Aces women’s basketball celebrates Senior Day against Belmont
The Purple Aces honored their four graduating players prior to Saturday’s contest
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team closed out its regular season celebrating its four senior players before dropping the final game to the Belmont Bruins 75-48.
The Purple Aces kept things close with Belmont through three quarters in Saturday’s regular-season finale. But an 18-point run for the Bruins to begin the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for UE. Freshman guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) was Evansville’s offensive leader on Saturday with 14 points and a career-high four steals. Prior to the game, the Aces celebrated their four graduating players, guard Madlena Gerke (Riga, Latvia), guard Alana Striverson (Sellersburg, Ind. / Lindenwood), forward Anica Skrivan (Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina), and guard Júlia Palomo (La Seu d’Urgell, Spain).
It was a slow start to the game for both teams as it took over a minute for anyone to score. Belmont took the early lead with five points, but freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) soon cut the Bruins lead to only a basket with a three just under four minutes into the game. Belmont responded by getting the lead up to six before another three from Kelley brought it back down to a three-point game. The first quarter ended in back-and-forth fashion with UE getting the last points at the line. With 1:51 on the clock in the first, sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) pulled down her 500th career rebound. The rebound made Hartwig the first sophomore to reach 500 career rebounds since Christy Greis during the 1990-91 season.
Down by only three points starting the second quarter, an early Bruins foul got Evansville back within a possession. The Aces tied the game up less than a minute into the second as Hartwig made her first three of the game. The teams traded free throws over the next minute until Belmont jumped out on a nine-point run. Freshman guard Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis / North Central HS) ended UE’s drought with a three and made the next basket of the game two minutes later with a layup. Evansville’s defense held the Bruins scoreless for over three minutes in the second and then kept Belmont from scoring a field goal in the final three minutes of the half. The Aces ended the first half on a 6-3 run and headed into the locker room trailing by only five.
The start of the third quarter was all defense as the first points of the half didn’t come until the 8:45 mark. The teams traded points for most of the quarter as there were multiple two-minute gaps between scoring. The Bruins had the only true run of the quarter, scoring four points in a minute and a half to get the first double-figure lead of the game with 1:58 left on the clock. UE got the score back within single digits as it was a 47-38 game heading into the final 10 minutes of the regular season.
The start of the fourth quarter was all Belmont as they grew their lead to 27 points. Hartwig broke the scoreless streak with a three with just over five minutes left in the game. The Bruins countered with another run getting their lead up to 30 at one point. The final minute of the game was dominated by fouls and free throws as Evansville made six attempts at the line in under 55 seconds. The six points gave the Aces a 75-48 final score in their last regular season contest.
Three UE players had double-figure performances on Saturday with Kelley leading the way. Runner and Hartwig scored 13 and 10 points apiece while Hartwig led the team in rebounds with nine. Kelley also led Evansville in steals with four, setting a new career high. And Palomo led the team in assists with two in her final regular season game as an Ace.
UE has secured the 10th seed in the 2025 Credit Union 1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament. Evansville is set to take on the seventh-seed UIC Flames on Thursday, March 13 at 6 p.m. The Aces won’t go far to play in the postseason as the MVC Tournament is being held in downtown Evansville at the Ford Center. UE is one of only two Valley teams to play in the Ford Center this season as they hosted Drake back in December.
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