Feb. 28, 2008

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -

            The University of Northern Iowa women's basketball team ended up on the short end of a back-and-forth game at Evansville, falling to the Aces 57-55 in Roberts Stadium Thursday night. The teams traded leads 16 times, and found themselves in six ties throughout the game.

            Lizzie Boeck notched her first career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs for the freshman. Nicole Clausen finished with 10 points, and Erin Brocka finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

            Ashley Austin led the Aces with 16 points, and Rebekah Parker finished with 13 points.

Shannon Novosel scored on the Aces' (18-8, 12-3) first possession, but the Panthers responded by scoring on three straight trips to build a 7-2 lead. UNI (11-16, 7-9) held onto the lead until Ashley Austin hit a jump shot with 8:28 left in the half to tie the game at 18-18. Ashlee Barrett made one of two free-throw attempts to give the Aces a 19-18 lead, but Lizzie Boeck returned the lead to UNI with a layup at 6:47.

            A pair of free throws from Austin and a jump shot from Courtney Felke gave the Aces a 23-20 lead.

            Erin Brocka, Alexa Mennen and Jacqui Kalin each scored to put the Panthers in front, 26-23 with 1:15 to play. The Panthers would go on to take a three-point lead into the break, 28-25.

            Nicole Clausen hit a pair of free throws to stretch the Panther lead to 30-25, Amy Gallagher hit a three at 16:48 to cap a 7-0 run by Evansville that gave the Aces a 32-30 lead. Boeck scored on three straight possessions for the Panthers to return the lead to UNI, 36-32 with 15:18 remaining.

            Courtney Felke hit a baseline jumper, and Anaris Sickles drained a three to put the Aces back in the lead, 37-36. A layup from Austin completed a 7-0 Aces run that put them in front 39-36 with 13:12 to play.

            Mennen hit a jump shot on the block to pull UNI within one, 39-38. Sickles made one of two free throws to give UE a two-point edge, but Clausen hit a three from the top of the key to give UNI a 41-40 lead.

            Evansville responded with a jump shot from Austin, but Boeck scored on consecutive trips to give the Panthers a 45-42 edge with 9:45 to play.

            The Aces scored four straight points to take a one-point lead, but Brocka knocked down a mid-range jump shot to put UNI back in front, 47-46. Jacqui Kalin gave UNI a 49-46 lead with a layup at 7:27, but Rebekah Parker scored five points on back-to-back trips to give the Aces a 51-49 lead.

            Boeck scored four straight points for the Panthers to give UNI a 53-51 lead, but a pair of free throws from Jillian Palan and a layup from Austin returned a two-point lead to the Aces, 55-53 with 4:04 on the clock.

            Neither team scored for more than three minutes, and the Panthers had the ball trailing by two with less than a minute to play. Parker blocked a three attempt by Traci Ollendieck, and UNI elected to send Parker to the line. She made both free throws to give the Aces a 57-53 lead with 33 seconds left.

            Boeck scored with 19.5 seconds left, and UNI sent Barrett to the free throw line. She missed the front end of the one-and-one, and UNI grabbed the rebound to have a chance at a tying shot. Brocka's baseline attempt wouldn't fall, and UNI could not collect the loose rebound as time expired.

            UNI shot 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from three-point range. The Panthers were 4-of-4 (100 percent) from the free-throw line.

            The Aces shot 17-of-56 (30.4 percent) from the floor, including 2-of-13 (15.4 percent) from behind the arc. The Aces were 21-of-25 (84 percent) from the free-throw line.

            UNI committed 21 turnovers, resulting in 21 points for Evansville. The Panthers turned 12 Evansville turnovers into 12 points.

            The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play at Southern Illinois.