Aces women’s basketball drops first game of the Big Easy Classic
The Purple Aces fell to the Nicholls Colonels 38-50
NEW ORLEANS – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team had a tough start to its first-holiday tournament appearance since 2015 on Friday night.
A slow start and only shooting 28.6% in the first half from the floor was too much for the Purple Aces to overcome in their first game of the Big Easy New Orleans Classic. UE was able to get within eight points in the fourth quarter, but a 6-1 run kept Evansville from an opening win. Senior guard Júlia Palomo (La Seu d’Urgell, Spain) led the Aces with 12 points on 63.6% shooting, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
UE found themselves down early as Nicholls put up six points in the first two minutes and 40 seconds. Neither team scored for almost two minutes, but it was Palomo who broke the drought with her first three of the night. It was another couple of minutes for either team to make a basket as Palomo made it a one-point game with under four to go in the first quarter. The teams traded shots for the final two minutes of the first for a 12-11 score after ten.
Evansville picked up its first lead of the night to start the second quarter as it was again Palomo hitting a three only 38 seconds in. The Colonels tied the game a minute later, but sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) put the Aces back up by two with a layup on the next possession. For the next two-plus minutes neither team scored but it was Nicholls whose offense got going in the final five minutes of the first half. Freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) put UE up by two again at the free-throw line. But an over five-minute cold spell for Evansville to end the half saw the team facing a six-point deficit.
The Aces’ struggle on offense continued to start the second half as the Colonels extended their lead to 11. Runner got UE back into single digits of Nicholls as forward Tamesha Dozier (Louisville, Ky. / Wabash Valley) followed up with the next made basket, a second chance tip-in two minutes later. The game settled into a back-and-forth pace until the final minute of the third quarter. The Colonels grew the deficit for Evansville to 16 with six points to end the quarter.
Scoring in the final quarter started at the line for the Aces as Hartwig and Runner made four straight in the first minute and a half. Nicholls responded with a three for the largest lead of the game at 17. UE answered quickly, breaking off the team’s longest run of the night with nine points in under two minutes. It became a shot-for-shot game for the next minute and a half as Evansville fought to keep the deficit in single digits. But the Aces wouldn’t make a basket from the floor for the final three minutes, dropping their first game of the Big Easy Classic 63-50 to Nicholls.
UE had three players in double-figures as Palomo (12), Hartwig (12), and Runner (11) led the way on offense. Dozier led Evansville under the glass with a season-high eight rebounds while contributing six points on offense. Four Aces had two assists each in Palomo, Runner, and freshman guards Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis / North Central HS) and Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS)
It will be a quick turnaround for UE as they play the Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday evening. It will be Evansville’s first program game against Delaware and its final of the Big Easy Classic. Tip-off from the Alario Center is set for 5:45 p.m.
