Six Purple Aces scored in double figures as the University of Evansville rolled past Oakland City, 96-59, on Thursday night inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
This marks the first time Evansville has had six players finish in double figures since December 6, 2016 when the Aces captured a 108-68 victory over Oakland City.
Sophomore guard Macie Lively powered the Aces with a career-high 20 points, while redshirt sophomore guard Marley Miller poured in 16 points. Junior guard Crimson Jones contributed to the effort with her first double-double as a Purple Ace, recording career-highs in points and rebounds with 12 and 10, respectively. In all, 14 career-highs were set or tied for Evansville, including freshman Kayla Casteel, who entered the contest without a point, assist, or rebound in her collegiate career, but amassed 14 points, two boards, and three assists on the night. For the Oaks, Alicia Wilson and Aricka Prentice each tallied 15 points to lead OCU.
“This win was much needed. I feel like we’ve been so close,” said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. “For our girls to keep battling and grind this out and get the win. We had some players who hadn’t seen that much action, but it was nice to see them step up and kind of live in the moment. I think it was really good for our group and I hope we can ride this momentum going forward into these next two games.”
To open the game, Oakland City kept pace with the Aces, even taking a two-point lead at 9-7 just over two minutes into the contest. Evansville responded with a 19-9 run to close the opening quarter, fueled by a pair of made three-pointers by Miller, as the Aces took a 26-16 lead into the second quarter.
The second frame doomed the Aces in their last contest on Sunday, but Evansville did not let history repeat itself. The Aces held Oakland City to just five points in the second frame, while Evansville recorded 16 points of its own. OCU’s Emily Pitkin hit a jumper with 4:19 left in the quarter that cut Evansville’s lead to just 10 at 31-21, but the Aces roared back, ending the quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 42-21 advantage into the halftime break.
Evansville kept its foot on the accelerator to open the third period as the Aces extended their run with an 8-0 spurt to open the quarter and take a 50-21 lead over the Oaks. The Aces gained more momentum midway through the quarter when sophomore center Kaylan Coffman received the ball on three-straight possessions, converting each opportunity into points and pushing Evansville’s margin to 31 at 59-28. The lead swelled to its largest point of the third quarter as Miller knocked-down a layup to increase UE’s lead to 36 with two minutes left in the period.
The final ten minutes was highlighted by a stretch inside the final two minutes of play that saw Evansville open up its largest lead of the contest at 96-54 on the heels of a made three by Casteel as the Aces went on to capture the 96-59 victory.
Evansville out-shot the Oaks, 47.8% to 34.4%, and dominated the battle for the boards, 51-36.
The Aces are next in action on Saturday as they make the trek to Chicago, Illinois to battle UIC at 3 p.m. in a non-conference showdown in the Windy City.
