EVANSVILLE — Plagued by foul trouble for much of the game, Camary Williams played the role of hero down the stretch, scoring six points and picking off a pass over the course of the final 39 seconds to lead the University of Evansville women's basketball team to a 73-71 victory over visiting Bradley at the Ford Center.
Williams, who was held to 3-of-10 shooting on the night, earned her points late at the free throw line, draining a pair to put UE ahead 69-68 with 39 seconds left before recording her fourth steal of the night just seconds later to earn another trip to the charity stripe. The Ft. Myers, Fla., native hit both to give UE a three-point cushion, but it was a short-lived lead as Bradley's Danielle Brewer hit a three with just under 14 seconds left to tie things back up.
Following the make, Ruffing called a timeout to draw up a play. The plan worked to perfection as Williams took advantage of a defensive lapse, getting a backdoor feed from Brooke Dossett to lay-in the game-winning basket with under five seconds left.
"It was a big down for us when they hit the three, but we told the girls to be ready because teams can get really aggressive at the end of games," Ruffing explained. "We were going to try to use it against them. Cam did a great job of setting it up, and Brooke made one heck of a pass. I'm just so happy for our kids to finish out a close one and get the W. Momentum is building for us, and we have to keep it going."
"I was just trying to stay disciplined because I knew I needed to stay in the game down the stretch," Williams said. "On the last play, Bradley was keying in on Sara because she was hitting shots. I knew that I'd be able to beat the defender with my speed on the back door, so getting the pass was probably the most important part."
Williams was one of five UE players in double figures with 13 points. Sara Dickey led the way with an efficient 19-point night on 8-of-13 shooting. Dossett had 13 points to go along with a career-best nine assists with just one turnover, and the duo of Kerri Gasper and Sasha Robinson combined for another 23.
UE (10-16, 5-10 Missouri Valley Conference) forced 18 turnovers in the contest, overcoming a lopsided rebounding performance that saw the Braves pull down 46 boards to the Aces' 24. BU (10-17, 6-10 MVC) finished with 40 points in the paint and 22 second-chance points.
After playing a mostly even first half, the second half turned into game of runs. The Braves leveled the first punch in the third, running off six straight points to take the lead, but UE would warm up from distance as the quarter wore on with Dossett, Williams and Dickey all connecting from distance on the way to taking a seven-point lead into the final stanza.
That lead would stretch out to nine points after a pair of Ashley Hawkins free throws to start the fourth, but five straight points from Vanessa Markert and a Lerma layup cut it back to a one-possession game.
The teams would start to trade buckets from there, with Bradley eventually pulling level on a Markert jumper before grabbing their first lead of the quarter on another Lerma basket with 2:09 left on the clock.
Following a timeout, Robinson converted on a three-point play for the Aces to return the lead to UE momentarily, but Markert answered on the other end to set up the game's thrilling final moments.
Markert ended the night with 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Lerma nearly had a double-double as well, scoring 16 and pulling down nine boards. Both Brewer and Shareece Burrell added 11 points apiece.
UE will return to action on Sunday at the Ford Center with a showdown against Illinois State. The game, which will mark Senior Day for the Aces, is also the last scheduled women's basketball game at the Ford Center for the foreseeable future as the team will be moving to a newly-renovated Carson Center next season.
Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m.
NOTES: UE has won consecutive conference games for the second time this season. The Aces started the league slate with back-to-back victories over Loyola and Indiana State … With nine assists, Brooke Dossett was just one away from becoming the first Aces player with 10 helpers since Ashley Austin in the 2008-09 season … Camary Williams has now recorded 106 steals this season. She is just two away from tying Latasha Austin's school record, which was set during the 2001-02 campaign … UE all-time leading scorer Sara Dickey has now scored 2,026 career points. She is just 28 points from moving up to seventh in Missouri Valley Conference history and she's ascended to 12th in the history of Division I players in the state of Indiana … Sasha Robinson's six rebounds on Friday moved her career total to 798, which is just 13 shy of the third-best total in UE history.
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