DES MOINES, Iowa — After hanging tough with preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Drake through three quarters, the University of Evansville women's basketball team fell victim to a big run by the hosts in the final stanza, dropping an 82-65 decision at the Knapp Center on Friday night.
"I don't like to say that I'm happy after a loss, but I really think this group took a lot of steps forward tonight," UE head coach Matt Ruffing said. "There's a reason Drake was the preseason No. 1 in the Valley, but we're getting there. We're going to work each day so that when we get them back on our own home court, maybe we can change the result."
With the loss, the Aces saw their three-game winning streak snapped as the team dropped to 7-7 on the year and 2-1 in conference play. Drake improved to 10-4 and 3-0, respectively.
Camary Williams, who scored the first seven UE points of the game, started off in ideal fashion, picking off the first pass of the game and laying it in on the other end. However, Drake responded forcefully with 10 consecutive points before Williams pushed the Aces back into within three at 10-7.
Williams ended the night with 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Brooke Dossett kept the good things rolling in the frame, as she buried a pair of threes to return the lead to UE, and Macie Lively closed out the opening quarter with a floater at the buzzer to give the Aces a 16-14 lead.
Dossett finished with five makes from distance on the night, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for 15 points.
The second period would once again see the hosts push ahead with a 13-2 mid-quarter run to make it 30-19. However, UE had a response with some hot shooting from distance. Dossett ended the surge with another three, and it kicked off a 14-2 spurt that was highlighted by a pair of Dickey threes that put the Aces ahead momentarily before a Caitlin Ingle buzzer-beater ended the half with Drake leading 34-33.
Dickey led the Aces on the day with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting. She also had three steals.
If the first half was a game of runs, the third quarter was one of punches and counterpunches. There were four lead changes in the first four minutes of the frame before back-to-back Dickey threes gave UE their biggest lead of the game at 49-43.
The hosts would start to work their way back into it as a pair of Sammie Bachrodt layups and a Lizzy Wendell three-point play to end the frame made it 57-all after three.
Wendell led all scorers in the game with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Nicole Miller was second on the team with 10 points. Bachrodt, Ingle, Brenni Rose and Mya Mertz each chipped in nine.
Drake put the game out of reach within the first few minutes of the fourth quarter as Wendell and Miller jump-started an 18-2 Bulldog run to take control.
UE will return to action on Sunday with a trip to Northern Iowa. Tipoff is slated for 11:30 a.m.
NOTES: Sara Dickey, UE's all-time leading scorer, now has 1,875 career points, which is the 14th-best mark in MVC history. With nine more points Sunday, she'd tie former Missouri State star Jenni Lingor (2002-05) for 13th … Sasha Robinson's career rebound total now stands at 721. She's 24 away from tying Samantha Heck (2009-13) for the fifth-best mark in UE history … Friday marked just the second time since November that Camary Williams was held to fewer than five steals in a game … UE is 14-39 all-time against Drake, which includes a 6-18 mark in Des Moines … The Aces are now 33-69 against schools from the state of Iowa.
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