EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sophomore Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) put together one of the finest single game performances in Evansville women's basketball program history on Thursday night, breaking the program record for points in a regulation game with 36 while reaching the 1,000-point plateau for her career and adding nine assists and eight rebounds. However, the Aces fell to Drake, 87-85, as the Bulldogs scored the winning basket with 11 seconds left.
Runner is the 22
nd Ace in program history to reach 1,000 points and is the second-fastest to reach the milestone. She is the eighth player in the country since 2002 to record a line of 36 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.
Kylee Norkus (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) also had a strong night for the Aces, shooting 6-for-8 from the field to put up a career-high 15 points while snagging a season-high six rebounds.
The game was a shootout from the start, with each team scoring 14 points in the first five minutes of action. Evansville established a lead late in the quarter, using an 8-0 run to take a 28-18 advantage before taking a 29-22 lead into the second quarter.
Drake made a run of their own in the second period, cutting their deficit to one at the 5:50 mark before taking a 39-36 lead. Runner would tie the game back up at 39 with a three, but the Bulldogs closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 49-43 lead at the break.
Drake's run continued coming out of halftime, scoring the first nine of the period to extend their lead to 15. Evansville would cut into the deficit, using threes by Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and Norkus and an and-one by Georgia Ferguson (Waterloo, Ontario/Cairine Wilson Secondary School) to bring it back within nine. After Drake pushed their lead back to 13, Evansville again battled back, outscoring the Bulldogs 7-2 over the final three minutes to make the score 66-58 heading into the fourth quarter.
Again facing a 13-point deficit, this time with 8:45 to play, the Aces made a furious comeback fueled by Runner and Norkus. Runner assisted Norkus on a layup to bring the deficit back to single digits, before a three by Norkus, a pair of free throws by Runner and a layup by Norkus trimmed the Drake advantage to three points with 3:59 remaining.
The two teams traded baskets over the next several possessions, but Runner took over in the final two minutes. On consecutive possessions, Runner sunk two free throws, made a jumper and a layup, and knocked down a three-pointer with 15 seconds left to tie the game at 85. In addition to tying the game, the three-pointer pushed Runner over the 1,000 point mark for her career. However, Drake responded with a layup on the other end, and Runner's last second shot fell short as the Bulldogs escaped with an 87-85 win.
Evansville travels to Murray on Saturday, batting the MVC Regular Season champion Murray State Racers. Tip-off is set for 2 PM.
