VALPARAISO, Ind. - Despite shooting 40% in the opening two quarters, the University of Evansville women's basketball team was out-shot by Valparaiso 50.0% to 35.1% in the game in a 101-59 loss to the Crusaders on the road in Valparaiso, Ind. on Friday evening.
"We really tried this week to make things easier on our kids and break it down very cut and dry and we're still having issues with our roles and just doing our job," said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. "It's frustrating. You score 17 and 19 points in the first and second quarter and find yourself down 20 at the half and you're shooting 50% from three and you make 10 threes and you're down 20. We have a lot of work to do."
Junior guard Kerri Gasper paced the Purple Aces with 18 points adding three rebounds and a pair of assists. Also finishing in double-figures for UE was redshirt sophomore guard Marley Miller who tallied 11 points, two rebounds, and a steal. Five Crusaders finished with double-digit scoring performances with Meredith Hamlet tying Gasper with a game-high 18 points, while also pulling down seven rebounds and recording an assist.
After Valpo opened the game with a basket, the Aces pushed out in front on a three-pointer by Gasper with 9:07 left in the first quarter. The Crusaders responded to Evansville's three with a 6-0 run that gave Valpo an 8-3 lead and forced a UE timeout. The Aces would not go away in the opening quarter as Evansville cut its deficit to just one on three separate occasions, but each time Valpo answered with a basket. In the final 5:14 of the opening period, the Crusaders put together a 14-3 run to give Valpo a 29-17 lead after the first 10 minutes.
The Crusaders continued to pull away in the second quarter as Valpo opened the period on a 15-5 run in the first 3:35 of the frame. With Valpo's lead sitting at its largest point in the first half at 24 with 1:12 left in the quarter, Evansville hit a pair of three-pointers with a Crusaders' basket sandwiched in between to trim its deficit to 20 at 56-36 at the halftime break.
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Box Score (PDF)
In the third quarter, Valpo quickly increased its lead to 26 as the Crusaders went on a 6-0 run to open the period. Evansville tried to keep pace with Valpo in the third frame, but the Aces were out-shot 58.8% (10-17) to 20.0% (3-15).
Evansville and Valpo traded baskets back-and-forth in a see-saw fourth quarter. The Aces found their rhythm in the final period, shooting 5-12 (41.7%) from the field and hitting three triples. In the final 3:08 of the game, sophomore guard Crimson Jones hit a layup and Gasper closed the game with a layup and a three-pointer as Valpo earned the 101-59 win.
The Aces shared the ball well, assisting on 15 of their 20 baskets. Of Evansville's 20 made field goals, 14 of them came from beyond the arc compared to eight of 37 of Valpo's field goals coming from three-point range,
The road swing concludes for Evansville as the Aces travel to Chicago, Ill. to face Loyola at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
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