Game Notes (PDF)
Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
For just the third time in the program’s 39-year history, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team has pieced together a school-best run of 10-straight victories. The Purple Aces will try to continue that record run on Sunday afternoon, as UE will travel to Omaha, Nebraska to battle the high-flying Creighton University Bluejays. Tip-off is set for 12:05 p.m. central time and the game can be heard live in the Tri-State area on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Sunday’s contest will be a battle of two of the MVC’s hottest teams, as Evansville will ride a conference-best 10-game winning streak into Sunday’s action, while Creighton has won five out of its last six games. The Purple Aces are currently tied with Illinois State for first place in the league standings with a 16-7 overall record and 10-2 MVC mark, while Creighton sits just 2.5 games back of UE in third place in the Valley with a 14-8 overall record and 7-4 conference mark.
Evansville was able to record its school-record-tying 10th victory in a row on Thursday night, as UE outlasted Drake, 69-66, in overtime. Junior forward Robyn Jennings scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half and overtime to help power the UE attack, and senior guard Courtney Felke continued her strong play of late by pitching in 15 points as well. Felke has stepped up to average a team-best 17.5 points per game over the last two contests, while leading UE in scoring in each of its last two victories.
Senior guard Rebekah Parker also continued her assault on the UE record book on Thursday, as she moved into fifth place on Evansville’s career scoring chart with 14 points. Parker now ranks fifth all-time at UE with 1,337 career points, and needs just 25 more points to tie former guard Amy Lefever for fourth place on the Purple Aces’ career scoring chart. Despite ranking in UE’s career top five in both career scoring and rebounding, Parker recorded just her second career double-double at Drake with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Creighton improved to 8-1 at home this season on Thursday night with a 62-59 victory over Southern Illinois. Rookie guard Kelsey Woodard and sophomore forward Megan Neuvirth both reached double-figures with 14 and 13 points respectively in the win. Woodard has been one of the MVC’s top newcomers this year, as she powers the Creighton attack with an average of 10.1 points per game this year. Senior forward Sara Cain and senior guard Ally Thrall are not far behind in scoring, averaging 10.0 and 9.4 points per game apiece.
“Creighton is a very dangerous team because of the fact that they have so many different weapons,” said UE head coach Tricia Cullop. “You can not focus on trying to shut down just one person, because if you do that, someone else will step up and beat you. To beat Creighton, we have to do a good job of playing good team defense and not allow their three-point shooters to get hot.
“This is an important game for both teams right now. If we can pick up a win, we can basically move to being four games up on Creighton with just five games to play in the conference race because of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Creighton, meanwhile, is in a dog fight with Drake for third place in the MVC, and are sitting just 2.5 games back of first place. So, both teams could really use this victory to help their cause on Sunday.”
Evansville was able to knock off Creighton, 75-60, at Roberts Stadium on January 17. The Purple Aces were able to force the Bluejays into 20 turnovers and UE held a 26-8 edge in points off of turnovers in the victory. Parker paced the Evansville attack with 19 points, and has averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in seven career contests against Creighton. Overall, the Bluejays lead the all-time series over UE, 21-9.
