MOLINE, Ill. — Led by the high-scoring combo of Sara Dickey and Camary Williams, the University of Evansville women's basketball team will be shooting for postseason glory this weekend as the Purple Aces will begin Missouri Valley Conference tournament action on Friday at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill.
Hoops in the Heartland (Tournament Website)
#6 UE vs. #3 Missouri State (Friday, 8:30 p.m.): Live Stats | The Valley on ESPN3 | 91.5 WUEV | Game Notes
Evansville, which has not claimed a conference tournament crown since 2009's cinderella run, enters with league No. 6 seed and earned a bye into Friday's quarterfinal against third-seeded Missouri State. This season marks just the second time since 2008 that the Aces have avoided the opening round.
The Aces (13-16, 8-10 MVC ) have enjoyed a remarkable bounce-back season, improving by 10 wins from a season ago. UE owns the league's second-longest winning streak heading into the tournament, having won each of the past five games. However, the road ahead will be tough, beginning with Friday's match-up with the Lady Bears (16-13, 12-6 MVC), who won both regular season meetings with UE by an average of 30.5 points.
One of the biggest reasons for the success of MSU against the Aces has been the team's ability to lock down All-MVC first-teamer Dickey. In the two games in this season, the Montezuma, Ind., native has been held to seven points of 3-of-22 shooting. in fact, Dickey's been held to single-digits in each of her last three meetings with the Lady Bears. Prior to that, she'd averaged better than 18 points over the course of six meetings.
Williams has experienced better success against MSU this season, but she too was held under 10 points in the meeting at the Ford Center in January before erupting for 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals last month in Springfield.
Williams and Dickey have combined to average nearly 30 points this season, and the Aces are 12-7 on the year when each register double figures.
With a win, the Aces would secure a spot in the conference semis for the second time in three years. Waiting for the team will be either second-seeded Northern Iowa (22-7, 15-3) or the winner of Thursday's 7/10 match-up between Bradley (11-18, 7-11) and Loyola (2-27, 1-17).
Drake, who is currently riding a 19-game winning streak, holds the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
The winner of Hoops in the Heartland will earn an automatic berth into the NCAA National Championship tournament.
Tipoff for the Aces on Friday is set for 8:30 p.m.
—#AcesAces —
