Freshmen lead the way in UE women’s basketball’s win over Southern Illinois

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – With five players in double figures the University of Evansville women’s basketball team earned its first Missouri Valley Conference win.

The Purple Aces led for over 35 minutes in a big 80-75 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis on Sunday afternoon. UE ended a six-game losing skid with its second game of the season having five players score 10 or more points. Freshman forward Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Penn. / Greater Latrobe HS) had her best-scoring outing with 19 points to lead Evansville. She was followed closely by freshman point guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) with her third straight double-digit outing with 18 points.

“The wins feel really good,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr after the victory. “I’m really really proud of our team. Today’s effort was great for a great performance. We shot the ball really well and we were able to hang on through runs and not let anything tighten up when we gained a nice lead. I’m really pleased with today’s game.”

The Aces offense started early on Sunday as freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS)  put in an early layup. Southern Illinois answered with a three for the first lead change of the afternoon. The lead was traded three more times in the first quarter. Until UE pulled ahead on a seven-point run. The Salukis tied the game back up, but Evansville ended the quarter on a nine to two run for an eight-point lead.

It was a slow start to the second quarter for the Aces as Southern Illinois got within three. Snyder ended UE’s 4:45-minute scoring drought with her second three to spur a seven-point run. For the final five minutes of the half Evansville’s defense kept the Salukis from putting together a run. The Aces grabbed four steals in the second quarter while forcing 11 turnovers from SIU for the half. Snyder closed out scoring in the half the same way she opened it with a three to give UE a 40-25 lead after 20 minutes.

Evansville kept its offense going in the second half with a six-point run forcing an early Saluki timeout. The Aces took their largest lead of the game at 23 points less than three minutes in the third while holding Southern Illinois scoreless for that period. SIU’s offense had an eight-point run to get within 15. But the UE defense kept the Saluki’s from any more major runs in the quarter. Evansville trapped Southern Illinois into foul trouble, taking advantage of 13 attempts at the line for a 62-45 lead.

The Salukis scored five points to begin the fourth quarter to make it a 12-point game. The Aces were able to respond with a five-point run of their own while keeping SIU scoreless for a minute and a half. The teams traded shots through the media timeout until Southern Illinois’ leading scorer put together four points. Snyder made a statement shortly after with her fifth three of the game to put the game to bed. With three trips to the free throw line in the final three minutes Evansville secured its first MVC win against the Salukis.

For the second game in a row, the Aces’ scoring offense was mostly led by freshmen. UE’s three leading scorers were Snyder with 19 points, Kelley with 18 points, and Runner with 14 points. Guard Logan Leubbers Palmer (Union, Ky. / Randall K. Cooper HS) added 10 points as well for Evansville’s freshman scoring 61 of the Aces’ 85 points.

On defense sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) led UE with 13 rebounds to pick up her fourth double-double of the season. Runner came a board shy of her first double-double tying her career high of nine rebounds. Runner also recorded Evansville’s lone block of the game.

The Aces return to action next weekend on the road. UE will make its final season trip to Music City on Friday, January 24th. Evansville will take on the two MVC leaders over the weekend with Friday’s game against Belmont and Murray State on Sunday. Tip-off from Nashville is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday night.

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