CEDAR FALLS, IOWA – The University of Evansville women's basketball concluded their Iowa road trip with a bang on Sunday, defeating UNI by a score of 68-65 at the McLeod Center. The win snapped a 21-game losing streak to the Panthers and was the Aces first win in Cedar Falls since 2008.
Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Penn./Greater Latrobe) put in one of the best performances of her career, scoring a season-high 18 points while also matching a career-high with five three pointers on seven attempts. Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) added 17 points and knocked down several key shots late in the game. BreAunna Ward (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) matched her career-high with 11 points for the second consecutive game.
Both teams started slow offensively, with UNI owning a 7-4 advantage at the first media timeout. In the final possession of the quarter, Ward beat the buzzer with a layup to cut the Panthers' lead to 11-8 at the end of the period.
Evansville got going offensively in the second quarter, taking their first lead of the day on a jumper by Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) at the 9:23 mark. The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter, trading baskets before going into the half tied up at 29-29.
Coming out of the half, the Aces got hot from three, with Runner and Snyder knocking down a pair of threes to put Evansville ahead by four. Following a jumper by Ward, Snyder buried another triple to stretch the lead to nine. However, UNI responded with a run of their own, battling back to a 42-42 tie with three minutes to go in the quarter. At the end of the quarter, Ward again got a clutch bucket, giving Evansville a three-point lead heading into the fourth.
Snyder remained hot in the four the quarter, sinking another three-ball to put the Aces back up by eight at the 8:40 mark. After the Panthers got it back down to five, Evansville responded with two more threes from Jelena Savic (Melbourne, Australia/Kurunjang Secondary College) and Ward to make it a nine-point game.
UNI made another run with five minutes to go before regaining the lead with 2:20 left, but Runner responded with a jumper as the shot clock expired to put the Aces back up by two. After the Panthers tied it back up, Runner sunk two clutch free throws and the Aces got a stop, sending Snyder to the free throw line with 28 seconds left. Snyder made one free throw before UNI made one free throw of their own. After an Evansville turnout with 18 seconds left, UNI drew another foul and again made one of two, making it a one-point game. With six seconds to go, Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) went to the charity stripe and calmly sunk a pair of free throws, helping the Aces seal a 68-65 win.
Evansville returns home on Thursday, hosting Belmont at Meeks Family Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 6 PM.
