EVANSVILLE — The University of Evansville women's basketball team got it done from the free throw line on Sunday afternoon, sinking 10 free throws over the final 78 seconds to hold on for a 60-56 victory over Illinois State at the Ford Center.
The victory was the third consecutive for the Aces, who have improved to 11-16 on the year with a 6-10 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play. Meanwhile, ISU dropped to 7-21 and 4-13, respectively.
After celebrating seniors Sara Dickey, Ashley Hawkins, Sasha Robinson and Camary Williams with a special pre-game ceremony, it was Dickey and Williams who put the Aces off to a hot start. Williams recorded three steals in the opening quarter and Dickey sank a pair of threes to help the Aces grab a 16-7 lead after the first quarter.
Williams would end the game with three steals, giving her a school-record 109 for the season, which is the most ever for a UE player, bettering the mark of 108, which was set by Latasha Austin during the 2001-02 season.
"For Camary to break that record here today was pretty cool," UE head coach Matt Ruffing said. "I'm happy she was able to do it in front of the home fans. She got a lot of big rebounds for us today too. I'm happy we were able to send off our seniors the right way. We're building momentum, and hopefully we can continue that going into next weekend."
Williams ended the day with a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Dickey led the Aces with 15 points, and both Kerri Gasper and Brooke Dossett boasted of double-figure scoring performances, racking up 11 and 10, respectively.
UE would continue to stretch the lead in the second quarter, taking a 30-17 advantage into the break. However, the Redbirds slowly started to inch back into the game, beginning with a 15-point third frame that saw the team cut the deficit to 10 at 42-32 to enter the final quarter.
The two teams would trade baskets to over the first five minutes of the fourth before layups from Frannie Corrigan and Brechelle Beachum preceded a Taylor Stewart triple to make it a 48-45 game with 2:55 left.
Robinson ended the UE drought with a layup on the other end, but Stewart responded in-kind with an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to two at 50-48.
From there, the game would be decided at the line, with Gasper hitting a pair. Williams would sink four in a row, bookending a Katrina Beck layup with trips to the line. ISU kept fighting as Beck hit two freebies to cut the lead back to two at 56-54 with just under 16 seconds left.
Beck ended the day with a game-best 18 points, and Stewart added another 14.
A pair of Dossett free throws stretched the lead back to four, but Beachum, who played the role of hero in ISU's come-from-behind win over UE in Normal, responded with a basket on the other end to make it 58-56.
Macie Lively, a freshman out of Tipton, Ind., effectively iced the game with two more free throws with 7.2 seconds left.
The contest was the final game for the Aces at home this season, and it marked the last for the team at the Ford Center as the women's basketball team will be moving to a newly-renovated Carson Center next season. UE will return to action with the final week of regular season action before playing in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament next month in Moline, Ill.
NOTES: Sara Dickey, UE's all-time leading scorer with 2,041 points, owns the 12th-best scoring mark in Indiana Division I history and she now stands just 13 points away from tying former Northern Iowa star Jacqui Kalin for the seventh-best total in Missouri Valley Conference history … Camary Williams' steal total of 109 is tied with former Missouri State star Tyonna Snow (2015-16) for the sixth-best single-season total in MVC history … With nine rebounds on Sunday, Sasha Robinson's career total moved up to 807, which is just six shy of the third-best mark in UE history, which is currently occupied by Jamie Gray (2000-04).
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