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EVANSVILLE NOTES  | IPFW NOTES

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's basketball team will welcome in-state opponent IPFW to the Ford Center Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. for its annual Education Day game.  The Purple Aces will play the Mastodons for the first time ever and are expecting more than 3,000 school children for the yearly event.
 
Evansville (3-4) will open the month of December looking to rebound from a road loss at UT Martin last Monday.  Freshman Sara Dickey and junior Mallory Ladd both posted season-highs in the loss to the Skyhawks, scoring 23 and 21 points, respectively, but UTM shot an impressive 50.7 percent from the field and was led by Heather Butler's game-high 34 points.
 
Dickey leads the Aces and ranks third in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring at 18.3 points per game and her 81.4 percent free throw percentage is second on the squad.  Ladd is averaging a double-double for UE, as she is averaging 13.1 points and a league-best 10.6 rebounds per contest.  The junior forward is also ranks second on the team with eight steals and a 40.0 percent shooting percentage.  Fellow junior Kat Taylor leads the Valley with a 2.1 assist/turnover ratio and is the squad's third-leading scorer at 10.9 points per outing. 
 
As a team, Evansville is scoring 68.6 points per game, while conceding 69.7 for a -1.1 scoring margin.  The Aces are shooting 34.2 percent from the floor collectively, including a 24.9 percent from beyond the arc.  At the free throw line, UE leads the conference with a 77.5 percent clip, as it has connected on 124 of its 160 attempts at the charity stripe.  In addition, Evansville is averaging 43.6 rebounds, 15.1 assists and 7.4 steals per game.
 
IPFW (4-4) enters Wednesday's tilt on a four-game winning streak, including an 81-76 victory over nationally-ranked Michigan State Sunday in East Lansing, Mich.  The Mastodons notched their first win over a nationally-ranked foe since moving to Division I behind a team-high 23 points from Summit League Preseason Player of the Year Amanda Hyde.  Four other IPFW players finished in double figures, including Rachel Mauk and Haley Seibert, who each added 14 points apiece, as the Mastodons finished the night with a 53.7 percent field goal percentage, including a 56.5 percent clip (13-for-23) from three-point land.
 
On the season, Hyde leads IPFW in scoring (21.4 ppg) and assists (29), and is one of four Mastodons shooting better than 52.0 percent from the floor.  Seibert is adding 12.0 points per contest and has drained a team-best 16 three-pointers.  Stefanie Mauk is IPFW's leading rebounding (5.0 rpg), while Ariana Simmons has pitched in 8.8 points per outing and leads the squad with 13 steals and 11 blocks.
 
The Mastodons are scoring 76.8 points per game, while allowing 73.5 and own a sterling 47.3 percent shooting percentage.  IPFW has shot 36.5 from long range and 73.4 percent at the free throw line.  On the boards, the Mastodons have been outrebounded by an average of 4.3 boards per outing, but own a 1.2 turnover margin, as they have forced 16.1 turnovers per contest.
 
Wednesday will mark the first ever meeting between Evansville and IPFW, and will mark the 21st different in-state opponent for the Aces.  UE is 131-121 all-time against in-state foes and are 7-5 all-time against current members of the Summit League, with 11 of those games coming against IUPUI.