Roosevelt Battles In Exhibition Loss to Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Roosevelt Lakers tested themselves against an NCAA Division I foe and fell to Evansville 101-57 in an exhibition game Saturday in Evansville, Ind.

Roosevelt was re-acquainted with former head coach Robyn Scherr-Wells, who now leads the Evansville program after being in charge of the Lakers from 2010-2015. The Lakers certainly proved their mettle in the first quarter against their former coach and led for nearly six minutes in the first quarter. Over the opening 10 minutes, the Lakers shot 7 of 15 from the floor and held the Aces to 9 of 24 from the field.

Jayla Turchin hit a 3-pointer to give Roosevelt a 7-4 lead then the Lakers forced consecutive misses on defense before Meghan Urbanski hit a jump shot. Urbanski hit another jumper and Amelia McNutt added a jump shot of her own to extend the lead out to six points midway through the quarter. Even after Evansville tied the game at 13, the Lakers scored four of the next five points before the Aces scored eight points in the final minute of the quarter.

Turchin was highly efficient in her minutes, leading the team with 18 points in 23 minutes of action. She made six of her 11 field goal attempts, sank all four free throws and was one of three Lakers who tied for the team lead with five rebounds. Amelia McNutt was another one of the Roosevelt players with five rebounds and she added 13 points and a team-high four assists. Urbanski also chipped in 13 points in more than 38 minutes played.

The effort never waned for the Lakers, but the Aces' depth and size began to take a toll in the second half. Roosevelt trailed by just 14 at the intermission, but it shot just 25.7 percent from the field in the second half as Evansville quickly began to pull away. In the game, the Lakers were outscored 60-26 in the paint and allowed 25 second-chance points. The Aces also turned Roosevelt's 23 turnovers in 32 points.

Roosevelt (0-1) returns to the floor Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to begin Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action at Calumet St. Joseph.