Box Score
Despite overcoming a 12 point second-half deficit to force an overtime period, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team came up just short against the visiting Drake Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at Roberts Stadium. The Aces fell by a score of 69-62, as DU’s Kristin Turk led her squad with 41 points. UE fell to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in the MVC, while Drake improved to 8-6 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.
Sophomore
Meagan Collins propelled the Aces with her first career double-double, tallying 19 points and 11 rebounds. Junior
Briyana Blair also had a stellar game, recording 17 points, seven assists, and five steals.
From the tip-off, Turk controlled the game, scoring Drake’s first 12 points of the contest. Sophomore
Samantha Heck knocked down a jumper at the 10:11 mark in the opening period to give the Aces a 13-9 advantage.
After losing the lead briefly, Collins hit a three at the 7:09 mark to even the score at 16-16. However, that would be the Aces’ final basket of the half, until freshman
Katie Ellerson hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds to go. Ellerson’s basket ended Drake’s 11-0 run and cut the Bulldogs’ halftime lead to 27-19.
DU stretched their lead to 12 with 18:21 to go in the second stanza, but the momentum shifted in favor of Evansville, as the Aces sparked a 18-6 run to tie it up, 37-37 on Blair’s fifth steal and throw ahead to Collins. From there, the score was tied six times and the lead changed nine more times throughout the remainder of the half.
With nine seconds left, Blair’s layup tied the score at 56-56 and sent the Aces into their first overtime period of the season. With 2:54 left in overtime, senior
Stephanie Bamberger ‘s three put the Aces up for the last time in the game, 60-58. But, the Bulldogs took over from there, capitalizing on UE’s turnovers and forced the Aces to foul in the final minute.
Evansville had a season-high 30 turnovers, but that was still better than Drake’s 33. The Aces struggled at the free throw line, shooting 54.5 percent (12-for-22) ,while DU shot 83.3 percent (15-for-18) and also had a better percentage from the field (43.9%-36.1%) and from beyond the arc (36.4%-33.3% ).
The Aces are back in action next Saturday when they host Southern Illinois at 2:05pm CST at Roberts Stadium.
