TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team saw career days from Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind./Hamilton Heights) and Sydney Huber (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Mount Vernon) at Indiana State on Sunday, but came up just short in a 77-71 defeat.
Runner matched her career-high with 30 points and became the second player in the country to tally 30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks in a game this season. 20 of Runner’s 30 points came in the second half. Huber also got hot in the second half, scoring all of her career-best 18 points in the final two periods. The freshman shot 4-for-9 from the three-point line, including a 3-for-5 mark in the fourth quarter to help the Aces mount a furious comeback effort. Fellow freshman Jelena Savic (Melbourne, Australia/Kurunjang Secondary College) grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
Indiana State started hot, taking an 11-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes of action. The Sycamores continued to control things, maintaining a nine-point lead at the 2:29 mark in the quarter, but layups by Georgia Ferguson (Waterloo, Ontario/Cairine Wilson Secondary School) and BreAunna Ward (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School) helped the Aces cut the deficit to five heading into the second quarter.
The Aces continued to claw back in the early stages of the quarter, cutting it to two on a layup by Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe). However, the Sycamores would outscore the Aces 15-4 in the remainder of the period to take a 37-24 advantage into halftime.
Evansville fought back once again coming out of the half to cut it to three, as the Aces outscored the Sycamores 18-6 from the 8:29 to 3:15 mark, spearheaded by eight points from Runner and six points from Huber. Indiana State responded once again, though, capping the quarter with a 6-0 run to own a 53-44 lead heading into the fourth.
Indiana State remained in control early in the fourth, extending the lead back to 15 with 4:04 to, but the Aces would not go down without a fight. A triple from Huber, two layups by Runner, and another deep three-pointer by Huber brought the deficit back to seven with 2:35 remaining, forcing a Sycamores timeout.
Evansville continued their surge with a jumper by Runner and a free throw by Ward before Huber responded to a pair of Sycamore free throws with her third three-point basket of the quarter, making it a one-possession game with 47 seconds left. However, that’s as close as the Aces would get, as Indiana State sunk their free throws down the stretch to escape with a 77-71 win.
