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New University of Evansville women’s basketball coach Misty Murphy will get her first look at her team in action on Saturday, as the Purple Aces will host nearby Oakland City University in the lone exhibition contest of the 2008-09 season for UE.  Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. and Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.

Saturday’s game will be the first at Evansville for Murphy, who was named the ninth women’s basketball coach in school history this past May after serving the past three seasons as an assistant and associate head coach at Rice University.  Murphy inherits an Evansville program which returns 10 players, including three senior starters from last year’s 21-12 squad which earned a share of UE’s first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and advanced to the second round of the 2008 Postseason WNIT.

Leading UE’s returning cast is senior center Shannon Novosel, who earned second team all-MVC honors last year and preseason all-Valley laurels this fall after ranking among the league’s leaders in scoring (17th-10.7 ppg), rebounding (10th-6.0 rpg), blocks (5th-1.24 bpg), and steals (13th-1.42 spg) a year ago.  Fellow seniors Ashley Austin (9.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Robyn Jennings (8.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) also return from last season’s starting lineup.

Evansville will face an Oakland City squad on Saturday which also returns 10 players from last season, led by three-time National Christian College Athletic Association All-America guard Karissa Walter.  Walter averaged 13.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last year for head coach Jessica Mehringer’s 13-17 squad, despite being only 5’5.  Walter helped the Lady Oaks finish third in the NCCAA National Tournament, and is flanked on the perimeter by honorable mention NCCAA All-American Chelsea Miller (10.9 ppg) and Elberfeld, Indiana native Jesse Oxley (10.6 ppg).

Saturday’s game will be the only exhibition contest for the Purple Aces, who will open the regular-season next week with back-to-back games against NCAA Tournament participants East Tennessee State (Saturday, November 15, Roberts Stadium) and #14 Notre Dame (Wednesday, November 19, South Bend, Indiana).  Saturday’s game against Oakland City will be the first part of a UE basketball doubleheader, as the UE men’s team will battle Earlham College in an exhibition contest beginning at 7:00 p.m.