CORALVILLE, Iowa - The University of Evansville women's basketball team became the first-ever 10 seed to advance to the semifinals of the men's or women's MVC Basketball Tournament on Friday night, taking down 2^nd-seeded Belmont 76-63. Evansville advances to Saturday's semifinal round for the first time since 2017 and will take on 3^rd-seeded Illinois State at 4 PM at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa.

With the win, Evansville advances to the semifinal round for the first time since 2017. The win marks Evansville's first over Belmont since November 22, 1998.

Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) was excellent for the Aces, scoring a game-high 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting while adding six rebounds and five assists. Runner went 6-for-7 from the free throw line, tying her program record for free throws made in a season at 206. Kylee Norkus (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) finished just shy of a double-double, scoring 11 points to go with eight rebounds. Additionally, Norkus went 8-for-10 at the charity stripe. Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and Mireia Mustaros (Barcelona, Spain/Odessa College) also scored in double figures, adding 10 points apiece, while Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) grabbed a team-leading nine boards.

Both teams struggled offensively in the early going, with Belmont taking an 8-5 lead at the first media timeout. The defensive battled continued for the remainder of the quarter, and the Bruins took a 10-9 leading heading into the second.

Belmont remained in front early in the second quarter, stretching their lead to seven with 5:54 to go in the half. However, the Aces made a run, starting with a triple by BreAunna Ward (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School). From there, Runner knocked down a three and a jumper, Norkus drilled a three, and Mustaros converted an and-1 to highlight an 18-5 Aces run to end the half, giving Evansville a 34-28 lead.

Coming out of halftime, Evansville continued to control the game, with a layup from Runner at 7:25 mark in the third quarter to give the Aces a 40-30 lead. Evansville got the lead up to 13 with less than a minute to go in the quarter on a triple by Huber before taking a 52-42 lead into the fourth quarter.

Evansville continued to maintain a double digit lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring on five of their first seven possessions of the quarter, punctuated by another Huber three to go up 64-50. From there, the Aces iced the game at the free throw line, going 10-for-15 down the stretch to secure the 76-63 win and punch their ticket to semifinal Saturday.

Evansville will take on 3^rd-seeded Illinois State on Saturday for a trip to Sunday's MVC Championship Game. Tip-off against the Redbirds is set for 4 PM.