 points, with 11 of the 13 points coming in the final 3:09 of regulation and overtime. Gallagher also added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals for UE.
Raisa Taylor led Bradley with 24 points, while Monica Rogers added a 20-point, 11-rebound as four Braves reached double-figures.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 14-18 overall and advances to its first State Farm MVC Tournament final since winning the tournament in 1999. Sunday’s championship game can be seen live on Fox Sports Midwest at 3:05 p.m. and heard live in the Tri-State area on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
