EVANSVILLE - Fueled by efficient offense, the University of Evansville women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 70-60 win over Purdue Fort Wayne inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

A pair of 20-point performances led the way for the Aces as sophomore Abby Feit and junior A'Niah Griffin each reached the 20-point plateau on the afternoon. Feit added 11 rebounds to her scoring output, marking her 24th double-double in 31 career games. Griffin's 20 points came almost exclusively in the second half as the junior recorded 14 points in the third quarter alone in the win.

Evansville was forced into an early timeout just seconds into the game after Purdue Fort Wayne took a quick 5-0 lead, applying high pressure on the Aces. Soon after the timeout, the Aces settled in and began to break the press, bouncing back to tie the game with 1:37 left in the opening quarter. Sophomore Jossie Hudson split a pair of free throws and freshman Rylie Stephens knocked-down a jumper to close the quarter and cap-off an 8-0 Evansville run to give the Aces a 16-13 lead after one.

After the Mastodon's Hannah Hess hit a three to begin the second quarter, Evansville continued its consistent offense, as Feit hit a pair of threes to build a six-point UE lead. A key stretch for the Aces occurred midway through the quarter as Evansville went on a 9-0 run that ended in a 31-18 lead for the Aces with 2:35 remaining in the half. Entering the final minute of the half, Purdue Fort Wayne hit a three, but senior Jada Poland answered with a layup on the other end to give Evansville a 33-20 lead at the break.

The third quarter was dominated by the Aces as Evansville saw its lead stay in double digits for most of the period. On a pair of free-throws by junior Anna Newman at the 3:15 mark in the quarter, Evansville's lead grew to its largest of the day at 15. The spectacular third-quarter performance by Griffin helped the Aces down the stretch as Griffin's two buckets to end the period helped the Aces hold a 12-point lead with 10 minutes to play.

Evansville built its lead back to 15 in the fourth as Griffin continued her outburst with a layup that gave the Aces a 60-45 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne wasn't without one last surge as the Mastodons worked themselves back within single digits and eventually as close as five with 1:38 left to play. Key to Evansville's victory was its ability to convert at the free-throw line inside the final minute as the Aces shot 7-of-8 from the charity stripe late to secure the 70-60 win.

The Aces shot 55.8% from the field in the win, their fourth-best shooting performance from the field under head coach Matt Ruffing. Evansville's defense primarily forced the Mastodons to shoot from deep, as Purdue Fort Wayne attempted 47 of its 74 shots from beyond the arc, hitting just eight three-pointers.

Evansville gets 10 days off from action before returning to Meeks Family Fieldhouse for a matchup with Oakland City on December 16.
 

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