The Purple Aces led on the defensive side of the ball with 39 rebounds
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball celebrated its two graduating players in a 67-46 loss to the Northern Iowa Panthers.
The Purple Aces offense didn’t find its rhythm until the second half in their final game at Meeks Family Fieldhouse. UE had only 12 points through the first half but got back into the game in the second half with another big performance from freshman forward Nevaeh Thomas. Thomas added her sixth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes.
“I thought we battled so hard, we just shot so poorly,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells following the game. “We had good chances. And we made a nice run at it. Lots of credit to UNI for making a couple of big threes to widen the gap again and put a stop to our little run. They did a good job in that stretch when we made a push at it. They had answers to it.
“But I’m really proud of our ladies. We’ve been so banged up. To the point where I was worried, we wouldn’t play against Drake on Thursday. We thought we weren’t going to have more than six bodies available. To then get to today and have eight players available. I’m proud of our fight. We’ve had to play so many different lineups in the last week. But our team has been really tough through that process.”
Evansville got the first bucket of the game for Senior Day as graduate center Barbora Tomancova had a second-chance layup two and a half minutes in. But the Aces didn’t score another point until the final minute and a half of the first quarter. UNI built only an eight-point lead in the other five minutes as both teams struggled to score in the opening frame. A four-point run for the Panthers in the final minute had UE down by only 10 points despite shooting 6.3%.
The second quarter didn’t get any easier for Evansville as the team went three of nine from the floor. It took nearly four minutes for either team to make a shot in the second but the first went to UNI at 6:22. The Aces had their first field goal of the quarter at 4:33 on a layup from Thomas. But another long scoreless stretch for UE made it a 17-point game with under two minutes left in the half. Guard Sydney Bradley broke Evansville’s scoreless streak with an open jump shot that sparked a six to two run to end the half.
Both teams’ offense improved in the second half, with the Aces having their best quarter in the third. A three-point play for Thomas opened UE’s scoring in the half. The and-1 opportunity sparked a back-and-forth game through most of the third quarter. Evansville did end the quarter on a quick five-point run to get back within single digits. But the Panthers ended the quarter with a jump shot to again make it a double-digit deficit for the Aces.
The final ten minutes began with a quick three for UNI to begin pulling away from UE. But Evansville didn’t back down as Thomas had another three-point play to get within 11. The Panthers responded with a five-point run that made it a 16-point game with just under seven minutes left to play. It became a shot-for-shot game over the next three minutes.
The Aces put together their final scoring run of the regular season as Thomas made a layup and two free throws in just under a minute. But UNI ended UE’s potential comeback with an eight-point run to close out the game. Evansville got the final bucket as Thomas added another layup on an assist from guard Tené Smith to make the final score 67-46.
While it was a tough game on offense for the Aces, UE stayed in the game with a strong defensive presence. Evansville outrebounded the Panthers 39 to 34 while also blocking four shots. The Aces’ best offensive category came on second-chance points with 10 while tying UNI in points in the paint with 28 each.
UE gets its shot in the postseason next week at Hoops in the Heartland in Moline, Ill. Evansville is locked into the 12th seed in the tournament and will play the fifth seed on Thursday afternoon. Tip-off for the Aces from Vibrant Arena at the MARK is set for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14.
