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The University of Evansville women’s basketball team hosts its final non-conference game of the season Saturday versus UT-Martin. Tip-off is slated for 2:00pm CST at Roberts Stadium. Fans who bring a new or gently-used teddy bear to the game will receive two dollars off the price of their admission. The bears will then be tagged, and fans can throw their bears onto the court for a chance to win a prize from the UE athletics department. The collected bears will be taken by the team to the children at Riley Children’s Hospital to help brighten their holiday season.

Saturday’s contest marks the 10th meeting between the Aces and Skyhawks. Evansville leads the all-time series 7-2, dating back to Nov. 23, 1985, in which the Aces won 77-76. UE has won the last five meetings, the most recent being a 54-44 season-opening victory on Nov. 19, 2004.

EVANSVILLE (5-3, 0-0) - The Aces come off a 51-49 thrilling victory over Butler on Tuesday. Junior Staci Gillum’s free throw with twenty seconds left gave the Aces a two-point lead, but the Bulldogs had the last shot. Junior Chelsea Falkenstein secured the rebound to preserve the win as time expired. Briyana Blair led the team with 17 points. On the season, sophomore Samantha Heck leads UE, averaging 11.3 points per game and 5.9 rebounds, followed by Blair’s 10.6 ppg.

UT-Martin (4-5, 1-1) - The Skyhawks come into Saturday’s game on short rest, playing at Vanderbilt on Thursday. UTM fell to the Commodores, 72-60, with freshman Heather Butler scoring a team-high 20 points. Butler (19.3 ppg) and Jasmine Newsome (16.4 ppg) lead the squad on the year.

A UE WIN over UT-MARTIN WOULD…
Make UE 6-3 ... Improve coach Misty Murphy’s record to 25-48 at UE and 133-113 overall … Make UE 439-530 all-time.

A UE LOSS to UT-MARTIN WOULD…
Make UE 5-4 … Drop coach Murphy’s record at UE to 24-49 and 132-114 overall … Make UE 438-531 all-time.

BAM!
Senior Stephanie Bamberger was named the Vectren Student-Athlete of the Week, as well as the Prairie Farms/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week for her performance in last weekend’s Heritage Federal Credit Union Aces Classic. The lone senior of the squad scored 32 points across two games and was selected to the all-tournament team as Evansville placed second in the Classic. Bamberger hit four threes in the Aces’ first-round win over Valparaiso, totaling 15 points, two assists, and two steals. Against Central Michigan, the Kettering, Ohio native scored a career-high 17 points, hitting three threes and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the 96-83 loss.

B.E.E.F.
Essentially, the game versus Butler came down to the free throw line at which the Aces shot 81.8% (9-for-11); their best performance of the season. In a game decided by two points, the Bulldogs had just as many chances at the charity stripe, but shot just 45.5% (5-for-11). Briyana Blair (4-for-4) and Meagan Collins (2-for-2) were both perfect from the line.

SERIOUS PT
Junior Staci Gillum rarely finds a seat on the bench, averaging 34.2 minutes per game. She is the Aces only player to average 30+ minutes and ranks third in the MVC.

JUNIOR ACHIEVERS
The Aces’ junior class has accounted for 51% of the team’s points this season. Against Butler on Tuesday, the juniors scored 37 of UE’s 51 points (73%), led by Briyana Blair’s 17 and Chelsea Falkenstein’s eight.

CONFERENCE SEASON CREEPING UP
Saturday’s game is the Aces’ final home non-conference game of the season. After hitting the road to Wisconsin-Green Bay (12/18) and St. Louis (12/22), Evansville opens the MVC season on the road with Wichita State on New Year’s Eve.

BACK IN TRANSITION
Against Butler, the Aces did not allow a single fast break layup, showing Evansville’s ability to get back in transition. Against fellow in-state rival, Valparaiso, UE also did not allow any points on the break.

PLAY THE BEST TO BE THE BEST
The Aces’ schedule features a number of top teams in the country ... Bowling Green - Ranks No. 2 on CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll - UE won 63-62 (11/12/10) ... Colorado - Member of the Big 12, which finished with the hight RPI rating last year - UE lost 55-53 (11/26/10) ... Wisconsin-Green Bay: Ranks No. 1 on CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll - UE plays at Green Bay on Dec. 18 ... Missouri State: Ranks No.12 on CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll - UE plays at MSU on Jan. 1 ... Creighton: Ranks No.14 on CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Poll - UE hosts Creighton on Feb. 5

SHARING IS CARING
With 121 assists on the year, Evansville ranks first in the MVC, averaging 15.1 per game. Staci Gillum (3.5 apg, No. 5) and Jordan Lewis (3.0 apg, T-No. 10) rank in the MVC’s top-ten in the category.

THE RPI REPORT
The season’s first Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report has been released and the Missouri Valley Conference ranks ninth of 33 conferences. As a league, The Valley has the 10th-best strength of schedule.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Outside of the six BCS conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, SEC and Big East), just two other leagues -- Mountain West and Atlantic 10 -- best the Valley in the first RPI report (Dec. 5). Among other key midwest conferences, the MVC ranks ahead of Conference USA (10), Horizon (11) and Mid-American (13), and behind on the Big Ten (1) and Big 12 (2).

TREY BIEN
The Aces rank No. 2 in the MVC for three-point defense, limiting their opponents to a .262 shot percentage (37-for-141) from beyond the arc.