EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Purple Aces had not won a game against Indiana State in since 2014, but that changed Friday night as the Evansville picked up a 57-41 victory in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams at the Ford Center in Evansville.
It was the Camary Williams and Sara Dickey show as they led the Aces with to their fifth consecutive home victory. Williams paced UE with 25 while Dickey added 16 for the Purple Aces (6-6, 1-0 MVC).
Junior Wendi Bibbins paced the Sycamores (6-6, 0-1 MVC) with nine points and a team high 12 rebounds. The Harvey, Louisiana native finished just a point short of her third double-double of the year. Senior Rhagen Smith added nine points and eight rebounds while junior Ashley Taia tallied eight points.
After the Sycamores jumped out to an early first quarter lead, Evansville reeled off nine-straight points to take control of the action. The Sycamores were held at bay after two of their main contributors in Ashley Taia and Rhagen Smith each took seats on the bench after picking up two early fouls.
Sophomore Tierra Webb would end the Sycamore scoring drought 12-seconds into the second after completing an and-one to pull ISU within two. Freshman Ashli O'Neal would join in on the action with a corner three but that was when UE leading scorer Sara Dickey and teammate Camary Williams began to put the ball in the basket, eventually pushing the Aces lead to 11 with four-minutes to go in the half. The teams would trade baskets to close out the first 20-minutes of action as ISU would head to the locker room trailing, 29-19.
An area that the Sycamores dominated in the first quarter was the offensive glass. ISU outrebounded UE, 14-9, including an 8-2 advantage on the offensive side in the first, but the Aces closed the gap to 22-19 at the break, including seven offensive rebounds. In total, ISU outrebounded Evansville, 39-34, including 18 offensive boards, but the Sycamores only turned those chances into eight points.
Evansville continued to score in bunches, adding to its lead and eventually leading by as many as 17 points in the fourth. The rest was academic.
Indiana State looked to make a run in the third quarter, cutting the lead to single digits but the Aces took advantage of the Sycamores' foul trouble, shooting 24 free throws, connecting on 19 to extend their lead. In total, UE turned 17 ISU turnovers into eight fast break points.
The Sycamores return to action Sunday to kick off the New Year with a Missouri Valley Conference matchup against Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. ET inside the SIU Arena. The game will air live world-wide on The Valley On ESPN3.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Women's Basketball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
