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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Mallory Ladd scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds for her ninth career double-double, but her efforts could not help the University of Evansville women's basketball team overcome a 19.5 percent shooting percentage, as the Purple Aces fell to visiting Murray State, 62-50, Monday night at the Ford Center.
 
Ladd was one of two players in double figures, as she finished the night 3-for-12 from the field and went 7-for-8 from the free throw line.  Freshman Sara Dickey recorded her second-straight double-digit scoring performance, going 4-for-20 from the field and 4-for-4 at the line for 12 points.  Dickey also added nine rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, as UE hauled in a total of 66 rebounds, just one shy of the single-game record set in 2005.
 
Evansville (1-1) opened the game with a quick scoring spurt to take an early 6-2 lead on free throws by Ladd and junior Kat Taylor.  However, the lead was short lived as Murray State (2-0) responded by going on a 13-4 run to grab a 15-10 advantage at the 11:03 mark on a jumper by Jashae Lee.
 
Janssen Starks drained a three to put the Racers in front, 21-13, with 7:37 remaining in the opening half, before the Aces scored the next six points on layups by Ladd, freshman Sasha Robinson and Dickey to cut the margin to 21-19 just under three minutes later.
 
The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the opening stanza, as Lee gave MSU a 31-27 lead with a layup with just 20 seconds remaining in the half.
 
Murray State finished the half 11-for-39 from the field (28.2 percent) and connected on just two of their 16 tries from beyond the arc (12.5 percent).  Unfortunately UE did not fare any better, as it finished 9-for-44 (20.5 percent) from the field over the first 20 minutes of action.
 
The Racers pushed their lead to double digits for the first time by going on a 7-0 run to start the second half, as they got five of the seven points from Nikia Edom, who sank a pair of free throws and knocked down a triple, prior to a Jessica Winfrey layup that put MSU in front, 38-27, with 15:56 remaining in the contest.
 
Sophomore Laura Friday and Dickey ended Evansville's scoring drought by hitting four-straight free throws, but Murray State pushed its lead back to 12, 42-30, at the 11:53 mark on a Chanyere Hosey layup and a pair of Edom free throws.
 
Kirby gave the Racers their largest lead of the night by grabbing a steal and converting a layup on the other end of the floor, giving MSU a 50-36 advantage, before the Aces countered with an 11-2 run to trim the lead to 52-47 with 3:04 left to play.
 
Dickey started the run by connecting on a jumper from the left wing, Taylor continued the rally with a layup and a free throw and Ladd pulled the margin to single digits with two more makes from the charity stripe, before Dickey and freshman Dakota Weatherford capped the run with back-to-back layups.
 
Edom ended the run with a three from the right corner and Murray State's defense held UE to a 1-for-6 effort over the final two minutes of the game to seal the victory.
 
Evansville outrebounded the Racers, 66-54, and grabbed 23 offensive boards, but MSU outscored the Aces, 22-20, in the paint and 11-0 on points off of turnovers.
 
Kirby and Edom led Murray State with 13 points apiece, while Lee finished with a double-double, registering 12 points and 10 boards.
 
UE will be on the road for the first time this season, when it travels to Missouri on Thursday, Nov. 14, for a 7 p.m. game with the host Tigers at Mizzou Arena.