Aces Trump Bluejays, 75-60, in Women's Basketball

EVANSVILLE, Ind. ? Evansville used a 17-2 run early in the second half to take control of a 75-60 win for the home team over the Creighton women's basketball team Thursday night at Roberts Stadium. For the second straight game, the Bluejays (9-6, 2-2 MVC) turned the ball over at least 20 times and allowed their opponent to score more than 20 points off of those give-aways.

Creighton owned a 30-29 halftime lead following an ugly first half by both teams. CU and Evansville (8-7, 3-2 MVC) both shot an identical 11-for-32 (.344) from the field in the opening half. The Purple Aces started the game by missing 13 of their first 15 shots, while the Jays had half of their 20 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bluejays scored the first six points of the second half to build their largest lead of the game, up 36-29 just 84 seconds into the half. It was down hill from there for Creighton, allowing the Aces to rattle off a 17-2 run to claim a 46-38 lead with 11:41 to play.

The Aces would extend to a 10-point lead, up 60-50, with 6:39 to play. The Jays answered with the next five points, including a three-pointer by Kelsey Woodard to make the score 62-57 UE with 4:29 to go. But Shannon Novosel responded with a three-pointer for the Aces to go back up eight.

With the score 65-60 following a Sam Schuett three-point play, UE closed the game on a 10-0 run in the final three minutes to own its largest lead at the end of the game.

All-MVC performer Rebekah Parker scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second-half to lead UE. Three other UE starters scored in double figures for the Aces as they scored 26 points off of CU's 20 turnovers.

Sara Cain led the Jays with 14 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field. Woodard added nine points and Kristina Voss had nine points in just 11 minutes before fouling out with seven minutes to play. The Aces shut down a hot-shooting Ally Thrall, as the senior finished 1-for-13 from the field and just 1-for-6 from three-point range.

After making 23 three-pointers in their first two MVC games, the Bluejays have made four in their last two. CU shot just 3-for-19 (.158) from three-point range in Thursday night's loss and dropped to 0-6 this year when failing to shoot 40 percent from the field as it shot 36.1 percent.

CU out-rebounded UE 42-40, including 18 offensive rebounds for the Jays. But 11 UE steals and 80.6 percent shooting at the charity stripe helped the Aces get above .500 in the league and on the year.

The Bluejays now have two days off between road games, as they will not return to action until Sunday at Southern Illinois. The Jays and Salukis will tip off at 2:05 p.m. at SIU Arena, with the game heard live on Spirit 88.9 FM and online at www.kvss.com.

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Players Mentioned

Sara Cain

Sam Schuett

Ally Thrall

Kristina Voss

Kelsey Woodard