QUAD CITIES -   The seventh-seeded Ramblers took control with a huge first-half run and rolled past 10th-seeded Evansville 90-80 to complete the opening round of the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

It was the second-highest scoring game in the tournament's history and Loyola's 90 points were the most by one team since Missouri State's 92-63 win over Indiana State in 2001.

Sophomore Abby Connor led the Ramblers (13-17) with 22 points and 10 rebounds, the sixth double-double of her career. Jazmine Covington gave Loyola a big lift with a career-best 16 points off the bench after entering the game with just 39 points all season.

Freshman Maya Dunson added a season-high 13 points for the Ramblers, while Allison Day and Tiara Wallace each scored 10.

Loyola scored 17 straight points to start a 23-1 run that erased Evansville's final lead and left the Ramblers up 32-12 early in the second quarter. The lead ballooned to 26 before Evansville closed with a rush, scoring a conference record 34 points in the fourth quarter.

The Purple Aces got the lead down to a single digit, 87-80, before Loyola finished it off with free throws.

Loyola won its tournament opener for the first time since 2015 and will play second-seeded Missouri State at 6:02 p.m. Friday. The Ramblers' 13 wins are four more than they compiled in the two previous seasons combined. They had not won since Feb. 17, when they beat Evansville 71-51.

Kerri Gasper scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds in her final college game to lead Evansville (4-26). She finishes her standout career with 1,170 points. Marley Miller added 20 points for the Aces, Brooke Bishop scored 17 and Makayla Wallace 10.

The combined 170 points are just short of the 171 points that Creighton and Indiana State rang up in 1994, a 93-78 Creighton victory. The most points by one team in the MVC tournament came when Drake beat Missouri State 98-70 in 1983.