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Last year at this time, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team stood 1-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, before rattling off 10 wins in a row on their way to a share of the MVC regular-season title. Head coach Misty Murphy and the Purple Aces hope that history will repeat itself this year, beginning Thursday night at home against defending MVC co-champion Drake.
Evansville and Drake, two of the three tri-champions from 2008 in the MVC, will square off Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at Roberts Stadium, with the Purple Aces hoping to bounce back from a rough weekend trip this past weekend. Evansville, 8-6 overall and 1-2 in the Valley, dropped both ends of the Northern Iowa-Bradley road trip by scores of 62-43 and 65-54, as the Purple Aces suffered from cold shooting on the swing. Now, UE will return home to Roberts Stadium, where the Purple Aces are 5-1 this season and where UE will play six of its next eight games.
“Obviously, we are excited about being home this week,” said UE head coach
Misty Murphy. “The last road swing did not go how we had planned, and I know that the players are looking forward to returning home and trying to bounce back from the rough weekend. Hopefully, our fans will come out and support us and be our sixth man this weekend.
“Thursday’s game will be a battle. Drake is known for their defensive ability, and I?have a lot of respect for their head coach, Amy Stephens. We are going to have to come out focused and ready to go from the start, because I know that Drake will be well prepared.”
Junior guard
Amy Gallagher currently paces the Purple Aces’ offense with an average of 12.7 points per game. Gallagher saw a five-game streak of scoring in double-figures snapped on Sunday in UE’s loss to Bradley, but she has still stepped up to average 16.7 points per game over the last six games for Evansville. Senior forward
Robyn Jennings (12.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and senior guard
Ashley Austin (11.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) also average double-figures for UE. Jennings also enters Thursday’s game one rebound shy of breaking into UE’s career Top 10 in rebounding, and has averaged 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in her last four regular-season games with Drake.
The Bulldogs will bring an 8-7 overall record and 2-2 MVC mark into Thursday’s game after sweeping Missouri State and Wichita State at home last weekend. Sophomore guard Kristin Turk, who leads Drake in scoring overall at 13.1 points per game, averaged 21.0 points per game in the two wins en route to being named the State Farm MVC Player of the Week. Rookie guard Brittnye McSparron also averaged 15.5 points per game in the two wins to spark the Bulldogs.
Drake leads the all-time series over Evansville, 21-10, however the Purple Aces have won seven out of the last eight regular-season meetings, and seven of the last 10 meetings overall. The series has been a close one of late, as each of the last seven series meetings has been decided by five points or less. Thursday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV, with live video streaming coverage also available at www.gopurpleaces.com
