EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Junior Danielle Brewer (Coatesville, Ind.) knocked down a three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left to tie the game, but Evansville's Camary Williams had a layup with 4.9 seconds remaining as the Purple Aces edged Bradley 73-71 Friday night at the Ford Center.
 
The lead changed hands 11 times and there were 13 ties in the contest with four of the lead changes coming in the final two minutes and 10 seconds. 
 
Evansville's Sara Dickey scored 10 points in the first quarter to help the Purple Aces (10-16 overall, 5-10 MVC) to a 21-16 lead after the opening 10 minutes. 
 
Senior Leti Lerma (Muscatine, Iowa/Muscatine) opened the second quarter with a layup and Bradley (10-17 overall, 6-10 MVC) trailed 24-20 with 6:30 to play in the period.  Dickey answered with the first of back-to-back Evansville three's to push the Purple Aces advantage to 30-20. 
 
Sophomore Vanessa Markert (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) had five points during a 10-0 Bradley run to tie the game at 30-30 and scored seven of her game-high 24 points as Bradley outscored Evansville 13-2 over a three-minute stretch to put the Braves in front 33-32.  Evansville ended up recapturing the lead at halftime 36-35.
 
Evansville was able to push its advantage to 57-50 by the end of the third quarter and held a nine-point cushion in the opening moments of the fourth before Bradley rallied.  A Markert three-point play and layup highlighted a 7-0 spurt by the Braves which cut the deficit to two points (59-57) with seven minutes left. 
 
A Markert jumper in the lane near the three-minute mark tied the contest at 64-64 and Markert found Lerma underneath for a layup to once again put Bradley ahead 66-64 closing in on two minutes to play.  Evansville's Sasha Robinson answered with a three-point play on the next trip down the floor as the Purple Aces went up 67-66. 
 
Markert got loose on the inside for a basket, giving Bradley the 68-66 edge, but two Camary Williams free throws with 36 seconds once again put UE in front.  Williams came up with a steal on Bradley's next possession and added two more free throws to push the Evansville lead to 71-68. 
 
Bradley got two cracks at tying the game, getting an offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer and Brewer came up with the clutch three-pointer from the corner with 13.1 seconds left to tie the game at 71-71. 
 
A lob pass to Williams in the post resulted in a layup with 4.9 seconds remaining as Evansville pulled out the 73-71 victory. 
 
"We hustled; we played hard and our effort was certainly there," said Bradley head coach Andrea Gorski.  "We fought from behind several times, but Evansville hit some big shots and came up with the plays when they needed them."
 
Markert finished with 24 points, two off her career-high, and matched a career-best with 12 boards for her second double-double of the year in addition to dishing out a career-high five assists.  Lerma added 16 points of her own on 7-for-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds, two assists and two steals as she tied Bradley's career rebounding record (799 career rebounds). 
 
Brewer and junior Shareece Burrell (Des Moines, Iowa/East) each added 11 points to help lead Bradley offensively.  Freshman Alona Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Riverside) played all 40 minutes and dished out a season-high eight assists to go with three steals for the Braves. 
 
All five Evansville starters scored in double figures, paced by Dickey's 19 points.  The Purple Aces had an 18-1 advantage in points off turnovers on 18 Bradley turnovers. 
 
The Braves close out the 2016-17 regular-season road schedule Sunday with a 2 p.m. game at Southern Illinois.