EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The University of Evansville women's basketball team will welcome two of the top teams in the Valley for its final weekend of regular season play.
 

Evansville vs. Drake | Thursday, March 7  | 6 PM CT
Site | Locations	Meeks Family Fieldhouse | Evansville, Ind.
Game Coverage	Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes
Follow the Aces	Women's Basketball Home Page | Twitter

 

Evansville vs. Northern Iowa | Saturday, March 9  | 2 PM CT
Site | Locations	Meeks Family Fieldhouse | Evansville, Ind.
Game Coverage	Live Stats | ESPN+ | Game Notes
Follow the Aces	Women's Basketball Home Page | Twitter

The Purple Aces return home for their final two games of the regular season on Thursday and Saturday. After two tough games on the road, UE is looking to improve its seeding in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a win over either the regular season champions Drake or Northern Iowa. Evansville will also honor its senior players on Saturday afternoon for their contributions to the program over their careers. The Aces seniors this year include center Barbora Tomancova and guard Lexie Sinclair.

But before Senior Day, UE welcomes Drake to Meeks Family Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs come into Thursday's game having clinched the regular-season MVC title on Saturday with an 82-62 win over Valparaiso. Drake is led by guard Katie Dinnebier, who was recently named a finalist for the Becky Hammond Mid-Major Player of the Year Award. Dinnebier averages 18 points and just under seven assists per game while the Bulldogs have forward Anna Miller leading the way under the glass with 9.9 rebounds a game. 

Northern Iowa will be Evansville's Senior Day opponent on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers come into this weekend looking to improve their Hoops in the Heartland seeding, currently sitting in fifth behind Illinois State with identical 11-6 Valley records. UNI won both their games over the past week against Valparaiso and UIC for their current two-game win streak. The Panthers are led on offense by MVC Preseason Player of the Year forward Grace Boffeli, who is averaging 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds a game in 25.1 minutes. Closely following behind Boffeli is point guard Maya McDermott with 15.5 points per game and 3.6 assists.

Freshman forward Nevaeh Thomas led the Aces in almost every statistical category at Murray State on Friday night. Thomas led UE in points (23), rebounds (11), assists (4), and blocks (2). Thomas's four assists was a career-high surpassing her former high of three helpers against Bradley at the start of February. Thomas also added 19 points against Belmont while leading the team in steals with a season-high three takeaways. Evansville's other freshman forward Maggie Hartwig had a team-leading performance at Belmont. Hartwig led the Aces in both points and rebounds with her fifth game of 20+ points. The forward added 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.