ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team overcame an 18-point deficit to send Monday’s game into overtime but ultimately fell to the Lindenwood Lions 71-69.

The Purple Aces trailed for over 38 minutes at Robert F. Hyland Arena over four quarters. But a 66% third quarter helped UE tie the game in the final 19 seconds to head into overtime. Yet trouble from the field and fouls in overtime kept Evansville from winning its third straight game with the 71-69 loss.

Lindenwood took the lead early on Monday with two quick free throws. But the Purple Aces had their first lead in the third minute as sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) made the game’s first three-pointer. The Lions quickly responded with a four-point run to take the lead back. Freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) broke the run with a jump shot that was then countered with a three. Both teams remained scoreless over the next minute before trading baskets for the rest of the quarter.

UE headed into the second quarter down by four and soon saw themselves down by six only 45 seconds in. Senior guard Júlia Palomo (La Seu d’Urgell, Spain) made an early three to make it a three-point deficit, but a scoreless three minutes for Evansville made it a nine-point game halfway through the quarter. The Aces made two straight shots yet had another long scoreless spell until the final 30 seconds of the first half. Runner made four straight points to close out the quarter as UE headed into halftime trailing by 13.

The second half began with Lindenwood pushing the lead up to 18 over a minute into the third quarter. A driving layup from Hartwig at the minute and a half mark started to spur Evansville’s offense into action. A three-pointer from Runner kicked off an eight-point run to put the deficit back into single digits midway into the third. The Lions had an and-1 to end the run but the Aces came back for an 11-3 stretch to end the quarter only down by three.

Lindenwood had the first points of the fourth quarter early. UE kept the Lions scoreless over the next eight minutes while scoring six points to have Evansville’s first lead in 34 minutes. The Aces missed their next attempt while Lindenwood made two baskets to take a four-point lead with under 40 seconds to go. Runner made a fast break layup only seconds later to make it a one-shot game. The Lions then turned the ball over with 32 seconds left and junior forward Tamesha Dozier (Louisville, Ky. / Wabash Valley) made a second-chance layup to send the game into overtime.

UE made the first shot of overtime after a minute and a half of missed attempts as Palomo had a driving layup to give Evansville a two-point lead. Lindenwood made a three shortly after to take the lead. The Aces responded at the line as Runner made both free throws for another one-point lead change. The Lions made three shots at the charity stripe in just over a minute to take a two-point lead while Runner recorded her fifth and final foul of the game.

Palomo hit a jump shot for UE with under a minute in the game for another tie. She was also fouled on the basket and made her lone free throw of the and-1 to give Evansville its second one-point lead of the period. But a made field goal from Lindenwood and Palomo receiving her fifth foul put the Aces at a disadvantage with only 26 seconds left. While the Lions missed the free throws from Palomo’s foul, a dead ball rebound for Lindenwood and another chance at the line handed UE a 71-69 loss.

Runner led all players from either team with a career-high 30 points on the night. Hartwig and Palomo also scored in double digits with 13 and 12 points apiece. Palomo led the team in assists with three while sophomore forward Claudia Clement (Barcelona, Spain) led the team in blocks with two. Hartwig had a team-high eight rebounds while Dozier was right behind her with seven.

Evansville remains on the road for its next game, visiting Lipscomb over the weekend. The Aces tip-off with the Bison from Nashville at 12 p.m. on Saturday, November 23rd.