Evansville, In.:  Led by two-goal performances by Matthew Hobbs and Dmitri Yushkevich, along with solid goaltending from Brendahn Brawley, the Thunderbolts defeated the Ice Bears by a 6-1 score at Ford Center on Saturday night.   The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 9^th against the Birmingham Bulls, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts opened the scoring at 12:29 of the first period as Vadim Vasjonkin scored off a Knoxville turnover, assisted by Myles Abbate.  With only 14 seconds remaining in the first period, Dmitri Yushkevich doubled the lead to 2-0 with a shot from the blue line, assisted by Bruno Kreisz and Lincoln Hatten.  Matthew Hobbs scored his first goal of the game at 5:51 of the second period, sniping a shot while in a 1-on-1 battle, assisted by Matt Dorsey to make it 3-0.  Yushkevich picked up his second goal of the game by going to the net and deflecting a puck in at 13:11, assisted by Hatten and Hobbs to give Evansville a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.

Only 30 seconds into the third period, Hobbs scored his second goal of the night by sliding home a loose puck at the side of the net to extend Evansville’s lead to 5-0, assisted by Hatten and Dorsey.  Knoxville’s lone goal came shortly afterward as Derek Osik scored at 1:43 to shorten the lead to 5-1.  A few minutes later, Evansville got the five-goal lead back as Brady Lynn capitalized on a rush to the net at 7:10, assisted by Vasjonkin and Kriesz to wrap up the scoring at 6-1.

                Hobbs finished with two goals and one assist, Yushkevich finished with two goals, Vasjonkin scored one goal and one assist, and Lynn added one goal.  Hatten tallied three assists, while Dorsey and Kreisz added a pair of assists each.  In goal, Brendahn Brawley finished with 29 saves on 30 shots faced for his 7^th win of the season and his first win as a Thunderbolt.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Bears do not meet again this season, with Evansville winning the season series 3-2.

The Purple Aces led on the defensive end with 40 rebounds

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In a back-and-forth battle to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the University of Evansville women’s basketball came just short in a 79-72 loss to the Bradley Braves.

In front of their largest crowd in Meeks Family Fieldhouse, the Purple Aces returned from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to a one-point game. But it wasn’t enough to get past the Braves as UE had no points in the final two and a half minutes. Evansville had two players in double-figures as freshman forwards Nevaeh Thomas and Maggie Hartwig had 19 and 14 points respectively.

“It was definitely a heartbreaker, but what an awesome environment,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells following the game. “Thank you so much to Fifth Third Bank for sponsoring our National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It was so awesome to see all the young girls in the stands who got to participate in our sports clinic today at UE.

“They provided a great atmosphere. And when you lose a tough game like that, those young girls just know that they saw a great game and an exciting game. It was just so cool to see them in the autograph line with our players. And I think its good for our players too when it’s a tough loss to put things in perspective. We still get to be role models. There were a lot of positives from the game today even though it didn’t go our way,”.

It was all defense to start Saturday’s game celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day. The Aces had the first lead of the night with a layup 12 seconds in. Bradley’s leading player Halle Poock immediately responded with a three before both teams had a two-minute lull. UE tied the game up before the halfway mark of the quarter on free throws. The lead changed hands with 2:44 on the clock as Thomas made a second chance layup. But an 8-2 run for the Braves made it a four-point deficit for Evansville.

The teams traded shots to start the second half. The Aces used some momentum for a four-point run, tying the game for the fourth time. Four-point runs were the name of the game in the second quarter as UE and Bradley swapped back-to-back runs. That was followed by an over two-minute stretch of back-and-forth shots to give Evansville the lead twice. The Braves again ended the quarter on a longer run, going ahead 32-28.

While the first half was characterized by defense, the second half was all offense. Both teams scored over 30 points in the third quarter with the Aces just barely coming out below. Bradley used its momentum from the end of the second to make it a seven-point game. UE cut in with layups to get the game back down to only a five-point deficit four times in the third quarter. But multiple three-point plays for the Braves soon made it a 13-point game. Evansville was able to get the game back down to three points with under a minute to go. A foul in the final 10 seconds again had the Aces down by five.

UE opened scoring in the final quarter with a second-chance layup from guard Julia Palomo. Palomo had five points in the fourth quarter alone, being Evansville’s leader early as she broke up a Bradley run with another layup. Guard Madline Gerke followed up with her lone three-pointer of the night to make it a one-possession game.  The teams returned to trading shots for the next two minutes. A free throw for Palomo with 2:27 left made it only a one-point game. But the Aces offense went quiet for the final two minutes in the 79-72 loss.

UE hits the road for its next two games, seeing teams that were in Meeks only a week ago. Evansville makes a stop in Chicago first for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the UIC Flames. The Aces will round out their road trip with a game in Valparaiso on Sunday at 1 p.m.

CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ken. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Tennis (1-1) recorded its first win of the 2024 campaign after taking down Thomas More University (0-1), 7-0, at the Five Seasons Family Sports Club Saturday evening.
 
Doubles: The Screaming Eagles started the match strong after all three doubles teams scored a victory in dominating fashion. The combination of junior Madison Windham (Clarksville, Tennessee)/senior Lauren Rowe (Terre Haute, Indiana) kicked off the match at number one with a 6-1 win before the freshmen duo of Anais Negrail (Maisons-Alfort, France)/Sofia Davidoff (Lagny-sur-Marne, France) secured the doubles decision point with a 6-1 victory at number two. In flight three, freshman Antonia Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil)/senior Rachel McCorkle (Tulsa, Oklahoma) pair rounded out doubles play with a 6-2 decision.
 
Singles: USI nabbed six victories in singles competition with all matchups going to just two sets. Ferrarini struck first with a 6-1, 6-0 win at number three before Negrail followed up with a 6-0, 6-2 decision in the four spot. Rowe was able to take down her opponent at number two (7-5, 6-3) before McCorkle tacked on another point for the Eagles in the one hole (6-3, 6-4). Rounding out the Eagles’ solid performance was Davidoff at number five with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep and junior Abby Myers (Evansville, Indiana) at number six with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
 

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers closed out the weekend with a bang at the Physical Education Complex, riding a 20-0 first quarter scoring run to a big 113-53 victory over Rend Lake College Saturday night.

The Lady Blazers got the night started off strong, using an early 20-0 scoring run to break out to a 25-2 lead in the first quarter.

VU would close out the first quarter leading the Lady Warriors 33-5.

The Vincennes defense continued to apply pressure in the second quarter, using a 10-0 scoring run to build a 43-6 advantage and heading into the locker room break leading 58-17.

The second half had a very similar feel, after Rend Lake scored the first basket of the third quarter, VU used a 13-0 scoring run to lead 71-19.

After the Blazers led 84-29 going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Warriors looked to make a last push, scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter, before the Blazers completely sealed the game away with a 17-0 scoring run to lead 103-36.

Rend Lake played the game out strong until the final buzzer, ending the game by outscoring Vincennes 17-10.

Vincennes ultimately came out on top, cruising to a big 113-53 victory over the Lady Warriors, breaking the century mark in the score column for the fifth time this season.

VU had six of the nine active players score in double figures Saturday night, led by freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) who tied her career high with 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Freshman Giavonnie Belton (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished her night with 20 points off the bench. Connecting on four three-pointers and dishing out six assists on the night.

Freshman Karina Scott (Noblesville, Ind.) set a new career high with six made three-pointers on the night, giving her 18 points in the game to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.) came off the bench to score in double figures, ending with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) returned to the Trailblazer starting lineup and came away with her sixth double-double of the season and 18th double-double of her VU career, finishing with 12 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) was the six VU scorer in double figures, ending with 10 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Sophomore Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) ended with seven points and six rebounds, while freshman Makyla Tucker ended with seven points and a pair of made threes.