Conference play begins for Aces with weekend back-to-back at SIU

Credit Source: University of Evansville Athletics

EVANSVILLE – Closing the non-conference slate with a 4-1 record, the University of Evansville women’s basketball team opens Missouri Valley Conference play on Friday and Saturday against Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill.

Last Time Out: Evansville 72, Bellarmine 62

• For the fourth-straight game, sophomore Abby Feit finished with 20-or-more points, pouring-in a game-high 21 points to go along with 10 boards in the win.
• Junior Anna Newman continued her role as orchestrator of the Evansville offense, dishing-out a career-best 12 assists and adding 11 points for her first career double-double. Newman’s 12 assists are the most since at least the 2008-09 season.
• Joining Feit and Newman in double-digits was sophomore Jossie Hudson with a career-high 14 points and six rebounds.
• Bellarmine was led by Breia Torrens, who scored 17 points.
• Evansville sprinted out of the gate behind a 26-point effort in the opening quarter before taking an 11-point lead at the break.
• The second half was a tale of two quarters as the Aces again out-scored the Knights, 16-13, in the third, but Bellarmine roared back in the fourth period.
• After Evansville built its lead as large as 18 in the third at 57-39, Bellarmine went on a 23-7 to close within four at 64-62 with four minutes left in regulation.
• When Evansville needed its defense to tighten up, it did, as the Aces held the Knights without a point in the final 4:00 and pulled away down the stretch for the win.

Previewing the Matchup: SIU

• Evansville and SIU are meeting for the 63rd time in series history with the Salukis owning a 34-28 advantage in the all-time series.
• The Salukis won the last meeting between the two sides, 99-60, on Feb. 23, 2020 inside the Banterra Center.
• SIU is coming off a 79-43 loss to Missouri on Dec. 20 in the Salukis non-conference finale.
• The Aces 4-1 start is their best since the 2008-09 season. In the 2008-09 campaign, the Aces eventually captured the 2009 MVC Tournament Championship.
• The win over Bellarmine on Tuesday marked Evansville’s fifth-straight win in its final non-conference home game as head coach Matt Ruffing has won the non-conference finale in each of his five full seasons at the helm.
• Evansville enters conference play with the MVC leaders in assists, rebounds, and steals per game on the roster as Anna Newman is tops in the league in assists per contest (7.2) and Abby Feit leads The Valley in rebounds per game (9.6) and steals average (3.0).
• The Aces are in search of their first win in a conference opener since a 57-41 win over Indiana State on Dec. 30, 2016.
• A 5-1 start would be the best for Evansville since the 2004-05 campaign when the Aces started the season 7-1.

Don’t Expect Many Fouls

• This weekend’s pair of games pit two of the top three teams in the MVC in limiting fouls.
• Southern Illinois is the best in The Valley with just 13.8 fouls per game, while Evansville sits third in the MVC and 40th in the nation at 14.8 fouls per contest.

Back-to-Backs

• Friday and Saturday will mark the fourth time that Evansville has played the same MVC opponent in back-to-back games.
• Having never happened in regular season play prior to this weekend, Evansville has played the same team in its final regular season game and in its first game of the MVC Tournament three times, going 2-4 in those situations, winning the second game in two of the three occasions.
• The last time it happened for the Aces was in the 2008-09 MVC Tournament against SIU.