CORALVILLE, Iowa – Evansville is writing some impressive history in the Credit Union1 Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Aces became just the fourth 10-seed to win a tournament game on Thursday and now they’re the first to reach the semifinals after upsetting second-seeded Belmont 76-63 Friday night at Xtream Arena behind another big game from Camryn Runner and solid contributions from her teammates.
Runner put up a triple-double in her previous game against Belmont Jan. 26 and, while she didn’t quite match that performance, she was still outstanding Friday, filling the stat sheet with 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. She helped the Aces (9-24) build a double-digit lead and then she and the others answered every time Belmont looked to be closing the gap.
Kylee Norkus, averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds, came up big with 11 points and nine boards and was especially sharp at the free throw line, making 8-of-10. Sydney Huber and Mireia Mustaros added 10 points each for the youthful Aces, who have no seniors and only one junior. Huber, one of the league’s top 3-point shooters, missed her first five shots, but hit four of her last five, including two treys.
Tuti Jones led Belmont with 18 points and four steals, Jailyn Banks scored 17 and Avery Strickland 11. KK Brodie blocked a career-high seven shots, tying the tournament record, and scored eight points for the Bruins, who failed to reach the semifinals for the first time in their four seasons in the league. Quinn Eubank led the team with 10 rebounds.
Outscoring the Bruins 42-25 after halftime, Evansville shot 50 percent over the final two quarters against one the league’s best defensive teams and finished the game at 41 percent. Belmont shot just 36.7 percent and was 4-for-25 (.160) from deep.
After seven early lead changes, Belmont went up by seven midway through the second quarter. That lead didn’t last long. Breaunna Ward hit a 3-pointer, her only basket of the game, to start an 18-2 run that lifted the Aces into a 34-25 lead late in the first half.
Belmont drew to 36-30 early in the second half and then Evansville answered again. Runner hit a jumper in the lane and a layup and fed Elle Snyder on a fast break layup to hike the lead to 42-30. Belmont never got closer than nine the rest of the way and Evansville led by as many as 14.
Evansville made 7-of-12 free throws in the final 3 minutes to stay safely ahead and dribbled out the final 21 seconds after winning a challenge on a ball that went out of bounds, their history-making victory secure.
The Aces advance to Saturday’s 4 p.m. semifinal at Xtream Arena and a matchup against either No. 3 seed Illinois State or No. 6 seed Drake.