CORALVILLE, Iowa – The University of Evansville women's basketball team picked up their first MVC Tournament win since 2017 on Thursday night, holding off 7^th-seeded UIC 76-71. Evansville advances to Friday's quarterfinal round and will take on 2^nd-seeded Belmont at 6 PM at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) led the Aces with 16 points while dishing out five assists. Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) had a strong showing in her home state, putting up 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range. In the frontcourt, Georgia Cox (Ballarat, Australia/Eastern Illinois) and Georgia Ferguson (Waterloo, Ontario/Cairine Wilson Secondary School) both scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Kylee Norkus (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) led the Aces on the glass with nine rebounds.

Evansville grabbed the lead in the first quarter, jumping in front 14-8 on a pair of triples by Huber and two baskets by Ferguson. The Aces opened their lead up to nine points on a triple by Runner at the 2:40 mark before going into the second quarter with a 21-14 lead.

UIC battled back in the second quarter, cutting the Evansville to two with 3:50 remaining in the half. With Evansville still in front by two, the Flames knocked down a jump shot at the halftime buzzer to tie it up at 32 going into halftime.

After UIC took the lead coming out of halftime, Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and Runner buried threes on back-to-back possessions to put the Aces back up by four. With 5:19 remaining in the quarter, Huber knocked down her third three of the night to extend the lead to seven. The Aces maintained their lead for the rest of the quarter, but a Flames three-pointer to end the quarter made it 55-51 heading into the fourth.

UIC continued to chip away in the fourth quarter, evening the score at 55 with 7:47 remaining. However, Cox steadied the ship for Evansville, scoring on a layup before converting on an and-one to put the Aces back up by five. After UIC tied the score once again, BreAunna Ward (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School), Norkus and Runer combined to go 5-for-6 at the free throw line on consecutive possessions to help Evansville go back up by four.

With under two minutes to play, the Aces saw Ward step up, scoring on back-to-back possessions to give Evansville a 71-66 lead. Following a steal by Mireia Mustaros (Barcelona, Spain/Odessa College) Runner all but sealed it for the Aces, getting to the basket for a layup to make it 73-66 in favor of the Purple Aces.

UIC made things interesting in the final 30 seconds, cutting the Evansville lead to four, but the Aces went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to seal the 76-71 win.

Evansville advances to the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament on Friday, battling 2^nd-seeded Belmont at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Tip-off is set for 6 PM.