Smith averaged 21 points in two UE wins

In a week where he set his career scoring mark, University of Evansville sophomore Dru Smith has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

The Evansville native had a great week in leading UE to a pair of wins.  The guard finished with 21 points per game, 4 rebounds and had 13 assists against just three turnovers.  Smith also went 10-of-14 from the field (71.4%) while hitting 8 out of 9 free throws and 4 out of 8 tries from long range.

In Monday’s win at Bowling Green, Smith set his career mark with 25 points.  He hit 11 out of 13 attempts while notching 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.

Smith led all players once again in the victory over Canisius, scoring 17 points while dishing out six assists.  He went 8/9 from the line in the win.

This weekend, Smith and his teammates will be at the Ford Center for a pair of games, taking on Austin Peay on Saturday and Midway on Sunday.  Both games tip off at 3 p.m.

Back inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse for the first time in nearly three weeks, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team ran out to an early lead before Morehead State pulled away in the final minutes in an 82-75 loss for the Aces on Sunday afternoon.

“We shot the ball really well, we’re at home, and we got out to a really big lead and you can’t lose that opportunity to win,” said Aces head coach Matt Ruffing. “I felt like we got a little complacent and just kind of forgot what we did to get to the point that we did when we were leading 35-15 in the second quarter. That’s on us and we’ll make sure we take care of that.”

Graduate guard Hannah Noe led the Aces in scoring for the fourth time this season, recording 17 points, while junior center Kelsi Scott and senior guard Brooke Dossett both chipped-in double-digit scoring performances with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Morehead State was led by Darianne Seward who scored 31 points and Miranda Crockett who added 25.
Evansville opened the game on a tear, as the Aces shot 63.6% from the field in the first quarter including going a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe. In the closing seconds of the quarter, Scott posted up and backed down her defender and scored off the glass to push the Aces’ lead to its largest point in the opening frame at 24-12.

In the second quarter, the Aces utilized the momentum they had built in the first ten minutes. Evansville kept its foot on the accelerator, increasing its advantage all the way to 20 at 35-15 on a jumper by sophomore guard Macie Lively with 7:17 left in the quarter. Following the Aces pushing their lead to its largest point of the game, the Eagles responded with a 19-3 run to close the period, trimming the Aces’ lead to just 38-34 at the half.

On two occasions in the third quarter, Evansville pushed its lead back to 11, but Morehead State once again provided resistance. With the Aces up 55-44 with 5:31 on the clock in the third, the Eagles manufactured another run, this time a 14-4 spree that cut Evansville’s advantage to 59-58 heading into the fourth quarter.

The previous 30 minutes of action featured just one tie, but the final 10 minutes included five ties as each side struggled to take control of the contest. The turning point occurred with under 30 seconds to play when the Eagles went to the line and knocked-down seven of eight attempts at the free throw line to give Morehead State an 82-75 win.

Evansville shot a season-best 56.5% (26-46), while holding Morehead State to just 39.7% (27-68) shooting from the field, but the Eagles forced 29 turnovers by the Aces while committing just 17 of their own.

The Aces return to action inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Thursday at 7 p.m. when they host Oakland City.