Box Score MOLINE, Ill. - On a night that saw a pair of Aces upperclassmen lead the way, the University of Evansville women's basketball team battled, but could not overcome an early deficit in an 89-75 loss to Indiana State in the opening round of Hoops in the Heartland at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline, Ill.

"Credit to Indiana State, they played very, very well. They came out and kind of punched us in the mouth early, and then we fought hard ," said Aces head women's basketball coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. "We were just kind of trading baskets kind of for the rest of the game after we dug that early hole. We made a few good runs, but really couldn't get over the hump. I'm proud of the way we competed and I'm proud of the way we competed all season."

Upperclassmen Anna Newman and Abby Feit led the Aces, combining for 40 points on the evening. In what would be Newman's final contest as an Ace, the senior tied her career-high, scoring 17 points, while dishing out five assists. Feit one-upped her Hoops in the Heartland performance from a season ago, tallying 23 points and 10 boards, going 10-of-13 from the field. Indiana State was powered offensively by Mya Glanton (26 points) and Marie Hunter (23) as the Sycamores shot 52.2% from the field on the night. The aces 

"Kind of my thought process was that this could be my last game and I want to win it really bad," said Newman about her career-high tying performance. "I really just left it all out on the court, not caring about what the score was."

Early turnovers for the Aces in the opening half, combined with foul trouble, provided issues for the Aces. Despite those struggles, Evansville kept itself in the contest. The Aces did hit over 40% of their 12 attempts in the first period and battled to trail by 10 after the first 10 minutes.

Indiana State continued its hot shooting in the second quarter, building a lead as large as 15 on multiple occasions. The Aces fought back to try and trim their deficit into single digits, but for much of the period, the Sycamores answered each small run UE manufactured. With Indiana State leading 42-27 with 1:26 remaining in the first half, Evansville got three-straight stops to close the half and Anna Newman and Abby Feit each knocked-down triples to get UE within nine at 42-33 heading to the break.

Poised to make a run to begin the second half, Evansville hit shots, shooting 53.8% (7-13) from the field in the third quarter, but it was matched by Indiana State's 66.7% (10-15) shooting. The Aces maintained the deficit in the nine-to-11 point range for much of the quarter, but a late push from the Sycamores earned Indiana State a 63-50 lead going into the fourth.

Indiana State was able to build its lead as high as 17 in the final stanza, but again, Evansville had an opportunity to cut into the deficit. The Aces got as close as 11 in the final 10 minutes of the contest, but the Sycamores closed-out the 89-75 win.

Evansville's season comes to an end with its best record since the 2016-17 campaign and after earning its best Missouri Valley Conference finish in five seasons.
 

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