Game Notes (.pdf)
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team looks to close out the 2011-12 regular season on high note this week, hosting the Illinois State University Redbirds Thursday and the Indiana State University Sycamores Saturday for Senior Day.
CATCH THE ACTION
EVANSVILLE (5-22, 2-14 MVC) – The Aces come off Sunday’s 72-46 loss at Southern Illinois. On the season, junior
Samantha Heck averages a team-best 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Junior
Meagan Collins has also been a steady offensive contributor, averaging 9.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, followed by classmate
Taylor Ware’s 5.9 ppg and 3.3 rpg.
ILLINOIS STATE (16-11, 11-5 MVC) – The Redbirds come off a 1-1 weekend against Wichita State and Missouri State. Illinois State overcame the Shockers, 68-62, at Redbird Arena, but suffered an 80-76 overtime loss to the Lady Bears on Sunday, marking their first home conference loss of the season. With four Redbirds averaging double figures, Katie Broadway leads the way with 16.2 points per game. Jamie Russell (13.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg), Marley Hall (11.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg), and Candace Sykes (11.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) round out the well-balanced scoring attack. Illinois State is currently tied for second place in the Valley standings with Wichita State.
INDIANA STATE (13-15, 7-9 MVC) – Much like Illinois State, the Sycamores come off a 1-1 week, falling to Missouri State (68-58), but recovered to top Wichita State 63-51 on Sunday. Entering the weekend, Indiana State sits in seventh place in the MVC standings -- a game behind Drake (8-9) and two behind UNI (9-7). Shannon Thomas (12.6 ppg, 9.0 rpg), Deja Mattox (12.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg), Brittany Schoen (10.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and Anna Munn (10.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) lead the Sycamore offense.
THE COACHES
OTIES EPPS, (Wisconsin-Stout, ’02) 1st season at UE, 5-22 record
Epps is in his first season as Evansville’s head coach. Epps spent the last three seasons at the University of Wisconsin where he helped lead the Badgers to a 56-31 record and three postseason appearances. Wisconsin played in the WNIT in 2009 and 2011, and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 for the first time since 2002.
STEPHANIE GLANCE, (Rollins College,’85), 2nd season at Illinois State, 40-22 record
In Glance’s first season, Illinois State posted a 24-11 record in 2010-11, the fifth-most wins in school history and the fifth-consecutive 20-win season, and finished tied for second in the Valley with a 12-6 mark. ISU won a school record four postseason games and returned to the WNIT semifinals for the third-consecutive year. Glance worked with Pat Summitt at Tennessee in 2009-10 as an assistant coach and served as the Lady Vols' recruiting coordinator. Tennessee went 32-3 that season, won the SEC regular-season and tournament championships and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
TERI MOREN, (Purdue,’92), 2nd season at Indiana State, 29-31 record
Moren came to ISU in 2010 after serving for three seasons as the associate head coach at Georgia Tech, where the Yellow Jackets had made three NCAA Tournament appearances and enjoyed three consecutive 20-win seasons. Moren previously served as the head coach at the University of Indianapolis for seven seasons, where she compiled a 130-73. Moren was also an assistant coach at Northwestern in 1999-2000 and has additional assistant coaching experience for six years at Butler.
THE SERIES
REDBIRDS - Illinois State leads the all-time series, 24-12, winning nine of the last 10 meetings. Evansville looks for its first win over ISU since the 2008-09 season. UE overcame the top-seeded Redbirds, 73-60, in the quarterfinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. In the most recent meeting, UE fell, 62-49, at Redbird Arena on New Year’s Day.
SYCAMORES – Indiana State owns a 30-13 advantage in the all-time series, including wins in the last five meetings. In their last clash, Evansville fell 73-54 in a very physical game at the Hulman Center. The Aces’ last win over the Sycamores was on Feb. 19, 2009 when UE came away with a 65-58 victory at home.
LAST TIME VS…
Illinois State –
Click here for recap/box score/highlights
Indiana State –
Click here for recap/box score/highlights
SENIOR DAY
Evansville will celebrate seniors
Staci Gillum and
Jordan Lewis prior to Saturday’s game vs. Indiana State. The senior festivities will occur 40 minutes before the 1:00 p.m. CT tip-off. Postgame, Gillum’s and Lewis’ recorded speeches will play on the video board. Be sure to come early and stick around afterward to help us honor our great senior class!
CALLING ON COLLINS
Junior forward
Meagan Collins led Evansville offensively at SIU with a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds. She shot a team-best 50.0 percent (6-12) from the field, and made 1-of-2 from three and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. In Valley contests this season, Collins is averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Recording one at SIU, Samantha Heck has now logged 28 blocks this season. She needs two more to tie Jamie Gray (2003-04) with 30 and break into UE’s single-season top-10 record book. Now with 57 career blocks, Heck also surpassed inactive teammate
Chelsea Falkenstein to hold sole possession of sixth all-time at UE.
ON PACE FOR 1,000
Samantha Heck has accumulated 859 points in her nearly three-year career, putting her well on pace to reach 1,000 career points with one year of eligibility remaining. Heck would become the 18th player in program history to reach the milestone.
DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Samantha Heck’s double-double at SIU (2/26) with 10 points and 10 rebounds marked her second consecutive double-double. The previous weekend, Heck logged 21 points and 11 rebounds at Wichita State (2/19). The back-to-back feat marks the first time since Robyn Jennings did so in the 2008-09 season. Jennings logged 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. UAB (11/28) and 13 points and 14 rebounds at Samford (11/29) the next day.
MVC MILESTONES
Scoring six points at Wichita State (2/19),
Meagan Collins recorded her 400th career point in Valley games.
Samantha Heck’s 10 points at Southern Illinois (2/26) put her over the 500-point mark in MVC contests, now with 509.
SPOILER ALERT
After last weekend’s loss at SIU, the Aces are locked into 10th place in the MVC. However, Evansville can play spoilers against the Redbirds and Sycamores, as Illinois State is fighting for a second place finish and the Sycamores for a finish as high as fifth place.
STATE FARM MVC TOURNAMENT
The 2012 State Farm MVC Tournament begins on Thursday, March 8, at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Aces will play their first game Thursday at 7:05 p.m. CT versus the No. 7 seed. Since joining the Valley in 1993, UE has won two MVC Tournament titles -- 2009 as the No. 9 seed and 1999 as the No. 4 seed.
TAYLOR MADE
Junior
Taylor Ware recorded her 300th career point at Wichita State (2/19) after tallying a team second-best eight points. She also grabbed three rebounds, putting her three boards shy of the 200 rebound milestone. Held scoreless and without a rebound at SIU, Ware enters the weekend with 303 career points and 197 rebounds.
STARTING LINE
Evansville has used seven different starting lineups this season with point guard
Staci Gillum and forward
Samantha Heck serving as the only players to start all 27 games. Heck has started 38 games consecutively for the Aces; the longest streak among active players. For the first time in nine games, Coach Epps changed the lineup at Bradley (2/2), swapping in
Miranda Liles for
Meagan Collins in the forward position. The lineup changed again at UNI (2/4) with Liles staying and Collins replacing Briyana Blair who had started the previous ten straight games. The starters have been Gillum, Ware, Collins, Liles, and Heck for the past six consecutive games.
FALKENSTEIN OUT
Senior
Chelsea Falkenstein will be out the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Falkenstein injured her knee in UE’s game at UT Martin on Dec. 16. Because she missed two games earlier this season due to a concussion suffered versus Ball State on Nov. 29, she is eligible to redshirt. Falkenstein averaged 3.6 points and 5.5 rebounds before the season-ending injury. She had surgery on Friday, Jan. 20th.
COPY KAT
Freshman
Kat Taylor will also be out the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL occurring in practice on Monday, Jan. 16th. Taylor played in 13 games in her rookie campaign, averaging 1.8 points, and 1.1 rebounds.
MIRANDA RIGHTS
Sophomore
Miranda Liles as shown rapid growth in the second half of this season, making her first career start at Bradley (2/2), and scored nine points in a then career-high 32 minutes of play. In her second start at UNI (2/4), Liles also had a career game with five rebounds and matched a best 11 points in 36 minutes on the floor. In UE’s game vs. Creighton, Liles started and played 38 minutes, grabbing a career-high seven rebounds and scored five points. In the first 20 games of the season, Liles averaged 2.2 ppg and 1.7 rpg. However, starting each of the last seven games, she has nearly tripled her output, averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in those contests.
HECK OF A STREAK
Samantha Heck extended her double-figure point streak to 14 games vs. Wichita State (1/19), scoring all 10 points in the second half. Heck owns the longest double-digit streak since Meagan Liffick in the 2005-06 season when Liffick scored 10 or more points in the first 19 games of the year and in 28-of-29 games. However, the streak came to an end after 14 when Missouri State (1/21) held her to four points. Currently, Heck has reached double figures in each of the last four games.
BOMBS AWAY
Against Drake (2/12), Evansville had a big game from behind the arc, knocking down a season-high 10 threes in a season-high 30 attempts. Senior
Staci Gillum drained a career-high four threes (4-9), while junior
Taylor Ware matched her career-high, going 2-for-2 from downtown. Junior
Samantha Heck also made two (2-6). The last time UE hit 10 or more threes as a team was Dec 3, 2010 when the Aces topped Valparaiso, 69-67.
LAST WIN
Snapping a 31-day and seven-game winless drought, Evansville overcame Creighton, 48-45, in front of 3,000 cheering elementary school kids Feb. 9th. The victory marked UE’s first over the Jays since the No. 9 Aces beat the No. 2 Jays, 47-45, in the title game of the 2009 MVC Tournament Championship.
COLLINS COMMANDS CREIGHTON
Junior
Meagan Collins piloted Evansville to a 48-45 win over Creighton, leading the Aces with 18 points, going 6-for-8 from the field, and grabbed seven rebounds. With 1:32 remaining in the game, Collins knocked down a three in the corner that gave UE a two-point lead, then secured the rebound on the other end and sealed the win with a free throw after Creighton was forced to foul.
FAST B.R.E.A.K.
Nearly 3,000 students from the local school districts were in attendance at UE’s game vs. Creighton as part of the Future Purple Aces Fast B.R.E.A.K. (Basketball Reinforcing Education to Area Kids) program. The program helps young kids apply the subject of math to real-life situations using the game of basketball. UE has won their last two Fast B.R.E.A.K. games, topping CU this year and edged Butler, 51-49 (12/7) in 2010.
A STREAK-FREE SHINE
UE dominated the glass at Northern Iowa (2/4), outrebounding the Panthers 42-29 while outscoring UNI 14-0 on second chances. The +13 rebounding margin matched a season-best for the Aces, done twice before in wins over Eastern Kentucky (12/2) and Murray State (12/10).
HOT SHOTS
Against UT Martin, Evansville recorded its highest field goal percentage, .558 percent (29-for-52), since the Aces shot .567 percent against Bradley on Feb. 2, 2004 (81-65 win). It also marked the first times UE has broken the 50 percent mark, since Jan. 26, 2008 when the Aces shot 53.4 percent versus Southern Illinois (77-67 win). On the season, UE is shooting .360 percent from the field.
1,000 GAMES
UE’s game at UT Martin (12/16) marked the 1,000th game in program history. The Aces currently own a 446-571 (.439) all-time record dating back to the 1969-70 season -- UE’s first year of women’s basketball.
OTIES EPPS SHOW
“The Oties Epps Show,” hosted by Mike Radomski airs live from the UE Bookstore in the Ridgway University Center on the UE campus from 12-12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoons. Fans are invited and encouraged to come out and be a part of the show and meet the coaches and players of the UE women’s basketball team. Fans can also listen in online at both wuev.org and GoPurpleAces.com.
ADLARD TO HALL OF FAME
A class of 11 women and men who have made significant contributions to Indiana high school basketball will be welcomed as inductees when the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame celebrates their 11th Women’s Induction Class on April 28, 2012. Among those inductees is UE’s all-time leading scorer, Shelly Brand Adlard. Adlard racked up 1,713 points in her career as a Purple Ace and also graduated as the school’s all-time leader in assists, steals, field goals made, and free throws made. Currently, she still holds the record for field goals (718), now ranks third in assists (448), sixth in steals (164) and seventh in free throws made (277). In addition, she was the NCAA Division I national free throw percentage leader in the 1983-84 season.
LADD COMES HOME
Arguably one of the best players to come out of Memorial High School,
Mallory Ladd has decided to transfer from Valparaiso University back home to play for Coach Oties Epps and the University of Evansville Purple Aces. Ladd, who scored 1,803 points in her high school career and grabbed a school-record 1,163 rebounds, led Memorial to the 3A state championship with a 28-1 mark in her senior year. She was named Indiana Miss Basketball runner-up and was a first team all-state selection in 2011 by the Associated Press and Hoosier Basketball Magazine. In the first month of the 2011-12 season, the 6’1 freshman forward played in six games with the Crusaders, averaging 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, also shooting 91.3 percent (21-23) from the free throw line. As per NCAA transfer rules, Ladd will have to sit out one year, but will be eligible to join the Aces on the court in the second semester of the 2012-13 season.
ACES SIGN TWO FOR 2012-13
Oties Epps announced on Nov. 9 the signing of two high school standouts to National Letters of Intent. Guard Laura Friday (Marion, Ind./Marion) and forward Michaela Prough (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) will make up the Lady Aces’ freshman class for the 2012-13 season.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior
Staci Gillum and junior
Samantha Heck have been named the 2011-12 team captains for the University of Evansville women’s basketball team. Gillum, a native of West Des Moines, Iowa, served as the Purple Aces’ captain and point guard last season, averaging 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game, playing in all 30 contests. A transfer from Kirkwood Community College, Gillum was also a captain and led the Eagles to a 73-2 overall record and a pair of national titles in her two years, while also earning NJCAA All-America honors. Heck, an Auxvasse, Mo. native, led the team with 4.9 rebounds per game and finished second on the squad with 9.3 points per game in her sophomore season, while also recording two double-doubles. As a freshman, Heck recorded over 200 points and 100 rebounds in her rookie season, ranking second on the team in both categories at 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
