• Game Notes (PDF)
• Free Live Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
• Chattanooga's DoubleTree Classic Tournament Central (Live Stats, Live Video)
The University of Evansville women’s basketball program will go in search of its first-ever victory against a Big East Conference opponent on Friday afternoon, as the Purple Aces will battle the Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the DoubleTree Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m. and Friday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Evansville is 0-2 all-time against the Big East Conference, having dropped contests to Marquette (54-46 in 2005) and Notre Dame (96-61 last year) in UE’s only other meetings with Big East members. The Purple Aces will be battling a Villanova squad which is currently 2-1 on the year, and has advanced to post-season play in nine out of the last 10 seasons.
“Villanova has been one of the top programs in women’s basketball for a long time under their head coach Harry Perretta,” said UE head coach
Misty Murphy. “They are a team that is very well-coached and very disciplined, especially on the defensive end of the court. We will definitely have our work cut out for us on Friday.”
Villanova suffered its first loss of the 2009-10 season last time out with a 55-47 setback at Massachusetts. While the Wildcats only average 47.0 points per game on the season offensively, they are one of the Big East Conference’s best defensive teams, as they have allowed just 44.0 points per game so far this season. In fact, the 55 points scored by UMass are the most scored by a Villanova opponent so far this year.
Evansville, meanwhile, will enter Friday’s first-round game averaging 70.3 points per game offensively. The Purple Aces will be in search of their first victory of the season on Friday, as UE will bring an 0-3 record into the tournament. Evansville dropped to 0-3 with an 85-77 loss at Murray State on Saturday night, as the Racers used a 19-3 run midway through the second half to take control of the contest and erase a 10-point UE lead. The loss overshadowed a career game by UE junior forward
Stephanie Bamberger, who equaled a career-high with 14 points, while dishing out a career-best six assists. Freshman forward
Samantha Heck also pitched in 14 points, as she posted her second-straight double-figure scoring game for UE.
The Purple Aces are led offensively into the tournament by sophomore forward
Chelsea Falkenstein, who currently averages a team-best 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Heck (10.3 ppg) and senior guard
Amy Gallagher (10.0 ppg) also average double-figures for UE this year, as the Purple Aces have eight players on the squad averaging over 5.0 points per game this season.
Following Friday’s game against Villanova, UE will face either the host Chattanooga Lady Mocs (1-3) or the Kennesaw State University Owls (2-2) in either the consolation or championship game on Saturday. Should UE play in the consolation game, it will tip-off at 2:00 p.m. and be available only as an internet-only broadcast on GoPurpleAces.com due to a direct time conflict with the UE men’s basketball game at Miami. Should UE play in the championship game, it will tip-off at 4:00 p.m. central time and can be heard on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV following the conclusion of the men’s broadcast
