EVANSVILLE - In its regular season finale, the University of Evansville women's basketball team fell behind early, but battled to close the gap in an 85-44 loss to No. 23 Missouri State on Saturday evening inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville.

Leading the way for Evansville was sophomore Abby Feit, who finished with 14 points, including a pair of triples. Seniors Jada Poland (nine points) and Lola Reed (seven points) combined for 16 points for the Aces in their final games inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse. The Lady Bears were led by five double-figure scorers with Brice Calip tallying a team-best 14 points.

A fast start for the Lady Bears helped Missouri State to pull away early. The Lady Bears scored the first 14 points of the contest and held Evansville scoreless for the first 8:24 of the contest before Feit hit a layup with 1:36 remaining in the opening quarter. Trailing by 13 after the first quarter, Evansville held its own in much of the second period, finding its offensive rhythm and scoring 16 points in the quarter as the Aces trailed 45-22 at the break. In that second quarter, Poland and Reed got in on the scoring, recording five points each in the frame.

The Lady Bears continued to score at a high rate in the second half as Missouri State totaled 40 points in quarters three and four. After the Aces hit four triples in the opening half and shot 43% (6-14) from the field in the second quarter, Evansville's offense slowed, hitting just one second-half three and shooting 25.9% from the field in the final 20 minutes in the 85-44 loss to Missouri State.

Prior to the game, Evansville honored three seniors in Lola Reed, Jada Poland, and Kayla Casteel. The three have combined to play in 154 games, making 76 starts and combining for 870 points in the white & purple.

Following the conclusion of the game, the Missouri Valley Conference announced the bracket for 2021 Hoops in the Heartland. The Aces ar the 10-seed and will played #7 seed Valparaiso in the opening round on Thursday at 7:30 PM at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.
 

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