Thomas leads UE women’s basketball in loss to Southern Illinois

The Purple Aces went 17-21 from the free throw line 

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team struggled to contain Southern Illinois offense in a 99-60 loss on Sunday.

Freshman forward Neveah Thomas came two points shy of her career-high against the Salukis Sunday afternoon. Thomas and guard Kynidi Mason Striverson were the only two Purple Aces in double digits on offense while forward Maggie Hartwig pulled down 10 rebounds. UE had its second-best Missouri Valley Conference game blocking shots with five put-downs.

The Aces got off to an early start as forward Nevaeh Thomas had the first points of the game 40 seconds in. But it would take three more minutes for UE to add a point at the line going down by double-digits with 2:10 left in the first quarter. A corner three from guard Alana Striverson put Evansville into double-digits before the end of the first quarter.

It was a much slower start on offense in the second quarter as Mason Striverson had the Aces first basket over two and a half minutes into the quarter. The bucket spurred a shot-for-shot stretch between the two teams. But three straight threes in a row for the Salukis stopped UE’s offense in its tracks. Evansville’s guards got the team back on track as Thomas ended the half with two made free throws to make it a 49-24 game.

The Aces opened scoring in the second half as well with Hartwig making a second-chance layup. But SIU rattled off six points before Hartwig could make another layup. The teams traded shots until under five minutes to go. UE then had its best scoring run starting with another Striverson three culminating in six points. Two fast runs from the Salukis had Evansville facing a 35-point deficit heading into the final quarter.

Back-to-back layups began the fourth quarter for the Aces, but it soon returned to a shot-for-shot game. Southern Illinois was able to put together three short runs in the quarter to keep UE from getting anywhere close. Evansville ended its scoring on a Mason Striverson three and didn’t make a basket for the final two and a half minutes for the 99-60 loss.

The Aces return home to Meeks Family Fieldhouse next week for a pair of games. UE will welcome UIC to town first on Friday Jan. 26 for the team’s annual Pride game. Tip-off from Meeks is set for 6 p.m. on Friday.