Box Score IOWA CITY, Iowa - Battling the 21st team in the nation while short-handed, the University of Evansville women's basketball team challenged the Hawkeyes in a 93-56 loss to No. 21 Iowa on the road in Iowa City, Iowa on Sunday morning.
"I'm really, really proud of our team. Tough turnaround to play two games in less than 24 hours, short-handed and missing a couple of starters," said Aces head women's basketball coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. "We played very poorly yesterday at Drake and I'm just really proud of our players for bouncing back and choosing to be really, really tough today against a top 25 team. I thought we came out and competed really hard. We did run out of a little bit of gas there in the second half, but really proud of the effort of our players and, I think, for us as a young team this is something we needed to go through and I think it will pay dividends for us down the road."
Recording the 50th double-figure game of her career, junior Abby Feit powered the Aces offense with a double-double of 22 points and 10 boards. Also finishing in double-digits for UE was junior Je'Naiya Davis, who poured-in 14, while senior Myia Clark (nine points) and freshman Elly Morgan (eight points) each finished just shy of double-figures. For the Hawkeyes, sophomore Caitlin Clark led the way, leading all scorers with 44 points on 18-of-26 shooting.
In the opening quarter, Evansville matched the Hawkeyes shot-for-shot leading into the media timeout. Feit was the early catalyst for the Aces offensive successes, scoring eight of Evansville's first 10 points and helping UE stay get back within six after a small run from Iowa. As the quarter progressed, Iowa began to find its rhythm with Clark doing much of the damage as part of her 14 first quarter points as the Hawkeyes lead was 26-15 after one period.
The lead grew larger for Iowa in the early moments of the second quarter as the Hawkeyes opened with a 13-2 run to increase their lead to 22 at 39-17 with 5:24 left in the half. Evansville would put a stop to Iowa's run by the hands of Davis, who splashed home back-to-back threes, quickly getting Evansville back within 16. An important stretch for the Aces evolved over the final five minutes of the half as Evansville showcased its suffocating defensive effort, holding the Hawkeyes scoreless for the final 4:24 of the second quarter and going on a 10-0 run to close the gap to 41-30 at the break.
There was no change in the flow of the game in the third quarter as both teams went on runs. Iowa opened the quarter by increasing its lead back to 22 just shy of the midway point in the period. The Aces had another run in them, doing what they did to close the second quarter, diminishing Iowa's lead to 14 at 56-42. Iowa returned the favor with a run of its own to the tune of 17-1 as the Hawkeyes grabbed a 30-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Evansville's effort never waned as its legs grew heavy in the final 10 minutes, continuing to generate opportunities as the Hawkeyes solidified the 93-56 win.
Evansville ends a 27-day stretch on the road with a home Conference weekend against Bradley and Illinois State on January 7 and 9 inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville.
