BOX SCORE

Evansville, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team knocked down a school-record 15 three-pointers Saturday afternoon en route to a 74-65 win over San Jose State in its home opener at the Ford Center.  Senior forward Samantha Heck posted a double-double for UE by scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
 
Heck was joined by redshirt sophomore Khristian Hart in double figures, as Hart finished 5-for-13 from three-point land and 3-for-5 at the free throw line for 18 points.  Ta’Rea Cunnigan led San Jose State with a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
 
SJSU dominated the interior, putting up 40 points inside the paint and scored 20 points off of 20 UE turnovers.  The Aces countered by winning the battle of the boards, grabbing 42 rebounds to the Spartans’ 35, including 13 on the offensive glass that led to 12 second-chance points.
 
San Jose State took an early 8-4 lead, but the Aces surged out of the first media timeout with an 11-0 run that included a trio of  three-pointers by Meagan Collins, Hart and Kat Taylor to capture a 15-8 advantage.
 
Laura Friday gave Evansville its largest lead of the first half at 21-11 by draining back-to-back treys, the first three-point baskets of her career, at the 11:02 mark.
 
Later in the first stanza, the Spartans went on a run of their own and knotted the game at 28-28 on a driving layup by Cunnigan that capped a 10-0 SJSU run.
 
Taylor Ware ended the run with a deep three from the left corner, one of nine first-half triples by the Aces, which sparked an 11-4 UE run to close the half and give Evansville a 39-32 advantage heading into the locker room.
 
Both teams traded baskets to open the second half, but San Jose State eventually chipped away at the UE margin and tied the game at 52-52 with 9:40 remaining in the contest.  The Spartans used the momentum to go on a 10-3 run and take its largest lead of the game at 62-55.
 
The Aces responded with a run of their own and retook the lead when redshirt senior Chelsea Falkenstein knocked down Evansville’s 14th shot from beyond the arc to tie the single-game school record and give UE a 63-62 lead with 4:16 remaining.  Falkenstein finished with eight points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Aces.
 
Hart hit the record-breaking trifecta at the 2:13 mark for one of her five triples, marking the second time this season that the redshirt sophomore has hit five shots from outside the arc. Hart’s three-pointer was part of a 19-3 run that the Aces used to close the game and secure the win.
 
San Jose State shot 43.9 percent from the field (25-for-57), but the Evansville defense held SJSU to a 14.3 percent clip from long range (2-for-14).  The Aces knocked down 38.7 percent of their shots from the floor (24-for-62) and connected on 40.5 percent of their three-point attempts (15-for-37).
 
Evansville will have just a two-day break until it returns to the court, as the Aces will be on the road at Murray State for a 7:00 p.m. contest Tuesday, Nov. 20, in Murray, Ky.