EVANSVILLE, Ind. -  Junior Kerri Gasper and redshirt sophomore Marley Miller each poured-in 16 points as the University of Evansville women’s basketball team dropped a 101-50 decision to Drake on Friday night inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

“We kind of know the situation that we are in and what we’re up against this weekend playing two really good teams. With the injuries that we had against Indiana State, our backs up against the wall,” said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. “We have three new players that got one day of practice in and I was excited for them. What an experience getting to play in a division one basketball game. I can’t imagine what their emotions were before the game. I thought our team, for the most part, executed pretty well and did the best that they could.”

Gasper and Miller were the lone two Purple Aces to finish in double-figures with Gasper adding eight rebounds, while junior guard Hannah Noe and junior center Kelsi Scott each added six points each. In her first collegiate appearance, freshman guard Monica Watkins scored two points, picking-up a pair of rebounds, a block, and a steal. For the Bulldogs, six players finished in double-figures led by Sara Rhine who finished with 19 points. Maddy Dean finished just shy of a triple-double for Drake as Dean tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

The Bulldogs opened the game on a 7-0 run before Gasper hit a three with 6:43 left in the opening quarter. Following Gasper’s three, Drake once again scored seven-straight to open up a 14-3 advantage over the Aces. Trailing 29-5 in the final minute of the period, Scott scored back-to-back layups to trim the Bulldogs advantage to 29-9 at the conclusion of the first quarter.

A 7-0 run to open the quarter pushed Drake’s advantage to 27 at 36-9 before Noe and Gasper drained triples to stop the Bulldogs’ run. The Aces kept pace with Drake for most of the second period as the threes continued to fall with a Miller trifecta with 4:39 left in the quarter. To close the period, the Bulldogs manufactured an 8-0 spree that gave Drake a 58-24 lead at the halftime break.
The run reached 18-0 as the Bulldogs scored 10-straight points to open the second half and push their lead to 68-24. It was Noe again who halted Drake’s run with a triple with 5:58 left in the third quarter. After Gasper scored to trim Drake’s lead to 74-36 in the final minutes of the quarter, the Bulldogs hit three of their last four three-pointers to push their advantage to 83-36 heading into the fourth quarter.

To open the fourth period, Hannah Fuller hit another three for the Bulldogs, increasing Drake’s lead to 50 at 86-36. Midway through the frame, Miller fired a three that missed its mark and was rebounded by Monica Watkins. Watkins went back up following the rebounded and laid it in for her first collegiate points. In the fourth quarter, Miller hit two more three-pointers to bring her total to 16 points on the night. Closing the game, Gasper hit a pair of layups, but each time Drake answered with a basket of their own as the Bulldogs grabbed the 101-50 win.

Drake finished the contest shooting 69.1% (38-55) from the field and 60.6% (20-33) from beyond the arc, while the Aces shot 33.9% (19-56) from the field and 34.6% (9-26) from three-point range.

Evansville concludes the weekend and a three-game homestand on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a matchup with UNI inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Senior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) racked up a team-high five RBIs as No. 6 University of Southern Indiana Softball earned a pair of wins to close out the UAH Charger Chillout Friday.

Fossett had the go-ahead RBIs in the Screaming Eagles’ 9-3 win over Midwest Region foe Trevecca Nazarene University in the opener; then erupted for three RBIs in USI’s 6-4 win over Delta State University in the nightcap.

The Eagles (3-1) return to action February 23 when they take on Ferris State University at the Midwest Region Crossover at Deaconess Park in Evansville, Indiana.

Southern Indiana 9, Trevecca Nazarene 3
USI capitalized on a pair of walks to begin the seventh inning en route to a six-run inning and a six-run victory.

The Eagles, who led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, found themselves in a tie game after the Trojans (1-2) scored twice in the frame.

Fossett put the Eagles up 5-3 with her one-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh. Junior outfielder Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana), who homered earlier to give the Eagles their third score, pushed another run across with an RBI-single to make it 6-3.

A two-run single by junior catcher Lindsey Barr (Whitesville, Kentucky) gave USI an 8-3 lead, while sophomore shortstop Taylor Ricketts (Georgetown, Kentucky) finished the scoring with an RBI-single to give the Eagles and sophomore hurler Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) the cozy six-run cushion.

Earlier in the contest, sophomore outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) had a two-run double in the top of the first to give USI a 2-0 advantage; while Bradley’s solo shot in the fourth was the Eagles’ first long ball of the year.

Leonhardt (2-0) earned the win for the Eagles after giving up three runs off seven hits in seven innings of work. She recorded five strikeouts and just one walk in the victory.

Southern Indiana 6, Delta State 4
USI scored runs in the last half of the fifth and sixth innings to overcome a Delta State surge and come away with its third straight win.

After Delta State (3-6) scored runs in the third and fifth innings to even the contest at 4-4, Bradley had a sacrifice fly to push across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) tripled to lead off the sixth frame before a sacrifice fly by Fossett gave the Eagles an insurance run.

The Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit after the Lady Statesmen capitalized on a USI error to score twice in the top of the second inning. Johnson and senior outfielder Olivia Clark-Kittleson(Carbondale, Illinois) each had RBI-singles to tie the contest, while Fossett’s two-run single capped off a four-run second frame that put the Eagles in front, 4-2.

Junior pitcher Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) earned the win for the Eagles. Atkisson (1-0) allowed just one hit and one walk in 2.2 innings of relief work to earn her first decision of the season.