ATHENS, Ohio ? The Ohio women?s basketball team dropped its third straight decision Saturday afternoon in the Convocation Center as the Evansville Purple Aces got by the Bobcats by a score of 104-77. Ohio?s Kristian Kirkpatrick (Costa Mesa, Calif.) scored a career-high 22 points as she led three Bobcats in double figures.

Ohio (2-3) was the first to strike as freshman Simone Redd (Warrensville Hts., Ohio) hit a three-pointer in the first 15 seconds, starting a 16-6 Bobcat run to open the game. The Purple Aces? Alissa Kirby sparked the Evansville attack, hitting a deep three at the 13:29 mark and it was all Purple Aces from that point on. The Bobcats watched a 10-point lead quickly fade as Evansville would knot the score up 20-20.

Evansville (3-1) took the lead for good at 7:37, going up 23-22. Ohio kept the Purple Ace advantage to under four points before Evansville blew the game open, going on a 16-0 run over three minutes to take their largest lead of the half at 45-28. The Bobcats would battle back, cutting the deficit to 10 points to end the half 50-40.

Evansville and the Bobcats would swap buckets for much of the second half, with the Purple Aces slowly widening the gap. Evansville held its largest margin ? 34 points at 102-68 ? with two minutes to go, capping a 14-2 run. Ohio would score six points in the remainder of the game, off a three-point shot from Quintana Ward (Park Forest, Ill.) and free throws from Ciara Iglehart (Mission Viejo, Calif.) and Lauren Revesz (Bridgeville, Pa.).

Kirkpatrick?s career-best 22 points boosts her team-leading season average to 12.6. Junior guard Tiffany Byrd (Columbus, Ohio) chipped in 11 points, attempting a career-high 17 field goals, and Erin Isbell (Gahanna, Ohio) added 11 points. Iglehart matched her Bobcat career high for rebounds with a team-leading eight boards. Ward has now dished out five assists in three of five Ohio tilts and she also came up with a career-high four steals.

The Bobcats head to the West Coast for a pair of non-conference match-ups with Sacramento State and Wyoming next week. Ohio will face the Hornets Tuesday at 7 p.m. (PST) before taking on the Cowgirls next Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (MST). The Bobcats will extend their road stretch to three games as they take on Chicago State on Dec. 15 before returning to Athens on Sunday, Dec. 19, to host Cleveland State before breaking for the holidays.