EVANSVILLE, Ind. - From start to finish, the University of Evansville women's basketball team took control early and never relinquished in a 79-49 win over Morehead State on Ugly Christmas Sweater Day on Saturday afternoon inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Ind.

"Our girls did a good job of staying sharp and they made a nice little run on us and they just answered right back and got that back up to a big lead and I'm just really happy with how everyone played today," said Aces head women's basketball coach Robyn Scherr-Wells in her postgame interview with ESPN3. "All 14 of our players play so hard day in and day out and there's not a lot that separates our players. I love the energy that our bench has. Our team, they are all in it together and they all pull for each other, so its really awesome to see a few players come in and have some success that haven't had a chance to play as much."

10 of the 13 Aces that saw the floor in the ballgame scored, led by four in double-figures. Both senior Myia Clark and junior Abby Feit finished the contest with a game-high 15 points as many of the Aces starters got much-welcomed rest as both Clark and Feit played 24 minutes on the afternoon. Also in double-digits for the Aces were junior Je'Naiya Davis with 12 points and senior Anna Newman finishing just one shy of a dozen points. For the Eagles, both Terri Smith and Alana Denson led the team with 11 points.

It was a blistering pace early for the Aces as Evansville rushed out to an 11-4 lead, highlighted by a triple from Abby Feit. Morehead State did not let the Aces break away too far in the opening moments, keeping withing single digits despite a difficult shooting performance to begin the game as Evansville held a 19-10 advantage after one quarter.

The second quarter was dominated by the Aces with Evansville opened up its advantage over the Eagles. The Aces shot nearly 50% (14-29) from the field in the first 20 minutes and knocked-down all eight free throws they attempted, along with a stifling defensive effort in the second period that saw Morehead State shoot just 20% (3-15) from the field. As the final seconds ticked away in the first half, freshman Kodie Myszka grabbed a rebound and quickly tapped it in to hand the Aces their largest lead of the half with a 41-19 lead at the break.

Continuing to utilize its depth as a strength, Evansville played 11 players in the third quarter and even held serve with the Eagles for most of the half, provided by terrific efforts of the bench from Elly Morgan, Jossie Hudson, NaTaya Partee, and many others. The Aces lead diminished by just one in the third quarter as Evansville carried a 60-39 lead into the final stanza.

In the fourth, the starters returned to the floor and fueled by the strong performances by their teammates, picked right back up from where they left off. An 11-2 run to open the quarter, created by Newman, Davis, and Clark, helped Evansville lift its advantage over the 30-point mark at 70-39 with 7:35 remaining in the contest. After the starters exited the contest for the final time, the Aces depth showed again as Hudson and junior Sydney Thurwalker both continued Evansville's strong play. The duo entered the contest and immediately went to work, manufacturing a 6-0 run that was capped-off by a layup from Thurwalker that sent the bench and crowd into a frenzy as Evansville's lead reached its largest point of the night at 79-44, forcing a Morehead State timeout, as the Aces went on to capture the team-created victory with a 30-point margin.

The win marked the 150th win of the head coaching career of Robyn Scherr-Wells and also marked Evansville's sixth of the non-conference slate, its most since the 2008-09 campaign. 

The Aces will finish up the fall semester with finals this week before returning to competition on Sunday, December 19 at 1 PM at Chicago State in Chicago, Ill.
 

• INFO: For all of the latest information on University of Evansville athletics, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthletics.

 

• TICKETS: To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page

 

• SUPPORT: For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the SUPPORT tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.