Pride survive tough battle with Evangel to 61-58 home win

DUBUQUE, Iowa - In what turned out to be another highly contested matchup inside of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, the Clarke University women's basketball team came away with a 61-58 victory at home over Evangel University.

It was a bit of a back-and-forth ball game as the Pride got out to a 7-0 lead over the first 1:33 of the game before the Valor answered with a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to take a lead.

EU used full court, heavy ball pressure, defense to keep Clarke uncomfortable as the officiating allowed for a more physical first quarter that saw Evangel lead 17-15 after 10 minutes.

Opposite of the first quarter, it was the Valor that continued solid play to start the second on a 6-0 run during the first 1:27 of the game as Clarke didn't get their first basket from the field in the second quarter until 5:45 on the clock.

From that point on, the Pride did answer with a 6-0 run of their own to get to that two-point Evangel lead with about 3:20 left to go in the first half before they eventually finished the half tied at 27-27.

The second half started off well for CU as they went out on a 4-0 run to start the first 44 seconds, forcing the Valor to call a timeout. EU only regained the lead at 38-37 but for the remainder of the half it was a Clarke lead that they hung onto to win.

The final 20 minutes saw a tightening up of the phsyciality that favored the Pride as they were able to get into the penalty in the fourth quarter as clutch free throw makes from Giana Michels icing the game for CU.

Michels had a generally quiet day until the fourth as she finished with nine behind leading scorer Emma Kelchen, who led the way with 12, supported by Nicole McDermott's 10 points. Tina Ubl added nine points as well as 12 rebounds to lead all players in that category.

For Evangel, Zoey Mullings led the game in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and added five rebounds and two assists.

With finals week coming up next week, Clarke women's basketball will be off until next Saturday when they travel to Canton, Mo. to face Culver-Stockton College on Dec. 11.