• Game Notes (PDF)
• Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will wrap up non-conference play on Monday night, as the Purple Aces will head north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to battle reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Traci Edwards and the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and Monday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Evansville will bring a 6-4 overall record into Monday’s contest, after a tough 75-71 loss at Tennessee Tech on Thursday. Junior guard Amy Gallagher posted her second-straight single-game career scoring high with 19 points, and seniors Ashley Austin and Robyn Jennings both chipped in 14 points and eight boards apiece, but it was not enough to derail the Golden Eagles. Now, UE will try to bounce back against one of the best post players in the country in Milwaukee’s Traci Edwards.
Edwards will bring averages of 19.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game into Monday’s contest. The reigning Horizon League Player of the Year, Edwards became the first person in Horizon League history to lead the league in both scoring and rebounding in back-to-back seasons last year. She had 18 points and 11 rebounds on Saturday afternoon to pace five Panthers in double-figures in Milwaukee’s dramatic 78-77 buzzer-beating victory over Central Michigan. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Panthers, which included a pair of last-second losses to Big Ten members Wisconsin (71-69 in double overtime) and Illinois (63-61).
Jennings continues to pace the UE offense with averages of 14.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while Gallagher (11.6 ppg) and Austin (10.8 ppg) also average double-digits for Evansville this year. Monday’s game will be just the fourth all-time meeting between UE and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with the Panthers holding a slim 2-1 edge. It will also be a homecoming for UE freshman guard Kelsey Sperka, who was a first-team all-state selection last year at nearby New Berlin Eisenhower High School in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Sperka had a season-best five points and three rebounds off of the bench Thursday at Tennessee Tech. She will be going up against one of her former high school teammates on Monday night, as she played alongside Milwaukee’s Stephanie Schell at Eisenhower.
