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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a 72-65 win over visiting Missouri State Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center to move to an even .500 in the Missouri Valley Conference.  The victory was also the sixth-straight for UE.
 
Junior Kat Taylor scored a game-high 22 points and tallied six assists to lead a pair of Evansville (13-14, 8-8 MVC) players in double figures, as freshman Sara Dickey dropped in 11 points, including nine in the second half.  Junior Mallory Ladd led all players with eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
The Aces jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest, as Taylor scored the first eight points of the game and UE's defense forced three Missouri State (13-15, 8-9 MVC) turnovers.
 
The Lady Bears got their first field goal of the game, when Bry Snow converted on a layup at the 15:36 mark, before Evansville countered with a 14-4 run to extend the advantage to 24-8, when Dakota Weatherford banked in a layup to force an MSU timeout with 8:39 left in the opening stanza.
 
Senior Miranda Liles gave the Aces their largest lead of the game at 29-10 by draining a 10-foot jumper and UE would take a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.
 
Evansville shot 51.6 percent in the first 20 minutes (16-for-31) and connected on five of its 14 first-half three-point attempts.  Missouri State made 11 of 31 first-half shot attempts (35.5 percent) and went 2-for-8 from beyond the arc (25. 0 percent).
 
The Aces scored the first four points of the second half to go up, 43-28, but the Lady Bears quickly whittled away UE's lead by going on an 18-8 run that was capped by a Tyonna Snow layup, bringing MSU to within five, 51-46, with 12:40 remaining.
 
After an Evansville timeout, Dickey drained a triple from the left wing and freshman Sasha Robinson made a layup following a Missouri State turnover to put the Aces back in front by double digits at 56-46 at the 12:10 mark.
 
The two sides would trade baskets for much of the remainder of the game, but MSU would cut the lead back to five on a pair of occasions, including with 46 seconds remaining, when Tyonna Snow made a layup, making the score, 70-65.
 
The Lady Bears forced a turnover on Evansville's ensuing possession, but UE was able to secure the win, after missed jumpers from Katie Palmer and NiJay Gaines in the final 30 seconds.
 
Palmer led MSU with 15 points off the bench and Bry Snow finished with 14 for the Lady Bears, who shot 38.8 percent for the game (26-for-67) and went 5-for-19 from three-point range (26.3 percent).
 
The Aces finished the afternoon with a 50.0 percent shooting clip (28-for-56) and finished 8-for-22 from distance (36.4 percent).
 
UE will wrap up its 2013-14 regular season next weekend, when Evansville travels to Bradley and Loyola.  The Aces will play the Braves Thursday, March 6, in Peoria, Ill., at 7 p.m., before wrapping up the season against the Ramblers Saturday, March 8, at 2 p.m. in Chicago.