From earning a piece of the school’s first Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title to winning the program’s first post-season game, the 2007-08 University of Evansville women’s basketball season will go down as a season to remember at UE.

Tricia Cullop’s Purple Aces finished the 2007-08 campaign with a 21-12 overall record, which ranks as the second-highest victory total in the program’s 39-year history.  After a slow start, the Purple Aces caught fire in Missouri Valley Conference play, rattling off a school-record 10-game winning streak en route to earning a share of the program’s first MVC regular-season title.

The regular-season title would help Evansville earn an automatic bid into the 2008 Postseason WNIT, as the program was selected to host its first-ever home post-season game.  In front of a raucous crowd, the Purple Aces showed the heart and determination of a champion, overcoming a 19-point second half deficit to knock off Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri State, 60-58, to post UE’s first post-season victory in women’s basketball.

Evansville’s magical ride would come to an end in the second round of the Postseason WNIT, as hot-shooting Kansas would shoot down the Purple Aces at historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, but still, records fell and individuals accomplished a great deal during the course of the 2007-08 season.

For the second-straight year, Evansville established a new school record for scoring, with 2,296 points scored this season.  The Purple Aces also established a new school record for both average and single-season attendance for the sixth-straight year, as UE surpassed the 20,000 mark in season attendance this year with 21,622 fans coming out to support the Purple Aces in their 14 home games (an average of 1,544 fans per game which ranked among the NCAA’s Top 100).

Individually, senior guard Rebekah Parker concluded a stellar four-year career by being named as one of 10 national finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and earning All-Senior All-America first team honors along with Wade Trophy Award winner Candice Wiggins of Stanford and National Defensive Player of the Year Sylvia Fowles of LSU.   Parker wrapped up her UE career as the only player in school history, male or female, to record over 1,400 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists, and 175 steals in their Purple Aces’ career.  Parker also became UE’s first three-team all-MVC selection, earning first team honors for the second-straight year, while averaging a team-best 14.5 points per game.

Fellow senior guard Courtney Felke also made UE women’s basketball history this year, rewriting the school records for three-point field goals made in a game and in a career.  Felke hit a school-record eight three-pointers in UE’s 78-67 victory at Morehead State on November 19.  She also captured the school’s career record for three-pointers made, hitting her 205th career triple in UE’s Postseason WNIT game at Kansas on March 24.  Felke earned honorable mention all-MVC honors for the second-straight year, while also capturing honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete team honors for her work in the classroom.

The awards were not just confined to UE’s seniors this year though, as juniors Shannon Novosel and Ashley Austin also captured attention across the MVC with their play.  Novosel garnered second team all-MVC and MVC Scholar-Athlete team honors this year, after ranking second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and leading UE in rebounding (6.0 rpg).  Novosel not only shined offensively, but also defensively this year, as she posted the eighth-best single-season block total in UE history with 41 rejections, while also leading all MVC post players with 47 steals.

Austin also emerged as one of the MVC’s premiere defenders this year, earning MVC All-Defensive Team honors and honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete status after ranking third in the league with an average of nearly two steals per game.  Austin swiped 61 steals this year, the seventh-highest single-season total in school history, while also averaging 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in the UE backcourt.

Novosel and Austin will be joined by junior forward Robyn Jennings as returning members of UE’s starting five next year.  Jennings emerged as a key member of the UE frontline once again this year, averaging 8.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for the Purple Aces on the season.  Jennings sizzled down the stretch for Evansville, averaging 10.7 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game over UE’s final seven games.

While Evansville will lose the services of Parker, Felke, and fellow senior guard Tal Milchan (1.4 ppg) to graduation next year, the Purple Aces will return six of the team’s top eight scorers in 2008-09.  The Purple Aces will also welcome four talented newcomers to campus with the hope of building on one of the program’s best years in women’s basketball history, as the 2007-08 season was truly a season to remember at Evansville.