• Game Notes (PDF)
• Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
Less than 48 hours after suffering a rare non-conference home loss, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team will return to the court on Friday night, as the Purple Aces will travel to Muncie, Indiana to battle the Ball State Cardinals. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. central time and Friday night’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Evansville (4-2 overall) will be looking to bounce back on Friday from last night’s 70-52 loss to Butler. Evansville saw its three-game overall winning streak and 11-game home-court winning streak snapped last night, as the visiting Bulldogs connected on a season-high 10 three-point field goals in the win. Junior guard Amy Gallagher continued her strong play for Evansville against Butler, as she equaled a career-high with 13 points. Gallagher has reached double-figures in scoring in each of the last four games, after recording just four double-figure scoring games in her first two years at UE. She has averaged 11.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game over the last three contests to help pace the Purple Aces’ attack.
Friday’s game will conclude a stretch of four games in seven days for the Purple Aces. Meanwhile, Ball State (2-2 overall) will enter the contest off of its longest break of the year, as the Cardinals have not played since dropping a 91-68 decision to Illinois State on November 25. Ball State is paced by one of the nation’s top three-point shooters in junior guard Audrey McDonald, who currently ranks 21st in the nation in three-point accuracy (50.0 percent) and third overall in three-point field goals per game (4.3). Illinois transfer Danielle Gratton and reigning Mid-American Conference Sixth Player of the Year Emily Maggert also average double-figures for the Cardinals at 14.5 and 13.8 points per game.
While Friday’s contest will renew an in-state rivalry for the two schools (with UE leading the all-time series 4-3), it will also pit a pair of former coaching colleagues against one another, as UE’s Misty Murphy and Ball State’s Kelly Packard will square off. Packard actually coached Murphy during her junior year at Colorado State in 1992-93, before the two teamed up on head coach Greg Williams’ coaching staff at CSU for the 1996-97 season. Both women are in their first year as head coach at their respective schools this year.
