March 21, 2008

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Senior Rebakah Parker led four Evansville players in double figures with 15 points as the Purple Aces tallied 41 second-half points to erase a 17-point halftime deficit en route to earning a close 60-58 win over Southeast Missouri State Thursday night in a first round contest of the 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament. The game was held at the PAC Arena on the campus of the University of Southern Indiana.

The Purple Aces improve to 21-11 on the year and advance to Monday's second round contest at Kansas, while the Redhawks conclude the season with a record of 23-9.

Evansville posted an early 15-10 advantage in the opening nine minutes of the game before Southeast went on a 13-2 run that lasted four-plus minutes with five points coming from senior center Missy Whitney (Charleston, Mo./Three Rivers CC) to take a 23-17 lead with 5:01 left in the stanza. A 13-2 scoring drive and a stifling defense over the final 4:41 propelled the Redhawks to enter intermission ahead by a 36-19 margin.

The visitors extended their lead to 39-20 at the 17:28 mark of the second half on a free throw by freshman guard Lauren Sharpe (Tipp City, Ohio/Tippecanoe). Evansville connected on five three-pointers as part of a 24-3 scoring drive that lasted eight minutes thanks to six points by Parker to regain the lead at 44-42 at the 9:31 mark. A Sharpe jumper knotted the score at 44-all with 8:16 left before a three-pointer by junior Ashley Austin at 7:51 helped the Purple Aces tally 11 of the next 19 points in nearly five minutes to increase their advantage to 58-52 with 2:44 remaining after a pair of Austin free throws. Whitney produced two layups that brought Southeast to within 58-56 with 1:36 left in the game, but freshman Ashlee Barrett split a pair of free throws at the 1:08 mark to increase the lead back to 59-56. The Redhawks had several chances to tie the game, but could not convert a three-point opportunity in the end. Parker split a pair of free throws before Whitney closed the scoring with a layup at the buzzer.

In addition to Parker, Austin finished with 12 points for Evansville, while junior Robyn Jennings contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. Barrett posted 10 points that included going 7-of-11 from the free throw line.

Whitney led Southeast in her final collegiate game with a double-double of 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sharpe tallied a career-best 11 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting which includes going 2-of-2 from downtown and junior forward Rachel Blunt (Dexter, Mo./Dexter) finished with 10 points, all in the first half.