Box Score MOLINE, Ill. - Putting forth a strong first half, the University of Evansville fell to No. 7 seed Valparaiso, 65-52, in the opening round of Hoops in the Heartland on Thursday night inside the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.

Leading the way for Evansville was sophomore Abby Feit, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Feit scored 16 of her points in the first half, hitting all four of her early three-point attempts. Adding eight points for the Aces were junior A'Niah Griffin and sophomore Jossie Hudson as both also grabbed five rebounds a piece.  Powering Valpo was Carie Weinman with 28 points, leading a trio of double-figure scorers for the brown & gold.

A tremendous effort for the Aces on the boards and shooting efficiently provided a strong first half performance for the Aces. Valpo grabbed an early 12-5 lead in the first quarter, but Evansville battled to close the opening period well. The Aces manufactured a 7-0 run to close the quarter, holding Valpo scoreless for the final 4:37 to tie the game at 12.

Evansville's run continued in the second quarter as back-to-back triples by Feit gave the Aces a 20-15 advantage. Valpo as it did all night battled back with a 12-0 run to open its own seven-point lead on the Aces with 3:47 left to play in the opening half. Feit continued her tear in the first half, closing the quarter with two more triples as Evansville trailed by just two heading to half, 32-30. The Aces impressive first half was hampered by turnovers as Evansville recorded 16 giveaways in the first 20 minutes.

Valpo took control early in the second half, scoring eight-straight points coming out of the break to take a double-digit lead. Evansville shot just 3-of-9 from the field in the third quarter and committed seven turnovers as Valpo out-scored the Aces 19-6 in the period.

The Aces were not without a last push as Evansville cut the Valpo lead to seven on a jumper by junior Anna Newman with just under five minutes remaining. Evansville created multiple opportunities for itself to cut further into Valpo's lead but were unable to hit needed shots in a 65-52 loss.

Evansville turned in one of their best rebounding efforts of the season, out-rebounding Valpo, 41-26, including an 18-6 advantage on the boards in the first half.

Evansville's season closes for 2020-21 with a 6-18 overall record.
 

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