LIVE VIDEO  |  LIVE AUDIO  |  LIVE STATS
EVANSVILLE NOTES  |  SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NOTES

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's basketball team will be looking to extend its three-game winning streak Sunday afternoon, when the Purple Aces host Southern Illinois in a "White Out" at the Ford Center at 2 p.m.  Fans are encouraged to wear white to the game and the first 250 fans in attendance will receive a complimentary white t-shirt.
 
The UE women's basketball will also be holding a clinic at the Fifth Third Bank Basketball Practice Facility prior to Sunday's contest from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.  The clinic is available for all kids grades 1-8 at the cost of $35 per participant.  The fee includes a complimentary ticket the game later that afternoon.
 
Evansville (10-14, 5-8 MVC) captured a pair of road wins last weekend at Illinois State and Indiana State to reach the 10-win plateau for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign.  Freshman Sara Dickey led the Aces with a 21-point effort against the Redbirds and senior Katie Ellerson added 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.  In Sunday's win against the Sycamores, junior Kat Taylor finished 10-for-13 from the field for a career-high 30 points, while Dickey notched 18.
 
Dickey leads UE and ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (18.3 ppg) and needs just 17 points to enter the top 10 on Evansville's single-season scoring list.  The freshman guard has racked up 440 points on the season, a mark that already ranks her fifth on the MVC's single-season freshman scoring list.  Taylor and fellow junior Mallory Ladd are tied for second on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game, while Ladd leads the team and the Valley in rebounding (9.8 rpg).  Freshman Dakota Weatherford has dished out a team-best 86 assists and has tallied a team-high 50 steals.
 
As a team, Evansville averages 66.3 points per contest and is shooting 36.8 percent from the floor, including a 27.7 percent clip from behind the arc.  The Aces own a 71.5 percent free throw percentage and are averaging 41.1 rebounds per game.  Defensively, UE is forcing 15.5 turnovers per contest, including 7.5 steals per game.
 
Southern Illinois (4-20, 2-11 MVC) enters Sunday's game having lost 11 of its last 12 contests, with the Salukis' lone win coming against Evansville in Carbondale, Ill., on Jan. 26.  SIU dropped a pair of road games at Indiana State and Illinois State last weekend, as it was held to just 35 points in a 72-35 defeat to the Sycamores, before falling to the Redbirds, 68-63, in overtime.  Carlie Corrigan paced Southern Illinois with nine points in the loss at Indiana State, before Dyana Pierre tallied a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's defeat at Illinois State.
 
Pierre leads the Salukis in several statistical categories, including scoring (13.1 ppg), rebounding (8.8 rpg), field goal percentage (48.8 percent) and blocked shots (38).  Azia Washington is pitching in 10.0 points and 6.9 boards per contest, while Mercedes Griffin is adding 7.5 points per outing and leads the team with 49 assists.
 
As a team, SIU is averaging just 56.7 points per game, which ranks last in the MVC, and is surrendering 71.1 points per game defensively.  Southern Illinois is shooting 37.2 percent from the field, 22.1 percent from long range and 65.5 percent at the charity stripe.  The Salukis are grabbing 38.6 rebounds per contest and average 19.3 turnovers per outing for a -5.9 turnover margin. 
 
Southern Illinois leads the all-time series with Evansville, 25-24, as the Salukis grabbed the lead in the series by downing the Aces, 66-57, earlier in the first meeting between the two sides this year in Carbondale.