NASHVILLE — The University of Evansville women’s basketball team makes its first of three trips to the Music City over the weekend.

The Purple Aces are still looking for their first road win of the season after a second-half comeback at Lindenwood fell short. UE had its first overtime game of the season as the team tied the game in the final 20 seconds after being down by 18 early in the third quarter. But with two starters fouling out in the overtime period Evansville couldn’t find the points it needed for an away win.

The Aces return to the home of the Lipscomb Bison’s Allen Arena for the first time since 2009. UE and Lipscomb played four straight seasons in the late 2000s but did not see each other again until 2023 at Meeks Family Fieldhouse. The Bison have already played six games early in the season and hold a 5-1 record. Lipscomb’s lone loss came to a common non-conference opponent Vanderbilt to open the season at Memorial Gymnasium. Since that game, the Bison have rattled off five straight wins behind offensive leader senior guard Claira McGowan who is averaging 13.5 points a game.

Evansville continues to dominate at the free throw line through four games. The Aces are tied for third among Division I teams in free throws made per game, averaging 20 points at the line. The team is only two free throws in a game away from the national leader, Michigan State. The two other teams that also average 20 free throws a game are Cleveland State and Texas.

Freshman guard Camryn Runner had UE’s best offensive performance in six seasons at Lindenwood. Runner put up a career-best 30 points against the Lions for the third-highest scoring output for a player in the MVC. It was the Aces’ best performance by a freshman since 2014 when program points leader Sara Dickey had a then career-high 30 points at Southern Illinois on January 26th.

-www.gopurpleaces.com-