Cold start trips up Aces in loss to Indiana State

Cold start trips up Aces in loss to Indiana State

The Purple Aces had their third-best game at the line to open conference play

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a 66-49 loss to the Indiana State Sycamores.

After nine days off for the Christmas holiday, the Purple Aces took until the fourth quarter on Saturday to get its offense going. Sophomore point guard Kynidi Mason Striverson again led UE on offense with 16 points while center Barbora Tomancova led the team on defense with 12 rebounds. Forward Maggie Hartwig also had a double-digit performance against the Sycamores with 12 points.

“We can tell our team over and over how tough conference play is going to be,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells following the game. “Especially when you open up conference play with a rivalry as well. You tell them, hey it’s going to be physical; they’re going to be very physical with us. We’ve got to match that and not be surprised by it in the first quarter.

“But Indiana State did a really good job of coming out and beating us up a little bit early on. And we didn’t quite match it and it took us a while to toughen up. It wasn’t until that fourth quarter we started fighting back. And it’s very difficult to dig early holes against MVC teams and try to have a comeback win. It’s a tough learning experience but I do think we’ll learn from it.”

Evansville’s offense wasn’t able to find a field goal in the first 10 minutes of Saturday night’s game. But the Aces were able to make their way to the free-throw line in the sixth minute. UE sank all six of its free throws in the first quarter to head into the second down by only eight.

 It was a quick start for Evansville in the second quarter as Tomancova got to the line in the first 10 seconds. The Aces hit their first field goal thanks to Mason Striverson 30 seconds in for a four-point run. But Indiana State responded with a run of their own to make it a double-digit game early. UE quickly cut into the Sycamore led with a three from Hartwig. But Evansville wasn’t able to put together another scoring run, heading into the second half down by 11.

The Aces again had the first points in the third quarter as guard Madlena Gerke put in a second-chance three-pointer. UE put together an early four-point run to get the score back within single digits. Evansville brought the deficit down to eight on two separate occasions in the third. But a 4:30 scoreless stretch near the end of the quarter made it a 21-point hole for the Aces to dig out of in the fourth.

UE’s offense kicked into gear with a six-point run to begin the final quarter. The teams traded baskets, but it quickly ended as Mason Striverson made five points in under 20 seconds for a 10-point game. Indiana State responded with a 9-1 run over the next two minutes, putting the game out of reach for Evansville. Hartwig made the final shots of the game for the Aces with two free throws in the 66-49 loss.

It will be four days before UE is back in action on the road. Evansville begins 2024 at Northern Iowa with a midweek matchup against the Panthers. Tip-off from the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4.