UE GAME NOTES  |  LIVE AUDIO  |  LIVE VIDEO  |  LIVE STATS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will be at the Ford Center for just the second time this season when it hosts UT Martin in a non-conference tilt Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
Evansville (2-3) fell in a pair of road games last week, falling to Murray State, 76-62, Tuesday and Wisconsin, 73-55, Sunday.  Redshirt sophomore Khristian Hart scored a career-high 24 points in the Purple Aces’ loss to the Racers, while senior Samantha Heck led UE with a career-high 25 points in the defeat to the Badgers.  Senior Meagan Collins also played a key role offensively for Evansville, scoring 13 points in each contest.
 
The Purple Aces rank second in the Missouri Valley Conference in three-point field goals with 40 and are third in the conference in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a .381 shooting percentage.  Individually, Hart leads UE in scoring at 17.0 points per game and has tallied a team-high eight steals.  Heck is also averaging in double figures at 14.4 points per contest and leads the squad in rebounding (8.6), field goal percentage (.481) and blocks (7).  Collins has added 12.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per outing for the Aces.
 
UT Martin (1-5) enters Wednesday’s contest on a four-game losing streak, with losses to three teams ranked in the national top 10 in Baylor, Stanford and Louisville.  In their last outing, the Skyhawks fell to Louisville, 79-61, Monday in Martin, Tenn.  Preseason State Farm Wade Trophy watch list member Heather Butler led UTM with 17 points and played all 40 minutes in the contest.  Jasmine Newsome added 16 points and recorded a team-high five assists and four steals in 39 minutes of action.
 
On the season, Butler leads the Skyhawks in scoring at 21.8 points per game, while Newsome is scoring 19.7 points per contest and leads UTM in rebounding (5.5), assists (34) and steals (17).   Cortrice Golden has been the top player off the bench for the Skyhawks, as she averages 7.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 16.3 minutes per outing.
 
As a team, UT Martin is averaging 67.7 points per game, while giving up 77.8.  The Skyhawks are shooting 39.9 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from behind the arc.  UTM has knocked down 68.0 percent of its free throw opportunities and turns the ball over just 14.3 times per contest.
 
UT Martin returns five letterwinners, including three starters, from last year’s team that finished 23-9 overall and 15-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference to claim the regular-season and OVC Tournament titles.  The Skyhawks are under the direction of fourth-year head coach Kevin McMillan, who owns a career record of 56-44.
 
Following Wednesday’s game with UT Martin, the Aces will be back on the road for a pair of games at Ohio State and Eastern Illinois.  Evansville will face the Buckeyes, Dec. 1, at 11 a.m., prior to traveling to Charleston, Ill., for a 7 p.m. contest with the Panthers on Dec. 4.