MOLINE, Ill. - The final play for the University of Evansville women's basketball team wasn't initially drawn up for Sara Dickey, but that, like the tight defense from Illinois State, didn't seem to matter as the junior drained the winner with just seconds left in overtime on Thursday night to send the Purple Aces into Friday's Missouri Valley Championship quarterfinal round at the iWireless Center.
"I was kind of the default when the original look wasn't there," Dickey revealed. "When I got the ball, I was just trying to make a move or get a look. I knew time was running out, so I threw it up there and if it didn't fall, maybe there'd be a chance for an offensive rebound."
The shot, her first-ever game-winner, sealed a 61-59 victory for the Aces (3-27) and put a halt to a 14-game skid that dated back to January. It also gave interim head coach Matt Ruffing his first career victory.
"I'm just really excited and happy for this team," Ruffing said. "This team has focused and bought in over these past two weeks, and they've concentrated on a lot of the little things. On top of that, Sara is a big-time player for us, and she stepped up in the big moments tonight and hit the shots when we needed her."
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Game Notes
Dickey, whose 11-point third quarter helped the Aces surge to a 10-point lead late in the frame, finished the game with 24 points on 8-of-19 shooting, and she'd be the only Aces player to hit double-figures on the night. The total gives her 1,637 for her career and pushed her past UE Hall of Famer Shyla McKibbon-Puelston for the second-best career total in Aces history.
An eight-point first half from Ashley Hawkins helped UE grab an early lead, but the fortune seemed to be falling in the Redbirds' favor after a pair of banked three-pointers and a buzzer-beating 30-footer helped ISU take the game into the half with the score tied at 27-27.
After Dickey's big third quarter gave UE a seven-point lead entering the fourth, the Redbirds started to surge forward as a Shakeela Fowler three-pointer and Octavia Crump jumper punctuated a 7-0 Redbird run to put the Aces behind for the first time since the first quarter.
Crump would once again prove hard to guard for the Aces as regulation wound down as she gave ISU (8-22) a 54-51 lead with just over a minute remaining. She would go on to finish the game with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Crump bucket only set the stage for the Dickey counterpunch as she drained a contested three from the left wing with eight seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime.
Colleene Smith, who'd finish with 10 points and nine boards for ISU, opened the scoring in the extra period with a lay-up, but Dickey answered the bell once again to make it 56-all in the first minute. A Sasha Robinson bucket with 1:54 left gave UE the lead at 58-57, and a Dickey free throw with 25 seconds left made it a two-point edge for the Aces.
Robinson ended the night with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Crump responded on the other end, but with eight seconds left, it would prove enough time for Dickey to dribble baseline and pull up for the contested game-winner with three seconds left.
With the win, the Aces will take on Drake in the MVC quarters for the second consecutive season. In last year's tournament, the Aces knocked off the Bulldogs in overtime to punch their ticket to the semifinal round.
Tipoff for Friday's semifinal is slated for 6 p.m.
NOTES: UE is 14-15 all-time in MVC tournament play ... Last season, the team made a run to the semifinal round for the first time since the 2009 season ... The Aces knocked off both Illinois State and Drake before ultimately falling to Missouri State in the semis ... UE has won at least one game in the conference tournament 10 times since 1999 ... Sara Dickey now trails just Shelly Brand-Adlard on UE's all-time scoring list. Brand-Adlard finished her career in 1985 with 1,713 career points ... With 602 career rebounds, Sasha Robinson ranks ninth all-time in the UE history books ... She is just one away from moving up to eighth.
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