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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's basketball team will open the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m., when the Purple Aces travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., to play Eastern Michigan at the Convocation Center.
 
Evansville (15-15) will be making its fifth postseason appearance in program history, but its first since 2009, when the Aces won the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to earn the MVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  UE is 1-4 all-time in postseason play, with its lone win coming against Southeast Missouri State in the 2008 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
 
In its last outing, Evansville had its eight-game winning streak snapped by Drake in the MVC Tournament in St. Charles, Mo., as the Bulldogs defeated the Aces, 71-61, in the quarterfinals.  Junior Kat Taylor led four UE players in double figures with 13 points, freshman Sara Dickey added 12, and freshman Dakota Weatherford and senior Miranda Liles tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.  Dickey and junior Mallory Ladd each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Weatherford dished out a team-high seven assists.
 
On the season, Dickey leads the squad in scoring (17.8 ppg) and currently ranks third on Evansville's single-season scoring list with 535 points.  The freshman guard needs just five points to move into second place and is 39 shy of Shyla Puelston's single-season record of 574 established in 1998-99.  Ladd is second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and leads the squad in rebounding (9.3 rpg), while Taylor is adding 11.5 points per game and is shooting a team-best 35.5 percent from beyond the arc.  Freshman Dakota Weatherford has tallied a team-high 111 assists and has been the leader of the Aces' defense with a team-best 65 steals.
 
As a team, UE is averaging 66.8 points per game and allowing 66.2 points per contest for a +0.6 scoring margin.  Evansville is shooting 38.0 percent from the field, 29.3 percent from behind the three-point line and 72.2 percent from the charity stripe.  On the boards, the Aces suffer a -1.0 margin, but have outrebounded their opponents in their last three games.  In addition, UE is averaging 14.3 assists per game and is forcing 16.0 turnovers per outing.
 
Eastern Michigan (17-13) finished fifth in the Mid-American Conference's West Division with a 7-11 record in league play and will be making its seventh postseason appearance in program history.  The Eagles have made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament (2004, 2012) and have earned four WNIT berths (2005, 2006, 2010, 2011).  EMU is 2-6 all-time in the postseason with both of its wins coming during its run to the WNIT "Sweet 16" in 2011.
 
Eastern Michigan was eliminated in the first round of the MAC Tournament last weekend in Ypsilanti, after falling to Northern Illinois, 81-76, in overtime.  The Huskies shot 53.6 percent from the field, including 73.3 percent (11-for-15) from three-point range, while the Eagles posted a 45.9 percent mark from the field and 50.0 percent (4-for-8) clip from long range.  MAC Freshman of the Year Cha Sweeney led EMU with 26 points and was one of three Eastern Michigan players in double figures.  Shannise Heady finished 6-for-10 from the floor for 17 points off the bench and Natachia Watkins posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Sweeney is averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game and ranks second on the team in both assists (82) and steals (50).  Janay Morton is adding 12.6 points per contest and is shooting a team-high 31.5 percent from behind the arc, Olivia Fouty leads the team with a 45.2 percent shooting percentage and is the team's leading rebounder (8.2 rpg), while Natachia Watkins is averaging 10.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing.
 
Eastern Michigan is averaging 75.6 points per game, while giving up 70.5 points per contest defensively.  The Eagles boast a 38.5 percent shooting percentage, including a 28.5 percent clip from three-point land, and have connected on 69.7 percent of their free throw attempts.  EMU is getting outrebounded by 3.3 boards per outing, but owns a +7.7 turnover margin, as Eastern Michigan is forcing 20.5 turnovers per game, including 11.4 steals per contest.
 
Evansville and Eastern Michigan have met two previous times on the hardwood, with each side winning one apiece.  The Aces defeated the Eagles, 74-70, Dec. 9, 1988, at the Western Illinois Classic, before EMU avenged the loss by topping UE, 72-66, on Dec. 2, 1994 at the UWGB Tournament.
 
Evansville and Eastern Michigan have played three common opponents in Ball State, Loyola (Ill.) and Toledo.  The Aces defeated the Cardinals, 80-69, and the Rockets, 90-80, in non-conference play on Nov. 20 and Dec. 30, respectively, and swept the Ramblers in a pair of Valley contests, 75-57 and 77-63.  The Eagles split a pair of MAC matchups with Ball State, falling to the Cardinals, 70-66, in Ypsilanti, before avenging the defeat with a 62-60 win in Muncie, Ind.  Against Loyola, EMU traveled to Gentile Arena in Chicago and came away with an 82-64 triumph.  Toledo defeated Eastern Michigan twice this season in MAC play, topping the Eagles, 80-73, in Ypsilanti and, 88-52, in Toledo, Ohio.