Kelley sets career scoring high at Illinois State
JANUARY 5, 2025
The Purple Aces put up a 55-point performance in the loss
NORMAL, Ill. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team ended its road trip in Illinois with a 79-55 loss to the Illinois State Redbirds.
The Purple Aces struggled to stop Illinois State’s balanced offensive attack in their second game of the 2025 calendar year. UE led the game in free throw percentage making all but one attempt from the charity stripe. No Evansville player scored in double figures, but freshman guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) set a career-high in points with eight.
The Aces fell behind early on Saturday afternoon with only five points in the game’s first eight minutes. The Redbirds grew their lead to 14 before UE cut into the deficit with sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig’s (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) first layup. Evansville’s final basket of the first quarter came from freshman forward Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Penn. / Greater Latrobe HS) behind the arc as the Aces faced a 14-point deficit going into the second quarter.
Both teams went back and forth making baskets for the first three minutes of the second. However, Illinois State put together a seven-point run over three minutes to grow the lead to 19. Freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) ended the run at the line as Hartwig made a layup a possession later. UE put up three more points in the first half to be down by 19 at halftime.
Evansville struck first in the second half as junior forward Mae Dozier (Louisville, Ky. / Wabash Valley) hit a three in the first 20 seconds. The Redbirds answered with a three of their own before rattling off a 10-5 run in the first four minutes. The Aces were able to put together a brief five-point run to bring the deficit back under 20. But another lengthy run for Illinois State to end the quarter had UE down by 32 after 30 minutes of play.
The Evansville offense continued to struggle in the fourth quarter as the Aces took over three minutes to make a field goal. But thanks to strong performance at the line from Runner and freshman guard Logan Leubbers Palmer (Union, Ky. / Randall K. Cooper HS) kept UE in the game. Once Evansville began making field goals in the fourth the Aces had their best run of the game with nine straight points in just over a minute.
For the final five minutes of the game, UE went shot-for-shot with the Redbirds before ending on another nine-point run. But it wasn’t enough to get Evansville back in the game, falling on the road to Illinois State 79-55.
Hartwig led the Aces on offense with a nine-point performance while Kelley was right behind with her career-high eight points. Hartwig also led the team on defense with nine rebounds while Runner had her best MVC game under the glass with seven boards. Senior guard Júlia Palomo (La Seu D’Urgell, Spain) led UE in assists with four while Hartwig had a team-leading three blocks.
Evansville remains on the road for one more game but does get to return to the Hoosier state. The Aces will face their in-state rivals the Indiana State Sycamores on Sunday, January 12th. Tip-off from the Hulman Center is set for 1 p.m. CT in just over a week.
