Aces women’s basketball picks up exhibition win over Franklin
The Purple Aces outscored the Grizzlies by 26 points
EVANSVILLE, IN – Powered by a 26-point, 14-rebound performance from sophomore Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS), the University of Evansville women’s basketball team opened its 2024-25 campaign with an 86-60 exhibition victory over Franklin College in front of a sellout crowd at Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
Hartwig, a sophomore forward who averaged 11.5 points and 7.5 boards during her freshman season for the Aces, knocked down 10-of-18 shots from the field while seeing 3-of-5 shots drop from beyond the arc in just over 30 minutes of action.
“It was fun to get out and play a game,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr following the win. “It’s been practicing all fall so it’s nice to get out and kind of see what we can do in this environment with fans in the stands. It was a great crowd.
“I was pleased. We had a really good first half. I would have liked for some things in the second half to be cleaner. But I thought we did a really good job in the first half in scoring 50 points. We had a really big second quarter so that part was fun.”
After a slow opening quarter that saw the teams swap the lead five times, the Aces began to push the pace on their way to a 30-point second quarter that gave them a 50-33 advantage at halftime. The Aces used a strong showing in the front court as they outrebounded the Grizzles 43-31 while outscoring the visitors 46-26 from close range.
Overall, Evansville saw eight players score in the contest for over 50% shooting on the night.
Along with Hartwig’s double-double night, freshman guard Camryn Runner added an efficient 15 points while dishing seven assists. Senior Julia Palomo and freshman Avery Kelly scored in double figures as well with 11 apiece.
Kelly, an Evansville native who prepped at Memorial High School, added to her double figure scoring night with five assists and seven rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
Franklin, winners of 17 games in 2023-24, was led by Jordan Coon with 15 points.
Evansville opens its regular season on the road on Tuesday against IU-Indianapolis. The game is slated to tipoff at 5:30p.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN+.
