The Missouri State Lady Bears gave the Missouri Valley Conference’s hottest team a battle Sunday afternoon in women’s college basketball, but Evansville buried MSU by connecting on 13-of-23 three-point attempts for an 82-74 victory at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind. With the win, UE’s ninth in-a-row, the Purple Aces improved to 15-7 overall and 9-2 in the Valley.
Evansville shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, including a blazing .636 (7-of-11) from behind the arc, to withstand a strong effort by Missouri State. Just about the only place the Purple Aces weren’t on fire from was the foul line, hitting just 19-of-29 on the day. But UE made up for that by putting the game away down the stretch by going 9-of-10 from the stripe in the final 1:41 to seal the victory.
UE senior guard Courtney Felke sparked a 19-6 scoring burst by burying three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to help the Purple Aces take control of the game for good midway through the second stanza. Felke connected from long range with 12:19 left on the clock, then hit another three on UE’s next trip to turn a two-point Evansville lead into an eight-point advantage. The Purple Aces would also get three-pointers from Rebekah Parker and Robyn Jennings during the run and stretched their lead to as many as 15 points.
Missouri State clawed its way to within five points on Tahnee Balerio’s three-pointer with 1:02 to play, but the Lady Bears would get no closer, as UE’s Ashley Austin went 6-of-6 from the foul line over the final two minutes of play to help wrap up the win.
Felke, who hit five treys on the afternoon, finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. All five Evansville starters finished in double figures, including Parker, who tallied 15 points, six boards, four assists and a pair of steals.
Evansville used a 17-4 scoring run to take command midway through the first half. Felke started the spurt with the second of her three first-half three-pointers to give UE a 15-11 edge at the 11:54 mark. Her final triple of the period with 6:15 left sparked a string of three-straight possessions in which the Purple Aces drained three-pointers. Parker followed Felke’s long-range jumper with a trey of her own before Anaris Sickles followed suit to cap the scoring run and give UE a 29-15 advantage with 5:06 to go.
Felke keyed UE’s first-half effort with 11 points, including eight during the Purple Aces’ key offensive burst. Evansville connected on 6-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc in the game’s first 20 minutes, while MSU struggled from the field, hitting just 29.4 percent (10-of-34) of their shots in the opening half.
But MSU outscored the Purple Aces 9-3 to open the second period, drawing to within 38-35 on a Tiff Terwelp layup at the 17:11 mark. UE’s Shannon Novosel answered with another big three, and Parker followed with a basket to push the lead back to eight.
Tahnee Balerio scored on a driving lay-in and Maggie Dwyer knocked down four straight free throws to pull the Lady Bears to within four points, and Melissa Busby’s basket with 13:28 to play cut the deficit to 45-43 before UE took control for good.
Dwyer and Busby each tallied 16 points to lead MSU, while Balerio scored 15 to go along with a game-high six assists and two steals. Terwelp also came through with her fourth-straight double-double, finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Missouri State (7-15 overall, 5-6 MVC) returns home Thursday (Feb. 14) for a 7:05 p.m. matchup against Bradley in the first of two MVC contests next week. The Lady Bears will welcome UNI to Hammons Student Center Saturday (Feb. 16) at 1:05 p.m. as part of Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame weekend, as well as the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s "Think Pink" campaign benefitting the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.
