SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Hanging with the Lady Bears for much of the contest, the University of Evansville women's basketball team dropped a road contest at Missouri State, 63-51, on Thursday evening in Springfield, Mo.

It was a team effort for the Aces with seven different players scoring four-or-more points in the game. Redshirt junior center Barbora Tomancova led the way on the night for Evansville, finishing with 14 points and seven boards. Also reaching double figures in a return to the lineup was fifth-year guard Myia Clark, who tallied 11 points in a team-high 32 minutes of action. For the Lady Bears, Paige Rocca and Aniya Thomas both recorded 15 points, tying for the game high.

An early fast start for the Aces allowed Evansville to build a solid cushion in the first quarter. As UE's offense got going, Missouri State's sputtered in the early going as the Aces opened a 13-3 advantage with just under four minutes left in the opening period. The Lady Bears would get into a rhythm as the first quarter waned, closing within four at 13-7 going into the second quarter.

After going just 3-for-20 from the field in the opening quarter, Missouri State righted the ship offensively, hitting six of its 14 attempts in the second period. Evansville seemed to inherit the Lady Bears shooting woes in the second frame, shooting just 13.3% (2-15) from the field in the quarter. The Aces were able to keep themselves within striking distance despite the cold shooting, getting to the free-throw line six times and hitting five of its attempts to trail by just one at 23-22 at the break.

Both sides came out of the locker room with improved offenses in the third quarter as the two sides combined for 36 points in the period. After the Aces kept their deficit within four for much of the first five minutes of the second half, a late push from Missouri State helped the Lady Bears grab a nine-point lead with 10 minutes of regulation to play.

In the fourth, Evansville again proved its resilience that it has displayed all season. Despite trailing by double-digits in the final moments of the third, UE fought back within five points on multiple occasions, including an incredible series of plays late in the period. After Clark got to the basket and hit a layup, Evansville applied defensive pressure on the in-bounds play, forcing the ball to be thrown high, ricocheting off the backboard, which was then retrieved by Clark, who was fouled and went to the line to hit a pair of free throws. Although showing moxie to work back within five, Evansville could draw no closer as the Lady Bears captured the 63-51 win.

Evansville rounds-out its final road weekend of the season with a trip to battle Southern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM in Carbondale, Ill.
 

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