The Purple Aces set a season-high 22 assists over 40 minutes

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was a shootout on Sunday afternoon in Meeks Family Fieldhouse as the University of Evansville women’s basketball team came just short in a 90-72 loss against the Murray State Racers.

The Purple Aces had their best offensive game of Missouri Valley Conference play facing the Racers by shooting 45.5% from the floor and 50% from behind the arc. Along with a strong offensive front, UE’s defense kept Murray State six percent below its season-scoring percentage. Four separate Evansville players had double-digit games including guards Kynidi Mason Striverson, Alana Striverson, and post players Barbora Tomancova and Nevaeh Thomas.

“I’m really really proud of our effort and our bounce back from our last game,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells. “We gave ourselves a chance to win. We put ourselves in a position going into the fourth quarter with the game in reach. We made some mistakes down the stretch that we need to clean up. But I feel like we can if we continue to put ourselves in that spot. Murray State is one of the best teams in our conference right now, and it was a fun game to play in and a fun game to coach,”.

The Aces got the first bucket of Sunday’s matchup from center Barbora Tomancova off a Racer turnover, setting the tone for the game. Murray State responded with the first run of the day with eight points and two threes. UE responded with a three of its own from guard Kynidi Mason Striverson. Mason Striverson couldn’t be stopped in the first quarter, leading Evansville with eight points and shooting 57%. An 8-2 stretch for the Racers in the final three minutes had the Aces facing a six-point deficit.

It was all UE to start the second quarter as the team opened on a four-point run to make it a one-basket game. The two squads matched each other shot-for-shot over the next three minutes before Murray State slightly pulled away. In the final two minutes of the first half Evansville had a 7-3 run to make it a four-point game going into the second half.

The Aces had a quiet start to the third quarter as their first points came three minutes in from guard Tené Smith. UE tried to match the Racers shooting but fell behind by 13 points with four minutes left in the quarter. A jump shot three from Mason Striverson with 3:12 on the clock sparked an eight-point run to get within five. Back-to-back threes from Striverson made it only a four-point game with a minute and a half left. Evansville headed into the final quarter trailing by only five and a chance to win its first conference game of the season.

Using their momentum from the third quarter, the Aces made two quick baskets for a one-point game. Murray State responded with four points but a layup from Tomancova following a missed Racer basket returned it to a one possession game. But a four-minute cold stretch from UE’s offense put the team down by 13 with four minutes to go. A nine-point run by Murray State put the game out of reach for Evansville as they fell 90-72.

Mason Striverson led the team on offense with 17 points, four assists, and two steals. Sister Alana Striverson had a similar stat line with 14 points, four assists, and one steal including four made three pointers. Also, in double figures for the Aces were Tomancova with her fourth double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds and Thomas with 10 points, three assists, and one steal. Tomancova’s 13 rebounds led the team on defense as no Ace added a block through 40 minutes. As a team, UE set a season-high 22 assists while also having their strongest game from the arc since November at 50% shooting.

Evansville hits the road for its next game on Friday, Jan. 19. The Aces head to Springfield, Mo. to take on the Missouri State Lady Bears in a Friday night clash. Tip-off from Great Southern Bank Arena is set for 6:30 p.m.

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Track and Field teams hit the track for the first time in the 2024 Indoor season Saturday, competing in the John Craft Invite hosted by Eastern Illinois University.

The Trailblazers were competing against several NCAA Division I programs and were able to come away with five event victories on the day.

The VU men’s team was led by two, one-two finishes on the track, starting with freshmen Tumani Skinner and Olamipo Ladipo in the 200 meters with Skinner taking the top spot at 23 seconds and Ladipo crossing at 23.18 seconds.

Sophomores Desroy Jordan and Matthew Gray took the top two spots in the 600 meters, with Jordan finishing with a time of 1:24.17 and Gray ending at 1:29.15.

The VU men’s runners continued their run of first place finishes with sophomore Isaac Stanford taking the top spot in the mile with a time of 4:23.07.

Stanford was joined in the top 10 in the mile by fellow Trailblazers Tanner Spence and Cody Noel, Spence placed ninth at 4:42.25 and Noel ended 10th with a time of 4:43.27.

Stanford, Spence and Gray joined Malik Ferdinand in the Distance Medley Relay, placing second overall with a time of 11:26.67.

Ferdinand then competed with Ladipo, Jordan and Skinner in the 4×400 meter relay, taking the top spot with a time of 3:40.40.

VU decathlete Olegs Kozjakovs also had a big day at EIU, placing second in the long jump with a distance of 6.52 meters, finishing third in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.98 seconds and placing fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.51 meters.

The VU men’s team top 10 finishes were rounded out by throwers Jacob Wickham, Jake Terrell and Jacob Smith each placing in the top 10 in the weight throw.

Wickham led the Blazers with a throw of 13.10 meters for sixth, while Terrell placed ninth at 12.08 meters and Smith placed 10th with a throw of 9.72 meters.

“Well, I’m not sure how to explain this meet,” VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. “I may have undersold it a bit too much. I told our team that this was just a time trial and to focus more on the mental aspect than the performance itself and I believe they took me up on it.”

“It was not a very competitive meet and the track was not conducive to fast times,” Rogier added. “The one thing I came away with is that we have a really good group of young people on this team and it is going to be a lot of fun watching them compete and improve as the season progresses. We did not compete eight of our team members so we were not entered in a few events that we will normally compete in and had to juggle things just to put together relays.”