Jaci McCormack scored 15 of her of her season-high 23 points and added seven assists and seven rebounds, to lead a monstrous Redbird comeback from down 15 to tied in the final six minutes and into overtime, but Evansville rebounded for an 87-78 win over Illinois State in a Missouri Valley Conference game played at Vincennes University.
ISU took a 76-71 lead in the first minute of overtime on two
Megan McCracken free throws and an Amber Shelton three-pointer, but UE responded with the next 11 points to take control.
Redbird coach Robin Pingeton praised the comeback.
We could have hung our heads, said Pingeton, whose team trailed by 15 with six minutes left. Our kids showed a lot of fight. They could have thrown in the towel, but they continued to battle.
Jennifer Utterback scored 17 of her career-high 29 points in the first half to help Evansville build a 12-point lead at the intermission. ISU got the first two scores of the second half to cut the lead to 40-32, but Alissa Kirby hit a pair of 20-plus-foot three-pointers as UE took control, leading 65-50 into the final 6:30 of the game.
Katie Donovans three-pointer got the Redbird comeback started with 6:10 left. She followed with a layup and then McCormack drained one of five turnaround jumpers she hit in the game to cut the lead to 65-57. Donovan had 14 points before fouling out during the streak, but Sophie Tirtiaux took her place and contributed to the comeback.
McCormacks two free throws with 3:30 left got ISU within six at 65-59. Megan McCrackens jumper cut the lead to four with 3:14 left. At 2:39, Tirtiaux drove for a layup to get ISU within 65-63. Laura Gaybrick broke UEs four-minute scoring draught with a layup with 2:10 left and UE led 67-63.
McCormacks next two free throws at 1:29 put ISU within two and a UE turnover in the backcourt put McCormack on the line with 1:21 left. She split two free throws and Gaybrick was fouled rebounding the second. Gaybrick, who had 20 points, made both and UE led 69-66, setting up McCormacks first three-pointer in five games, a swishing shot with 38 seconds to tie the score.
Utterbacks driving lefthanded shot put UE up 71-69, but McCracken tied it with a driving bank shot with 4 seconds left. Kirby missed a 10-footer at the buzzer and the teams went to overtime.
Illinois State 9-16, 6-10 in the Valley, missed its last 10 shots in overtime against some physical Evansville defense inside. The field goal shooting was identicalboth teams were 27-69but UE got enough free throws to win.
The game got physical, said Pingeton. We had a lot of fight. We had a second life going into overtime and got five points right away, but we just couldnt make shots against their physical defense.
Evansville, 16-9, 9-7 in the Valley won the game at the free throw line, converting 24 of 39 including 11 of 15 in overtime. ISU got 15 fewer opportunities at the free throw line. The Aces also had a 52-42 rebounding lead thanks to Utterbacks 12 and Megan Lifficks 10.
The Redbirds play at 2 p.m. Sunday at Southern Illinois.
