CORALVILLE, Iowa - The University of Evansville women's basketball team continued their improbable run through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Saturday night, downing 3^rd-seeded Illinois State in overtime, 75-70. Evansville advances to Sunday's championship game for the first time since 2009 and will take on top-seeded Murray State at 1 PM at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

With the win, Evansville becomes the first 10 seed to ever reach the MVC Championship. The win also marked the Aces' first over the Redbirds since 2017, snapping an 18-game losing streak.

Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) was outstanding once again for the Aces, scoring a game-high 24 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Runner wrote her name in the UE history books in the win, breaking Evansville's single-season records for points (625), assists (184) and free throws (216).

Evansville jumped out to an early lead, taking an 8-2 lead in the first two minutes of action, highlighted by three-pointers by Georgia Cox (Ballarat, Australia/Eastern Illinois) and Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe). The Redbirds battled back to a take a one-point lead at the 3:40 mark, but the Aces went on a 7-0 run to end the quarter to take a 19-13 lead.  

The second quarter saw both teams struggling offensively, with Illinois State tying the game at 22 with 4:11 to go in the half. However, the Aces outscored the Redbirds 5-1 to close the quarter to take a 27-23 lead into halftime.

Illinois State battled back to tie things up in the third quarter, evening the score at 30 with 7:20 to go. The game would see three more ties in the following five minutes before Illinois State break through to take the lead with a three-pointer before taking a 42-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

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 42-41 lead into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Illinois State extended their lead to five, but the Aces battled back to tie it up on a pair of free throws by Runner before an and-one layup by Mireia Mustaros (Barcelona, Spain/Odessa College) at the 3:48 mark put the Aces back in front, 53-52. On the next offensive possession, Runner got her own rebound on a missed three and found Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon), who buried a deep three-pointer at the top of the key to put the Aces up four.

After another layup by Mustaros extended the lead to six, Illinois State fought back before eventually tying the game on a three-pointer with eight seconds left to force overtime.

Evansville regained the lead early in overtime, with Runner beginning the period with a jumper and Norkus going 1-for-2 from the free throw line to put the Aces up three. However, Illinois State scored on consecutive possession to put the Redbirds back up one.

Just as it had been in both prior tournament games, the Aces refused to give in. Norkus gave the Aces the lead back with a pair of free throws before Jelena Savic (Melbourne, Australia/Kurunjang Secondary College) hit the biggest shot of her career, a three-pointer to put the Aces up four. Illinois State was not done quite yet, however, using a lauyup with 16 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Runner and Norkus combined to go 4-for-4 down the stretch to seal a 75-70 win.

Evansville will take on top-seeded Murray State on Sunday in the MVC Championship Game, seeking their first MVC title and NCAA Tournament berth since 2009. Tip-off against the Racers is set for 1 PM.