EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Playing their second home game of the season on Sunday afternoon, the University of Evansville women's basketball team used a big third quarter to take down Northern Illinois by a score of 65-52 and move to 2-0 at Meeks Family Fieldhouse this season.
Logan Luebbers Palmer (Union, Ky./Randall K. Cooper) continued her strong play with 19 points, marking her sixth consecutive double-digit scoring performance and third consecutive game scoring 15-plus points. Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) also finished in double figures with 10 points while adding six rebounds and five assists.
It was a defensive battle in the early going, with NIU taking a 7-2 lead into the game's first media timeout. Freshman BreAunna Ward (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) got the Evansville offense going in the final three minutes of the first quarter, scoring six consecutive points to give the Aces a 10-9 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
With 8:11 to go in the second quarter, Runner drilled a triple to open a five-point advantage at 15-10. However, the Huskies answered back with five unanswered points to even things at 15. The game continued to go back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, with Lubbers Palmer scoring five points and Runner adding four free throws to help give the Aces a 26-24 advantage heading into the halftime intermission.
Evansville got hot coming out of the gates in the second half, starting with a layup from Georgia Ferguson (Waterloo, Ontario/Cairine Wilson Secondary School) on the Aces' first possession of the third quarter. From there, Luebbers Palmer took over, scoring nine consecutive points to help her team to an 11-2 run and a 37-26 lead with 6:01 remaining in the quarter. Following a three minute scoring drought, Lubbers Palmer added a layup and a free throw to bring her total for the quarter to 11 points.
Holding a 44-31 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Evansville kept their foot on the gas with another layup by Luebbers Palmer and a pair of baskets from freshman Daniela Llavero (Malaga, Spain/IES Mediterráneo) to make it 50-35 with 8:10 left. Fellow freshman Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) added five quick points to increase the lead, before three-pointers from Jelena Savic (Melbourne, Australia/Kurunjang Secondary College) and Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) increased the lead to 65-46 with a minute and a half to go and put the cherry on top of the win.
"Pumped about the win," said Head Coach Robyn Scherr. "It was nice to be back home. Really proud of our girls, especially for coming out and opening up the third quarter with a run to create some separation."
"I thought we had a really balanced game. We saw a lot of players put points on the board. Everyone is a threat out there, and that's what I expect out of this team. I feel like every single one of our players has the ability to put the ball in the net."
"Great crowd today here in Meeks, and I am very pleased!"
Evansville was excellent defensively in the win, posting season bests in points allowed (52) and field goal percentage (33.3%). 12 Aces saw the floor in the game, with 11 entering the scoring column.
The Aces return to action on Wednesday with a trip to West Lafayette to take on Big Ten foe Purdue. Tip-off from Mackey Arena is set for 6 PM CT.
