UE women’s basketball overpowered by Belmont 

The Purple Aces outmatched the Bruins at the free throw line for 81.8%

NASHVILLE – In the final road game of the season, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team couldn’t find its way past the Belmont Bruins in the 80-55 loss.

The Purple Aces struggled to contain the Bruins offense on Sunday afternoon in their final road match-up of the 2023-2024 season. Two players for UE ended the game in double figures as forward Maggie Hartwig led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Nevaeh Thomas was the other Evansville player with double figures while also drawing a team-high eight fouls.

The Aces got off to a quick start at Curb Event Center, leading early on a second-chance layup from Hartwig. Belmont responded with a seven-point run that was ended by guard Kynidi Mason Striverson’s first three of the afternoon. The teams traded buckets over the next three minutes. Thomas ended the back-and-forth pace with a three-point play to tie the game. But the Bruins ended the quarter on a seven-point run to retake the lead.

It took UE almost two minutes to find the basket in the second quarter as Belmont grew its lead to double digits. Evansville got the deficit back down into single digits on a five-point run midway through the second. But the Bruins responded with a brief run to regrow the lead. Mason Striverson hit another three with a little over two minutes left in the half making it a 10-point game. But the Aces wouldn’t score the rest of the half, heading into the locker room down by 16.

The teams traded shots to begin the second half until Belmont had an eight-point run over three minutes. Both squads struggled to make shots in the final seven minutes of the third quarter. UE had three points over the final three minutes while the Bruins had just two. Evansville headed into the final 10 minutes in Nashville trailing by 22.

The Aces had their best offensive quarter of the game in the fourth, adding 20 points over 10 minutes. Hartwig took over the game for UE with seven points in the first three minutes of the quarter while Evansville had its largest run of the game with six points.  But Belmont responded with a three-point run followed by an eight-point run for a 27-point lead. The Aces chipped away at the lead over the final four minutes, but eventually fell to the Bruins 80-55.

While Hartwig led UE in both scoring and rebounding, Mason Striverson came an assist shy of a career game. The sophomore guard added eight assists in Nashville while Thomas led the team with three steals. Thomas also recorded Evansville’s lone block of the game.

The Aces will wrap up the 2023-24 season at home with their two final games in Meeks Family Fieldhouse. UE will first welcome the regular season champions Drake to Evansville on Thursday night. Tip-off for the Aces against the Bulldogs is set for 6 p.m. on March 7.