• Game Notes (PDF)
• Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
• Live Game Statistics (Courtesy of SIU)
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will wrap up the 2008-09 regular-season on Saturday, as the Purple Aces will travel to Carbondale, Illinois to take on long-time rival Southern Illinois in a likely preview of next week’s State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament first round. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m.
Evansville will enter Saturday’s game 11-17 overall and 4-13 in the MVC. Southern Illinois, meanwhile, will counter with an 8-18 overall record and identical 4-13 Valley mark. The winner of Saturday’s game will be the eighth-seed in next week’s State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Charles, Missouri, while the loser will likely serve as the ninth-seed. Regardless of what happens Saturday, Evansville will open State Farm MVC Tournament play on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m., as the Purple Aces are locked into the “8-9” match-up of the tournament.
The Purple Aces are looking to complete their second consecutive season series sweep of the Salukis on Saturday, as UE posted a 70-65 victory over SIU in Evansville on January 2 to open Valley play. Junior guard Amy Gallagher continued to torment the Salukis, as she scored a career-high 19 points to power the Purple Aces past SIU on January 2. Gallagher has averaged 14.3 ppg in her last three games against SIU, and will bring a 10.9 points per game average into Saturday’s contest. Senior guard Ashley Austin continues to pace the UE attack this year with an average of 13.0 points per game, and has stepped up to average 20.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game over UE’s last four contests, including last Sunday’s 63-56 victory at Wichita State.
Southern Illinois will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak on Saturday, as the Salukis dropped both ends of the Wichita State-Missouri State road trip, despite the efforts of seniors Erica Smith and Jasmine Gibson last weekend. Smith and Gibson combined to score 77 of SIU’s 121 points on the weekend, and will enter their final home game at SIU Arena leading the team in scoring at 13.1 and 13.0 points per game respectively. While SIU is just 8-18 overall, the Salukis have posted a 7-5 record at home this year, including winning four of their last six home contests.
Saturday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV, but only if the UE men’s basketball team does not advance on to the semifinal round of this weekend’s State Farm MVC Tournament. Should the UE men win tonight’s game against Illinois State, Saturday’s women’s game will be heard on an internet-only basis on www.gopurpleaces.com.
