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DES MOINES, Iowa – Junior Kat Taylor scored 18 second-half points and senior Katie Ellerson sank four late free throws to lead the University of Evansville women's basketball team to a hard-fought, 71-64, victory over host Drake Sunday afternoon at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
In a game that featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes, Evansville (7-8, 2-2 MVC) held Drake (7-8, 1-3 MVC) to just one field goal over the final 1:04 to preserve the win.  Taylor led all players with 21 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and freshman Sara Dickey finished with 20 points on a 7-for-15 effort that included four three-pointers.  Four Aces grabbed six or more rebounds, including freshman Sasha Robinson, who finished with a game-high 12 boards, including seven on the offensive glass.
 
UE dominated the glass in the opening minutes of the game, grabbing nine of the contest's first 10 boards and using six offensive rebounds to help open up an 11-4 lead, when Robinson converted a layup off of an entry pass from junior Mallory Ladd just under five minutes in.
 
Junior Khristian Hart capped a 10-0 Evansville run with a three from the top of the arc at the 13:41 mark, before Drake responded with a run of its own.  Bartow started the rally by draining a three to end an over five-minute field goal drought for the Bulldogs and Alyssa Marschner came up with a steal and a transition layup to trim the Aces' lead to 14-11 with 11:06 remaining in the first half.
 
Kyndal Clark tied the game at 16-16 just over two minutes later by burying a trey from the left wing, but UE countered with a 9-2 run that was highlighted by back-to-back threes from Dickey to grab a 25-18 lead at the 6:46 mark of the opening stanza.
 
However, DU closed the half on an 11-4 run to tie the game, 29-29, at the break, after Clark hit a running jumper at the halftime buzzer.
 
Dickey led Evansville with 11 points at the break, as the Aces shot 29.4 percent (10-for-34) from the floor, including a 5-for-15 effort from beyond the arc (33.3 percent).  Clark led Drake with 10 first-half points, as the Bulldogs shot 38.7 percent in the first half (12-for-31), but hit just three of their 14 attempts from three-point land (21.4 percent).
 
The two teams traded the lead for the opening 12 minutes of the second half, before Taylor gave UE its largest second-half lead, 55-51, with 7:03 left to play by connecting on a pair of free throws.
 
With 3:56 remaining in the game, Ladd made a key three-pointer at the top of the key to put the Aces in front, 63-57, but Drake would slowly whittle away at the lead and Clark made one of two free throws at the 2:40 mark to pull the Bulldogs within one possession at 65-62.
 
Caitlin Ingle tied the game for the final time at 65-65 by hitting one of two free throw attempts with 1:01 remaining, before Ladd grabbed an offensive rebound off of an Ellerson miss and put it back up and in to put UE in front by two with 39.2 seconds showing on the clock.
 
Freshman Dakota Weatherford came up with a key rebound on DU's next possession, as she dove on the floor to secure a loose ball and called timeout to allow Evansville to retain possession with just 24.1 seconds remaining.
 
Following the rebound, Drake was forced to foul to extend the game, sending Ellerson to the line on a pair of occasions, where she converted all four attempts to secure the win.
 
The Aces shot a sparkling 53.8 percent from the field in the second half (14-for-26) and hit five more threes to finish 10-for-28 from behind the arc (35.7 percent).  Defensively, UE limited the Missouri Valley Conference's top three-point shooting team to just a 20.0 percent clip, as Drake hit just five of its 25 three-point attempts.
 
Evansville also won the battle of the boards, 46-38, despite allowing the Bulldogs to post a 32-18 advantage in the paint and a 17-11 margin in second-chance points.
 
The Aces will be back in action Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m., when they host in-state rival Indiana State at the Ford Center.