Game Notes (PDF)
Live Game Video (courtesy of www.MVC-sports.com)
Free Live Game Audio (courtesy of WUEV)
Live Game Stats
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will try to equal its best Missouri Valley Conference start ever on Sunday afternoon, as the Purple Aces will battle the Missouri State University Lady Bears at Roberts Stadium. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. and Sunday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
The Purple Aces will bring a 14-7 overall record and an 8-2 Valley mark into Sunday’s game. With a victory, Evansville would equal its best MVC start since entering the league in 1994, as the 1998-99 squad began league play 9-2 en route to winning the MVC Tournament title and advancing on to UE’s only NCAA Tournament appearance. In order to equal that mark though, the Purple Aces will have to knock off the last team to defeat UE, the Missouri State Lady Bears.
Missouri State will bring a 7-14 overall record and 5-5 conference mark into Sunday’s contest. The Lady Bears were the last team to knock off UE, as Missouri State posted a 76-65 victory over Evansville in Springfield, Missouri on January 10. Now, exactly one month later, the Purple Aces will seek revenge and try to extend its winning streak to nine games while maintaining its grip on first place in the MVC standings.
Evansville will enter Sunday’s game off of an impressive 94-60 victory over Wichita State in which the Purple Aces exploded for 56 first-half points en route to victory. Junior forward Shannon Novosel continued her strong play of late against Wichita State, as she equaled her career-high with 20 points in just 22 minutes of action on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor. She paced a pack of five Purple Aces in double-figures in the win, and has stepped up to average a team-best 14.3 points per game over the course of UE’s current eight-game winning streak.
Missouri State is also coming off an impressive victory on Friday night, as the Lady Bears mauled the Southern Illinois Salukis, 78-58, in Carbondale. Missouri State shot over 49 percent from the floor in the win, while holding SIU to just 32.8 percent shooting on the night. Junior forward Maggie Dwyer and senior guard Tahnee Balerio each chipped in 18 points apiece to lead the Lady Bears’ offensive attack. Dwyer currently ranks sixth in the MVC in scoring at 14.4 points per game, while Balerio is not far behind, averaging 12.9 points a contest for Missouri State.
Missouri State leads the all-time series over UE, 22-8, however the Purple Aces have won three-straight series meetings in Evansville and three of the last four series contests overall.
