Box Score (PDF)

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 7^th seeded University of Evansville women's basketball team (13-19) saw their season and Missouri Valley Conference Tournament run end with a 75-66 loss to Missouri State on Saturday night. Guard Sara Dickey totaled a team-high 20 points for Evansville and became the first player in program history with a 600 point season (602).
 
"I thought Missouri State played a phenomenal game," said Evansville head coach Oties Epps. "They were really aggressive. They attacked us hard. They were really physical and really dictated to us on both sides of the basketball, especially in that first half."
 
Missouri State outscored Evansville 32-16 in the first half and secured a 6-0 run to begin the game. UE received a three from forward Mallory Ladd to slash the deficit in half at the 16:20 mark. The Lady Bears built the lead back to eight, 11-3, on a Kenzie Williams jumper with 14:44 remaining in the first half. UE then tallied the next three points on a Ladd free throw and a jumper from guard Khristian Hart. Leading by five with 13:54 to play in the half, Missouri State answered by scoring the next seven points and building an 18-6 advantage. UE brought the difference down to single digits, 18-11 with a jumper by Hart and a three from guard Kat Taylor with 9:11 on the clock.  The Lady Bears then went on an 8-0 run for the 23-11 advantage. Dickey scored her first points of the game on a jumper with 4:05 to play and scored the final five points for UE entering halftime. The Aces shot just 19.4% in the first half, making only three of their 13 three pointers. Dickey led UE with a team-high five points as Hart and Ladd had four points each. Ladd had three first half fouls and only played 14 minutes before the break.
 
The Lady Bears added to their advantage in the second half, going up by as many as 24 points with 8:38 to play in the game. Trailing 61-37, Evansville continued to chip away at the deficit. The Purple Aces went on an 8-0 run to bring the difference to 16 with 6:53 remaining in regulation. After swapping a few baskets, UE was down 71-52 with only 1:48 showing on the clock. The Aces put together a 12-2 run to trail by only nine points. Ladd scored seven straight points during the stretch as Hart added two free throws and a three from forward Peyton Langston brought the score to 73-64. In the end, Missouri State would go on to win the MVC Semifinal matchup and advance to the championship game on Sunday against the top seeded Wichita State Shockers.
 
Dickey ends the season with 602 points, most for any player in single season program history. Her 69 made three-pointers this season is third most for an Ace. She is only the fourth player in program history to make 200 or more field goals in a season (203). The sophomore's 1148 career points ranks second most for any player in program history.
 
With the defeat, UE says goodbye to three seniors in guard Khristian Hart, forward Mallory Ladd and guard Kat Taylor. Hart (13 points), Ladd (11) and Taylor (11) also joined Dickey in double figures and combined to score 36 of the team's points on Saturday night. The Aces will have nine returning players from this historic run to the MVC Semifinals coming back next season.