UE women’s basketball celebrates National Girls and Women in Sports Day against Valpo
The Purple Aces hosted their second annual NGWSD clinic and game on Saturday
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – In front of a loud and boisterous crowd of area girls the University of Evansville women’s basketball team came just shy of a victory in the 64-51 loss.
Despite almost even numbers from the floor, a frozen second quarter put the Purple Aces behind too far for a second-half comeback against the Valparaiso Beacons. Sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) almost single-handedly got UE back into the game with her fifth double-double of the season. With 21 points and 12 rebounds, Hartwig had her seventh game scoring 20+ points for Evansville in 20 games.
“We’re disappointed with the outcome,” said Head Coach Robyn Scherr following the game. “It certainly wasn’t from a lack of effort. We were playing really really hard and left it all out there.
“We let their pressure bother us in the first half. We did a better job in the second half but credit to Valpo, we just couldn’t string together enough stops in the fourth quarter. They made some big shots when we pulled close and got it to a two-possession game. They responded with some big buckets and that was kind of it.”
Freshman forward Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Penn. / Greater Latrobe HS) got the game started with five straight points in three and a half minutes. The Aces took their first lead of the quarter when freshman Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis / North Central HS) hit the team’s second three. UE held onto the lead for the rest of the first thanks to an 8-3 run.
However, Evansville’s offense went quiet in the second quarter as Snyder was the only player to make a shot in 10 minutes of action. Even with only three points in the second,d the Aces trailed by just four going into halftime.
Hartwig had an early three-point play to get UE back within one as they kept the Beacons scoreless for the first two minutes. But Valpo was able to capitalize on turnovers and pull away by five just over three minutes into the half. Evansville traded shots with Beacons until the final two minutes of the third quarter. Valparaiso was up by seven with 1:18 left but a five-point run for the Aces had the deficit back within two possessions.
It was a back-and-forth pace on offense early in the fourth quarter. But back-to-back threes for Beacons forward Layla Gold made it a nine-point game with just under six minutes to go. Sophomore forward, Claudia Clement (Barcelona, Spain / Winthrop) got a layup out of the media timeout to get UE back within seven. But that would be the closest Evansville got to Valpo as the Beacons pulled away for the 66-54 Aces loss.
Hartwig and freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) were the only two UE players in double figures on Saturday. Runner added 10 points while Snyder came just shy of double digits with eight points on the night. Hartwig also led Evansville in rebounds with 12 boards while freshman guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) set a new career-high with seven rebounds.
The Aces return to the road next week for the back half of the Missouri Valley Conference portion of the schedule. UE will make the two-hour drive to Southern Illinois for the team’s next game on Friday, February 7. Tip-off from the Banterra Center is set for 6 p.m.
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