SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Despite an impressive first half effort, the University of Evansville women's basketball team dropped a weekend-opening contest at Missouri State, 99-57, on Thursday night in Springfield, Mo.

Seniors A'Niah Griffin and Myia Clark finished in double-figures to power the Evansville offensive effort. Griffin continued a strong string of performances, pouring-in a team-high 14 points in 24 minutes of action, while Clark did most of her scoring in the second half, finishing with 13 points with eight coming in the final 20 minutes. In all, five Aces finished with seven-or-more points on the night. For the Bears, Abi Jackson led the way, scoring 31 points on 13-22 shooting.

Evansville kept pace with the Lady Bears for much of the opening half of competition. The first 20 minutes of play was hallmarked by each side trading baskets back-and-forth. The Lady Bears lead grew as large as seven in the first quarter, but the Aces battled back with a triple by junior Abby Feit cutting the deficit to just two at 16-14 with under one minute remaining in the period. A run during the middle portion of the second quarter lifted Missouri State's lead to double-digits, but the Aces kept it manageable as the quarter pushed on. Eight points each from Feit and Griffin helped keep Evansville in it at the break, trailing by 13 at 47-34.

In the second half, the Lady Bears offense continued to hit shots at a high rate. Missouri State shot 50% (21-42) from the field in the final 20 minutes, while Evansville's efficiency from the first half was not the same in the second half, where the Aces shot 25% from the field. A plus for Evansville offensively in the second half was its ability to continue to get to the free throw line, one of its biggest strengths this season, getting 13 attempts at the charity stripe to MSU's five. The hot-shooting from Missouri State allowed the Lady Bears to continue pushing their advantage en route to a 99-57 win.

Evansville returns to the court to close its final road trip of the regular season, facing Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill. at 2 PM on Saturday afternoon.
 

• 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.