• Game Notes (PDF)
• Free Live Game Audio (Courtesy of WUEV)
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will begin a stretch of four out of the next six games on the road on Thursday night, as the Purple Aces will travel west to Des Moines, Iowa to battle the Drake University Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. and Thursday’s game can be heard live on 91.5 F.M.-WUEV.
Evansville will enter Thursday night’s game with a 4-18 overall record and 1-10 Missouri Valley Conference mark. So far, the Purple Aces have played close in the second-half of MVC play, but still have nothing to show for it, suffering a pair of losses to Bradley and Northern Iowa last weekend at home. Evansville was within two points with under two minutes to go against Bradley, before the Braves used a game-ending 9-1 run to pull out a 68-58 victory. UE was also within a point with nine minutes to go against UNI before going cold and watching the Panthers finish the game on a 26-8 run en route to a 71-52 victory on Sunday.
“In both games last week, I thought that we played well for stretches, but then there would be a five or 10 minute stretch that would really hurt us,” said UE head coach
Misty Murphy. “We need to be able to sustain a solid effort for 40 minutes. If we can do that, I think that we will see success, because we are putting ourselves into good positions to compete with our effort right now.”
Senior guard
Amy Gallagher continues to pace the Purple Aces’ attack this season with an average of 10.8 points per game. She will enter Thursday night’s game at Drake just seven points shy of 800 in her UE career. Gallagher was aided on UE’s recent four-game homestand by freshman center
Samantha Heck and sophomore forward
Chelsea Falkenstein, who both made an impact in their return to the starting lineup. Heck has reached double-figures in two of UE’s last three games, while averaging 10.7 points per game over the last three contests, while Falkenstein has stepped up to average 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game for UE over the last four contests.
Drake will enter Thursday’s game with an 11-10 overall record and 4-7 conference mark. The Bulldogs will be trying to snap a five-game losing streak on Thursday night, after seeing Missouri State roar back from an 18-point first-half deficit to post an 87-78 victory over Drake last time out. Junior guard Kristin Turk had a career-high 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three-point range against Missouri State, as the Bulldogs shot 64.7 percent from three-point range (11-for-17) and 50.0 percent overall (29-for-58) in the loss. On the season, Turk is one of four Drake players who currently average double-figures at 11.4 points per game. Senior guard Jordann Plummer leads the Drake attack with an average of 15.5 points per game.
“Drake is a very dangerous team,” said Murphy. “They have been slumping of late, but their offense was able to come alive last time out against Missouri State, and that is a scary thing, because they are a great shooting team. Our defensive intensity and our communication on defense is going to be key on Thursday, because if we let their shooters get loose, they will make us pay.”
Drake owns a 24-10 advantage in the all-time series over UE, and the Bulldogs have won four games in a row over UE, including a 67-53 victory over the Purple Aces at Roberts Stadium on January 16.
