Aces looking for success to close out three-game road swing
  The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will be back in action this weekend as Missouri Valley Conference play will continue with showdowns at Missouri State on Friday and Wichita State on Sunday.
The Purple Aces (2-14, 1-4 MVC) will be hoping to get back on the winning side of things after falling to Southern Illinois last Saturday in Carbondale. UE was done in by a Saluki team that connected 13 times from three-point. The shooting performance was a stark contrast to Bradley’s efforts the game before, when the Aces held the Braves to an anemic 2-for-24 night from beyond the arc. Perimeter defense will likely be a factor in both UE games this weekend as Missouri State (11-7, 4-2 MVC) currently ranks third in the Valley with a .313 percentage from distance. Conversely, Wichita State (3-14, 0-6 MVC) is eighth in the league at .276.
The Aces are led by Sara Dickey, who is the only player on the roster to start all 16 contests this season. The junior out of Montezuma, Ind., averages a team-best 16 points per game, which is more than twice that of the second-highest scorer on the roster. She’s also accounted for 40 of the team’s 99 three-pointers on the year.
Dickey enters the weekend with 1,404 career points, which ranks fifth all-time in UE’s history books, and she’s on track surpass past fourth-ranked Barb Dykstra, who graduated in 1986 with 1,430 career points.
Dickey is not the only standout on UE’s squad, as she’s been joined over the last month of games by fellow junior Sasha Robinson, who averages seven points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Nashville, Ind., product is 41 rebounds away from moving into UE’s top 10, and in the Bradley victory earlier this month, she registered her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 boards.
Kenyia Johnson has also had some big games in recent weeks as she’s moved over to the point guard position. A sophomore, Johnson had been held to single-digit points in road games while excelling at the Ford Center. However, in last week’s loss at SIU, she was 5-of-7 from the field with 10 points and three assists.
Meanwhile, Missouri State, which currently sits fifth in the Valley standings, will be looking for its first conference victory in Springfield. The Bears are 4-0 on the road, but they’re 0-2 at JQH Arena, falling to both Drake and Northern Iowa. Wichita State, on the other hand, sits in 10th place after dropping all six of their league games, with a 60-55 loss to Bradley last Friday serving as the only game decided by less than 10 points.
WSU and SIU will play on Friday.
Tipoff between MSU and UE is slated for 7 p.m.
