The Raiders dropped their second straight game to start the season, falling, 65-63, despite a furious fourth-quarter rally.
Down 64-54 with 4:28 left, they scored nine straight points — six of them by Claire Henson, who made one of two free throws with 1:10 to go to make it 64-63.
The Raiders got another stop but couldn’t convert. Star guard Makiya Miller missed a pair of free throws, and, after falling behind by two, Henson missed a contested layup with four seconds to go.
“I’m happy with their fight, obviously. They’re a scrappy group and never gave up. They really made some big plays down the stretch,” Hoffman said on the bus ride home.
Macie Taylor and Henson had 14 points each.
“The good thing about this is we have another game right around the corner. You’ve gotta have a short memory. I believe we’ll bounce back and have players play a little better,” the fourth-year coach said.
The Raiders, who also dropped a 95-68 decision at Wisconsin, will have their home opener against Indiana State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Hoffman, who led the team to a 10-win jump with an 18-15 record last season, has another revamped roster with few experienced players.
Miller, who had her season cut short last year with a torn ACL in January, had 22 points and six rebounds against the Badgers and 11 points against the Aces.
“She looks like she’s made a full recovery and has really been a force for us,” Hoffman said. “It’s good to see her out there and back to her old form.”
But the Raiders have plenty to clean up if they want to make some noise.
They were outrebounded, 49-32, and made just 12 of 23 free throws against Evansville.
The latter stat irked Hoffman.
“We need to see that maturity — stepping up and making plays and doing all the little things it takes to win. When you shoot 50% from the free-throw line and you’re there 20-some times, you’ve got to score those. You’ve gotta make ‘em,” she said.
“All the small things it takes to win a game, we’ve got to get better at those.”
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