CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The University of Evansville women’s basketball team was able to trim a once 13-point second-half lead by Villanova back to just four points with under two minutes to go, but that was as close as the Purple Aces could get, as the Wildcats held off UE for a 56-49 victory in the first round of the DoubleTree Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

 

Villanova used a 20-6 run three minutes into the second half to break open a back-and-forth contest and grab a 49-36 lead with 10:31 to play. Turnovers fueled the early portion of the run, as Villanova scored five-straight points off of UE miscues to grab a 34-30 lead with 16:34 to play. After a lay-up by UE sophomore forward Eva Benson stemmed the tide momentarily, Villanova sharpshooter Maria Getty got hot, scoring six of Villanova’s next eight points to expand the lead to 42-34 with 12:35 to play on a free throw.

 

The lead would grow to as much as 13 points, before Evansville would answer back. A quick 6-0 run capped by a Jordan Lewis steal and lay-up trimmed Villanova’s lead back to seven points, 49-42 with 8:37 to play. Another 4-0 run with under three minutes to play trimmed Villanova’s cushion back to just four points, 53-49, on a pair of Amy Gallagher free throws with 1:15 to play. That would be as close as UE would come though, as the Wildcats went 3-of-4 from the foul line over the last minute of play to ice the victory and improve to 3-1 on the season.

 

“I was proud of the way that this team battled back tonight after Villanova’s run,” said UE head coach Misty Murphy. “I thought that our defensive intensity in the second half was as good as it has been this year, and that really helped us get back into the game. Unfortunately, we just had too much of a deficit to overcome.

 

“If we are able to combine our defensive intensity in the second half with our offensive efficiency of the last two games, we will have a winning formula. Hopefully, we can use that formula to pick up a victory tomorrow afternoon.”

 

Benson led Evansville offensively with a career-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Gallagher and sophomore forward Chelsea Falkenstein each pitched in eight points and five rebounds as well. Forward Laura Sweeney led Villanova with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Getty added 13 points and five assists.

 

With the loss, Evansville falls to 0-4 on the season. The Purple Aces will conclude play in the 2009 DoubleTree Classic hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. central time by facing the loser of the first-round game between Kennesaw State and the host Chattanooga Lady Mocs. Saturday’s game will be heard on an internet-only basis on GoPurpleAces.com due to a direct time conflict with the UE men’s basketball game.