SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State owned a 49-25 rebounding advantage in Friday's Missouri Valley Conference opener against Evansville, but was doomed by 25 turnovers and 33 percent shooting in a 65-56 loss to the Purple Aces at JQH Arena.

Lexi Hughes scored a career-high 24 points for the Lady Bears (3-9, 0-1 MVC), including a 5-for-7 showing from beyond the arc, and Hillary Chvatal grabbed 14 rebounds, putting her in double figures for the seventh time this season.

Evansville (6-6, 1-0) never trailed in the contest, but led by double-digits for just 1 minute, 14 seconds, as MSU spent much of the game within two possessions.

The Purple Aces used an early 10-0 run to lead 20-9 before Hughes hit a trey to end a five-minute scoreless drought for a 20-12 deficit with 7:32 to play in the first half. Hughes added five more points by the 6:00 mark for a 23-17 score, and Kenzie Williams rattled in a 3-pointer and hit a jumper for a 24-all tie with 2:51 on the clock.

Williams scored the first bucket after intermission to pull the Lady Bears within 30-28, but Evansville responded to go back ahead 37-29 with 15:17 to play.

Hughes buried a triple at the 13:44 mark and followed with a jumper 27 seconds later to cut the UE lead to 37-36, and hit 3-pointers to pull MSU to 45-41 and 48-44 before scoring with 7:08 remaining for a 48-46 deficit.

Tyonna Snow turned a steal into a layup less than 30 seconds later for the 48-48 tie, and UE regained the lead at 51-48 with a 3-pointer with 5:55 to play. Then, trailing 51-50, Missouri State missed five shots for the lead on one possession, grabbing four offensive boards and coming up empty each time before the Aces rebounded with 2:51 to play and got a 3-pointer from Mallory Ladd 20 seconds later for the 54-50 advantage.

Williams hit a pair of free throws with 2:17 on the clock, and Evansville scored the next four points for a 58-52 lead with 1:47 to go before going 7-for-10 at the foul line in the game's final 1:02 to put away the win.

Missouri State held Evansville to 38 percent shooting, but went just 20-for-60 from the field and 6-for-22 from beyond the arc. MSU grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and made 10 of 11 free throws. Williams joined Hughes in double figures with 14 points while grabbing seven rebounds.

The Lady Bears host Indiana State (10-2, 0-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Sycamores lost 63-52 at Wichita State on Friday.