Game Notes (PDF)
Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
Live Game Video (Courtesy of www.mvc-sports.com)
Live Game Stats
The city of Evansville will get possibly its last chance to see two of the best women’s basketball players in University of Evansville history on Saturday afternoon, as the Purple Aces will host Bradley in the final regular-season home game for UE seniors Rebekah Parker and Courtney Felke. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. and Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Parker and Felke have helped change the face of UE women’s basketball over the last four years, guiding the Purple Aces to a 70-44 record. The 70 victories equal the school-best mark for a graduating class at UE, as the 2002 Senior Class also won 70 games over its four-year career. Parker and Felke can join two-year senior Tal Milchan as the winningest senior class in school history with a victory on Saturday against Bradley.
Parker will leave Evansville as one of the school’s all-time greats. She stands just two assists shy of becoming the first UE basketball player, male or female, to rank in the school’s career top five in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals. Parker ranks among UE’s career leaders in six different categories, including ranking fourth all-time in UE women’s basketball history in scoring with 1,379 career points and holding the UE women’s basketball career record in free throws made with 381. She has earned a pair of all-MVC honors in her time at UE, as well as an MVC All-Rookie team selection in 2005, and is a finalist for not only the MVC’s Player of the Year award, but also the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which is presented to the NCAA Student-Athlete of the Year.
Felke will leave UE as one of the school’s top three-point shooters, as she currently ranks third all-time at UE with 193 career three-pointers. An honorable mention all-MVC selection last year as a junior, Felke has stepped up to average 10.9 points per game this year while posting the sixth-best single-season three-point total in school history with 60. She set a single-game school record with eight three-pointers at Morehead State back in November, and currently ranks 17th all-time in Valley history in career three-pointers made. Felke also ranks among UE’s career Top 25 in scoring with 922 career points to her credit, and in UE’s career Top 10 in both steals (10th-133) and free throw accuracy (seventh-80.7 percent).
Milchan, who had her senior year cut short by an ACL injury in December, and Laura Gaybrick, who was unable to compete this year due to a back injury, will also be honored after Saturday’s contest with Bradley. Milchan played in 33 games with seven starts at UE over the last two years after transferring to Evansville from Lewis & Clark Community College outside of St. Louis. Gaybrick, meanwhile, recorded 598 points and 260 rebounds from 2003-2007 at UE, and ranks third all-time in career free throw percentage (82.3 percent) and fourth in career field goal percentage (52.2 percent) at UE.
Evansville will bring an 18-8 overall record and school-best 12-3 MVC mark into Saturday’s game. The Purple Aces will enter the weekend just one-half game behind league-leading Illinois State in the MVC standings. Bradley, meanwhile, will bring an 11-16 overall record and 5-11 conference mark into Saturday’s game. Rookie guard Raisa Taylor scored a season-high 28 points on Thursday to lead the Braves past the Southern Illinois Salukis, 77-72, in Carbondale. Bradley leads the all-time series over UE, 14-13, although the Purple Aces were able to post a 71-50 victory at Bradley on January 31.
