EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The University of Evansville women's basketball team will play one exhibition contest before starting the 2024-25 season next week.

The Purple Aces will welcome Division III Franklin College Grizzlies to Meeks Family Fieldhouse on Wednesday night for their only exhibition game of the year. It will be the first time UE has hosted the Grizzlies since 1981 and the program's first meeting since 1982. Wednesday's game will be the first time the two teams have met as NCAA programs as the prior games in the series where when the programs competed in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). In the 10 meetings from 1973 to 1982 Franklin holds the series record with eight wins.

Evansville returns seven players from the 2023-24 roster as well as adding eight newcomers. Part of the Aces returners include their third and fifth leading scorers in sophomore forward Maggie Hartwig (Sauk City, Wis. / Sauk Prairie HS) and senior guard Alana Striverson (Sellersburg, Ind. / Silver Creek HS). Hartwig averaged 11.5 points a game in 23-24 over 31 games while also averaging 7.5 rebounds for second on the team. UE also returns key starters in senior guards Julia Palomo (La Seu d'Urgell, Spain) and Madlena Gerke (Riga, Latvia), and sophomore point guard Tene Smith (Brampton, Ontario). Other returners for Evansville includes junior forward Mae Dozier (Louisville, Ky. / Wabash Valley College) and forward Anica Skrivan (Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

There will be plenty of fresh faces on the Aces this season as well with a freshman class of six players along with two transfers. UE's transfers include junior forward Mira Hanna (Palm Harbor, Fla. / Little Rock) who appeared in 12 games for the Little Rock Trojans over two seasons, including the Trojans 2022-23 OVC Regular Season Championship team that appeared in the WNIT and sophomore forward Claudia Clement (Barcelona, Spain) after a year with Winthrop. Evansville's freshman class includes five guards in Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS), Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS), Kaiden Kreinhagen (Indianapolis / North Central HS), Kylee Norkus (Naperville, Ill. / Neuqua Valley HS), Logan Luebbers Palmer (Union, Ky. / Randall K. Cooper HS) and one guard/forward combo in Elle Snyder (Latrobe, Penn. / Greater Latrobe HS). 

Going into her fourth year leading the Aces, Head Coach Robyn Scherr has seen  improvement from her teams and will continue that growth with a retooled staff with new and old faces alike on the bench. Associate Head Coach Dodie Dunson returns for his second year with UE after joining the program in 2023. A familiar face to Evansville fans will also be returning to Meeks Family Fieldhouse but this time on the bench rather than on the floor. Former standout point guard and Evansville native Anna Newman returns to the Aces program as an Assistant Coach. Two new faces also join Newman as Assistant Coaches with Tyler McCormick joining UE from Division II Pitt State and former Penn State guard Zhaque Gray. Rounding out Scherr's coaching staff for the season is graduate assistant Molly Davis, a standout guard at Iowa who helped lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA National Championship game. 

Wednesday's exhibition is set for 6 p.m. from Meeks Family Fieldhouse.