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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville will kick off its 2012-13 season with a 12 p.m. exhibition contest against cross-town rival Southern Indiana Saturday at the Ford Center as part of “Purple Saturday”.
 
The Purple Aces return eight letterwinners and three starters from last year’s team that finished 5-25 overall and 2-16 in the Missouri Valley Conference, including senior Samantha Heck, who led UE in nearly every statistical category by averaging 13.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 31.8 minutes per contest.  Heck also blocked a team-high 22 shots, shot a team-best 76.7 percent from the foul line and posted four double-doubles.
 
Senior Meagan Collins, who will see action at both the guard and forward positions, was third on the team last season with 9.4 points per game and averaged 10.2 points and 4.8 boards per contest in MVC play.  Fellow senior Taylor Ware also saw significant minutes last season and posted 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
 
Evansville also welcomes back three players who had their 2011-12 campaigns cut short due to injury.  Redshirt senior Chelsea Falkenstein is back for her fifth year as a Purple Ace, after she suffered a season-ending injury just eight games into the season last year.  Falkenstein was averaging 3.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game prior to the injury. 
 
A pair of sophomore guards in Khristian Hart and Kat Taylor also return from injuries.  Hart was forced to sit out the entire 2011-12 season, after suffering an injury in the preseason, while Taylor appeared in just 13 games before an ACL tear ended her year.
 
Southern Indiana was tabbed to finish in a tie for fifth place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division and returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from last year’s team that went 9-17 overall and 3-15 in the GLVC.
 
The Eagles welcome back more than 75 percent of their scoring and nearly 70 percent of their rebounding from a year ago.  Junior guard Stephanie Carpenter led the team by averaging 10.9 points per game in 2011-12, while sophomore forward Brooke Valentine averaged 6.3 points and pulled down a team-best 6.5 boards per game.  In addition, sophomore Anna Hackert returns for her second season after posting 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per outing as a freshman.
 
Saturday’s meeting between Evansville and Southern Indiana will mark the first meeting between the two cross-town teams since the 1987-88 season, when the Purple Aces defeated the Screaming Eagles, 80-69.  The matchup also marks the first exhibition game between UE and USI.