OMAHA, Neb. – It has been a real life Groundhog Day for the University of Evansville women’s basketball team for the past six games. They hang close for the majority of the 40 minutes, but lose control at the end and come up just short. It happened again Saturday at Creighton’s D.J. Sokol Arena, as Evansville fell 60-50 to the Bluejays. After the loss, the Aces are now 7-15 overall and 2-9 in the MVC, while Creighton improved to have the reverse record.

Sophomores Samantha Heck, Meagan Collins, and Taylor Ware led the Aces offensively with 10 points apiece, with Ware coming off the bench to reach double figures for the second time in her career. Heck also led the Aces with seven rebounds and five assists.

Senior Stephanie Bamberger knocked down a game-opening three, as the Aces jumped to a 7-5 lead to start the contest before Creighton tied it up on Kelsey Woodard’s jumper and took control for much of the remaining 17 minutes of the first half.  Evansville clung to the Bluejays the entire opening period, trailing by two for the majority of the time and never going down by more than four points.  

The Aces caught up with 6:48 to go on Ware’s jumper and then again on freshman Katie Ellerson’s runner in the lane, tying it at 20-20 with 2:08 remaining. CU’s Sarah Nelson tallied three straight points for the Bluejays, but Heck hit her two free throws to keep Evansville within one, 23-22, with under a minute to play. However, with five seconds to go, Sam Schuett knocked down a jumper to give the Bluejays a 25-22 lead into the break.

Although Evansville shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Aces’ defense made up for it, holding Creighton to 40.7 percent (11-for-27) shooting from the floor and just 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Out of the locker rooms, the Bluejays extended their lead to as much as four points before the Aces tied it on Heck’s jumper and took their first lead of the second half, 32-30, on Ware’s layup with 15:42 on the clock.

However, Creighton answered with a 14-7 run, taking a nine-point lead, 46-37, with 10:45 to go. The Aces didn’t throw in the towel though. Evansville stepped up on the defensive end, and held the Bluejays scoreless for the next five minutes and tallied six straight points, capped by Chelsea Falkenstein’s clutch three-pointer. The junior’s basket put the Aces within three, 46-43, with six minutes remaining.

After Woodard’s three-pointer 17 seconds later that put CU up six again, neither team scored until the 2:18 mark, when the Bluejays extended the gap to nine on another trey. Collins responded with a three of her own, but a jumper by Schuett put the nail in the coffin with a minute to go.

The Aces were forced to foul to try to regain control of the ball, but the Bluejays hit 6-of-6 free throws in the final minute to earn the 10-point victory.

For the game, Evansville shot 36.5 percent from the floor (19-for-52), 36.4 percent from three-point range (4-for-11), and 88.9 percent (8-for-9) from the free throw line.

The Aces are back in action next Saturday, when they travel to take on Southern Illinois at 2:05 p.m. CST in Carbondale, Ill.