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ST. CHARLES, Mo.—In case you were wondering, Cinderella wears a size nine in the Missouri Valley Conference, as the ninth-seeded University of Evansville women’s basketball team completed an improbable run to the State Farm MVC Tournament title on Sunday with a 47-45 victory over the second-seeded Creighton Bluejays thanks to junior guard Amy Gallagher’s baseline jumper with 0.3 seconds left.
With the game tied at 45-45 in the waning seconds, Tournament MVP Ashley Austin fired a cross-court skip pass to Gallagher on the right baseline, who connected from fifteen feet to give the Purple Aces the two-point lead. Gallagher then stole Creighton’s inbounds pass to seal the victory and propel Evansville to its first tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999.
“The play wasn’t originally designed to work like that, but Ashley made a great read and got a pass to me on the baseline,” said Gallagher, who had missed a potential go-ahead three-pointer on UE’s previous trip down the court. “Once the ball left my hands, I knew that it was going in.”
“Originally, the play was designed to have Shannon Novosel isolated on the low block,” said Austin, who led UE with 17 points. “But, Creighton had two players guarding her in the block. I knew at that point that someone had to be open, so I quickly looked over the court and saw a purple jersey on the far baseline. I didn’t even know who it was when I made the pass, but I knew I had to get her the ball quickly because time was running out.
“Once I saw that it was Amy on the baseline, I knew that we had just won the tournament.”
The game was s stark contrast to UE’s semifinal victory over Bradley on Saturday, as the Purple Aces raced out to a 20-7 lead in the first half thanks to 50.0 percent shooting through the first 12 minutes and seven early points from Novosel. UE would go cold the rest of the half though, hitting just one field goal in the final eight minutes, as Creighton used a 17-0 run to take a 26-24 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Bluejays would build a six-point lead eight minutes into the second half as all-tournament team selection Kelsey Woodard scored 15 of her game-high 18 points through the game’s first 28 minutes to give Creighton a 36-30 lead with 12:17 to play. Like they have all weekend though, the Purple Aces would battle back.
A lay-up by Austin on UE’s next possession would trim the deficit to 36-32, and after two defensive stops, Novosel would get UE back within just two points, 36-34 on a jumper in the lane with 10:14 to play. Austin would then bury a three-pointer from the right wing to cap UE’s 7-0 run to take a 37-36 lead with 9:33 to play.
From there, neither team would hold more than a two-point lead the rest of the game, as Evansville and Creighton battled back and forth. With the score tied at 45-45 on a Novosel free throw with 1:10 to play, Evansville would survive a three-pointer by Woodard to gain possession of the ball with 30 seconds to play. After a timeout, Austin would find Gallagher for the game’s final heroics.
Austin was named Tournament MVP after setting a new school record for points in a tournament with 62 points in four games (15.5 points per game), including scoring a team-best 17 points in the championship game. Novosel joined her on the all-tournament team after blocking a tournament-record 11 shots, while averaging 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for UE. Novosel joined Austin in double-figures in the final with 11 points and nine rebounds.
With the victory, Evansville improves to 15-18 and earns the Valley’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Purple Aces will find out their opponent and destination on Monday night at 6:00 p.m. central time during the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament selection show on ESPN.
