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Game Notes
The University of Evansville women’s basketball team closes out the 2010-11 season this week, first hosting Missouri State Thursday. Evansville looks to break the Lady Bears’ five-game win-streak over the Aces and make headway in the all-time series that Missouri State leads, 27-9. In their last meeting on Jan. 2, MSU topped UE 75-54 at JQH Arena.
Evansville also plays Saturday versus Wichita State for the very last game in Roberts Stadium. Admission to the final game will be free and a postgame ceremony celebrating senior Stephanie Bamberger as well as the history of UE women’s basketball at Roberts will follow. Here’s a brief look at Thursday’s matchup:
EVANSVILLE (8-19, 3-13 MVC) – The Aces come off two losses on the road to Illinois State and Indiana State. After the Redbirds built as much as a 12 point lead, the Aces battled back to get within one in the second half, but Illinois State came away with a 49-39 win. Junior
Briyana Blair and freshman
Katie Ellerson led UE with 10 points each. Versus the Sycamores, Senior
Stephanie Bamberger led the Aces with 13 points, followed by junior
Chelsea Falkenstein’s 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The Aces shot 27.3 percent (18-for-66) on the day and 24.1 percent (7-for-29) from three point range. On the season, Blair leads the team averaging 10.0 points per game, followed by sophomore
Samantha Heck’s 9.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
MISSOURI STATE (19-9, 10-6 MVC) – The Lady Bears come off two home wins last week, first over Drake in a high scoring affair, 92-82, then over Creighton, 73-65. Against the Bulldogs, three MSU players broke 20 points with Jaleshia Roberson and Casey Garrison leading the way with 25 each, followed by Jasmine Malone’s 22 points. Christina Shorter tallied a team-high 16 points to pilot the Lady Bears past Creighton. On the season, Garrison leads the squad averaging 18.2 points per game.
MEET THE COACHES
UE –
Misty Murphy (Colorado St., ‘98) (third season at UE - 27-64 record)
Owns a 135-129 career coaching record in her nine years as a collegiate head coach. Led UE to the NCAA Tournament in her first year as head coach.
MSU - Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, ‘85) (third season at Missouri State - 62-59 record)
Led the Lady Bears to a 22-11 overall finish last season and tied for third in the MVC with a 12-6 record.
A UE WIN OVER MISSOURI STATE WOULD…
Make UE 9-19 overall ... Make UE 4-13 in the MVC ... Improve coach Misty Murphy’s record to 28-64 at UE and 136-129 overall … Make UE 442-546 all-time.
A UE LOSS TO MISSOURI STATE WOULD…
Make UE 8-20 … Make UE 3-14 in the MVC ... Drop coach Murphy’s record at UE to 27-68 and 135-130 overall … Make UE 441-547 all-time.
CLOSING TIME
The Aces play their final homestand of the season this week and that means the days of playing in Roberts Stadium are winding down. This is Evansville’s final season at Roberts Stadium. Opened in 1956 and completely renovated in 1990, the 11,600-seat facility has been the site of more than 1,000 UE basketball games. The Aces will be playing in a new $127 million arena in downtown Evansville next season. The final women’s game there will be Saturday versus Wichita State, while the men’s team already said its goodbyes last weekend.
BAM!
Not only will fans be saying goodbye to Roberts Stadium, they will say goodbye to Evansville’s lone senior,
Stephanie Bamberger, on Saturday’s senior day. Bamberger has been a mainstay in UE’s lineup, starting every game the past two seasons. She leads the team with 41 made three-pointers this year and has knocked down 101 in her career. She needs six more to tie Megan Liffick (2002-06) for 10th all-time at UE. Bamberger averages 1.5 per game, shooting 38.7 percent from behind the arc in conference games.
STOP! THIEF!
The Aces have totaled nearly 100 more steals than their opponents, tallying 261 compared to their opposition’s 161. Evansville leads the Valley, averaging 9.7 steals in all games and 10.4 against conference foes, led by
Briyana Blair’s 2.9 per game.
CHELSEA LATELY
Junior
Chelsea Falkenstein had her best game in quite a while versus Indiana State. Falkenstein scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The last time the Evansville native reached double figure points was Jan. 15 when she tallied 10 in a win over Southern Illinois. Falkenstein started the 2010-11 season hot, scoring 17 and 16 points, respectively, in the Aces first two games of the year.
MVC TOURNEY
This year’s State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament takes place March 10-13 at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Currently sitting in ninth place, Evansville looks to better its seed in the tournament in the last two weekends of the regular season. However, as the 2008-09 team showed, seed isn’t everything. The 2008-09 team, headed by first-year coach Misty Murphy, was ranked ninth, but battled through the brackets to take the title and earn a birth to the NCAA tournament. Three current Aces (
Stephanie Bamberger,
Chelsea Falkenstein, and
Jordan Lewis) were on that championship team.
IMPRESSIVE WINS
This season the Aces played four non-conference teams that made post-season appearances in 2010. Against those teams, Evansville won three-of-four with wins against Bowling Green (NCAA), Eastern Washington (WNIT), and Butler (WNIT). Their only loss came to Wisconsin-Green Bay (NCAA) who currently sits at 27-1 and is ranked 14th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and 17th in the AP Top 25.
TREY BIEN ELLERSON
In the last meetng versus Missouri State, freshman
Katie Ellerson scored a career-high 12 points with four three-pointers in the loss. The Wisconsin native is currently shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc and has made 21 threes on the year.
EARLY SIGNEES
Coach Misty Murphy has announced the signing of three high school standouts to National Letters of Intent. Guards Juliann Miller (Louisville, Ky./Mercy Academy), LeiLoni Smith (Vian, Okla./Vian), and Kourtni Taylor (Akron, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) will make up the Lady Aces’ freshman class for the 2011-12 season.
