Aces Women’s Basketball shot down by Drake

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Facing one of the top five teams in the MVC, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Drake Bulldogs squad, falling on the road on Saturday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa.

Leading the way for Evansville, senior guard/forward Abby Feit notched her 77th career double-figure performances, scoring 13 points and adding six boards in 25 minutes of play. With her six rebounds, Feit moves into sole possession of second place in the Aces record book for career rebounds with 843. Off the bench, freshman guard Kynidi Mason-Striverson tallied 11 points, hitting all five of her attempts at the free-throw line. Rounding-out UE’s double-digit scorers was fifth-year guard A’Niah Griffin with 10 points on the day. Finishing with a game-high 23 points, Maggie Bair powered Drake, while Anna Miller scored nine points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Evansville showed its ability early on to compete with some of the best teams in The Valley as the Aces battled with the Bulldogs in the opening minutes. After Drake grabbed an 11-4 lead, the Aces worked themselves back within a pair at 11-9 on a three-pointer from Feit. The Bulldogs would answer with a 17-4 run to close the quarter, earning the home side a 28-13 lead after 10 minutes.

Despite struggling to find its rhythm offensively in the game, Evansville’s defense shined in the second quarter, helping the Aces to stay within striking distance. In the second period, UE recorded a pair of blocks and forced three Drake turnovers and won the rebounding battle 15-10, as the Aces went to the half trailing, 42-25.

The second half was nearly a repeat of the opening quarter as Drake’s offense returned to form, nearly shooting 50% in the final 20 minutes of action. Evansville struggled to get its offense going in the third and fourth quarters, shooting just 6-31 (19.4%) in the second half as the home side pulled away for the 87-48 win.

In the midst of a busy schedule, Evansville returns home for a non-conference matchup with UT Martin inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse at 6 PM on Monday night in a rescheduled contest originally to be played back in December.