TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Powered by its two top scorers, the University of Evansville women's basketball team battled back from an early deficit to capture a 68-66 win over Indiana State on Wednesday evening in Terre Haute, Ind.
Reaching the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season, fifth-year guard Myia Clark poured-in a game-high 21 points on the night, while dishing-out five assists and grabbing four rebounds. Feit notched her fifth double-double of the year, finishing with 18 points and 10 boards, hitting three triples in the Aces win. Rounding-out Evansville's double-figure scorers, fifth-year guar A'Niah Griffin tallied 10 points, getting most of her scoring done at the charity stripe where she went a perfect 8-for-8 on the night. The Sycamores were led by guard Bella Finnegan, who recorded 17 points to pace the home side.
Despite leading by three in the opening minutes and even sitting tied at 7-7 just 3:30 in, Evansville quickly found itself in a hole to start the game. The Sycamores took control of the early portion of the game using an 11-0 run to jump out to an 18-7 lead. Indiana State's advantage would grow as large as 14 at 24-10 at the quarter break as the Sycamores limited Evansville to just three points over the final 6:30 of the first period.
As was true last Sunday following a slow start, Evansville responded in the second quarter and worked itself back within a workable margin. Straight out of the gate in the second frame, the Aces scored 10-straight points to cut the deficit to just four with over seven minutes left in the half. A string of seven-straight Aces points scored by Clark helped Evansville tie the game at 30 as the period waned before Indiana State hit a late shot to take a two-point, 32-30 lead to the break.
Opening the second half, Indiana State built a four-point lead on three separate occasions, but Evansville seemed to have an answer each time. The game-turning point came in the middle part of the third quarter as the Aces mounted an 11-4 run to not only take the lead, but build it to its highest point of the evening at 50-43 following a layup from redshirt junior center Barbora Tomancova.
After a game of runs in the first 30 minutes, the fourth quarter unfolded similarly as wild. Owning a seven-point lead at one point in the fourth, the Aces saw Indiana State roar back to take the lead just past the halfway point of the final quarter. A key jumper from Tomancova that followed the Sycamores' run helped regain UE's lead for good, but the win required resiliency down the stretch from the Aces. With two minutes left, a layup from Feit gave Evansville a five-point lead, but Indiana State answered with a triple to get back within a pair. When it looked like Evansville had secured the win up 67-63 following two made free-throws from graduate guard Anna Newman with 21 seconds left, the Sycamores came down the floor and hit another three with time running out to get within one. Feit was fouled and sent to the line with just 0.8 seconds remaining, splitting a pair to make it a two-point Aces lead. Advancing the ball with a timeout, Indiana State had one last chance, but Evansville defended the in-bounds well, forcing a deep three that rattled off the side of the rim as the Aces secured the 68-66 road win.
The victory marks Evansville's 10th win of the season and secures the Aces their 25th season in program history with double-digit wins.
Evansville will be back on the road to face Drake at 2 PM on Saturday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa.
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