CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Evansville women's basketball team surged back from a 13-point deficit in the second quarter, but UNI pulled back ahead to capture the 65-41 win on Friday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

"I thought in that second quarter we made a little run and went in to the post and really did some nice things inside," said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. "I thought Kelsi (Scott) made some really good moves and brought us back and cut it to six. Unfortunately, we then gave up two transition buckets and kind of spiraled from there. I have to give UNI credit. They're a well-coached team. Our depth right now is a big concern. We just have to keep battling and just try and take anything we can away from these games."

Junior center Kelsi Scott scored a game-high 11 points and added nine rebounds in just 11 minutes to pace Evansville, while graduate guard Hannah Noe tallied 10 points. Helping clean up the boards was junior guard Kerri Gasper who chipped in seven points and nine rebounds. Abby Gerrits, Kennedy Kirkpatrick, and Karli Rucker all led the Panthers with nine points each and Megan Maahs tallied four points and 14 boards.

Both teams opened the game cold as Noe hit a three to get the scoring started 2:40 into the contest. After the Aces opened the early lead, UNI responded with an 11-0 run to take an eight-point advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Evansville cut its deficit to five at 13-8 before the Panthers pushed their lead back to seven on a jumper with 1:03 left in the period.

In the second quarter, UNI manufactured an 8-2 run to open up a 23-10 lead over the Aces and force an Evansville timeout. Out of the break, Scott went on a personal 7-0 run as UE trimmed the Panthers' advantage to just six at 23-17. UNI had an answer for Evansville as the Panthers went on a 7-0 run of their own to close the quarter and take a 30-17 lead into the half.
 

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Box Score (PDF)

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Midway through the third quarter, the Aces narrowed their deficit to 12 at 36-24 on a layup by sophomore center Kaylan Coffman. For the second time on the night, the Panthers put together a 7-0 run to swing momentum back in their favor as UNI owned a 45-26 lead heading into the fourth frame.

In what would be the final ten minutes, UNI found its rhythm. The Panthers shot 46.2% from the field and 55.6% from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, increasing their lead as large as 26. In the final minute, Scott hit a pair of layups that trimmed UNI's lead back to 24 as the Panthers grabbed the 65-41 win.

UNI won the rebounding battle as the Panthers out-rebounded the Aces, 50-38. Both teams struggled offensively as UNI shot 33.3% (23-69) from the field to 24.5% (13-53) for Evansville.

The Aces wrap-up a three-game MVC road trip on Sunday when they travel to face Drake at 2 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.
 

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