 Gasper And Dossett Combine For 27 points To Lead Aces
In its final non-conference game of the season, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team fell to SEMO, 74-65, on the road in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
“We fought, but unfortunately we put ourselves in some bad situations. SEMO is too good of a team to do that against,” said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. “I keep telling them we’re close. Hopefully this break serves us well and its a new season come conference play…and we can get past this first half of the season and come back re-energized and ready to go,” said Ruffing.”
Leading the Aces was junior guard Kerri Gasper who finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while senior guard Brooke Dossett added 13 points and four assists. The Redhawks were led by Adrianna Murphy who just missed a triple-double with 26 points, nine rebounds, and 10 assists on the afternoon.
SEMO started the game on a tear, scoring eight unanswered points to open up an 8-0 lead over the Aces just 3:09 into the contest. Evansville responded with a 15-6 run to close the quarter, fueled by six points by sophomore center Kaylan Coffman that gave the Aces a 15-14 lead after the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Aces increased their lead to six at 20-14 with 6:34 left in the half on a jumper by Gasper and a three-pointer by sophomore guard Crimson Jones. The Redhawks answered with an 11-2 run that gave SEMO a 25-22 advantage before junior center Kelsi Scott hit a pair of free throws in the waning moments of the half to cut the Aces’ deficit to 25-24 heading into the break.
In what proved to be a back-and-forth battle, Evansville regained the lead at 30-27 as junior center Tattenai Hall converted a three-point play. The Aces’ lead grew as large as four on a three by graduate guard Hannah Noe with 6:03 left in the quarter, but SEMO utilized a 15-5 run to push in front 49-43. At the buzzer, Murphy pulled-up from 35 feet out and banked in a three that increased the Redhawks’ advantage to 52-43 with one quarter left to play.
A game that was highlighted by runs featured one last attack by the Aces to open the fourth quarter. An 11-3 run from Evansville capped-off by a layup by Gasper trimmed SEMO’s lead all the way to one at 55-54 with 7:21 remaining on the clock. As was true most of the afternoon, the Redhawks found a pair of timely three-pointers and rebuilt their margin to 12 just minutes later as SEMO captured the 74-65 win.
Evansville kept up with the Redhawks in the rebounding battle as SEMO finished with a narrow 39-37 advantage on the boards. The Aces committed 19 turnovers to just 10 for SEMO although the Redhawks converted the turnovers into only 16 points.
The Aces take 10 days off for the holidays before returning to action on December 29 to start Missouri Valley Conference play as the Aces host Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. on December 29 inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
