Aces women’s basketball gets preseason test against Oakland City

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The University of Evansville women’s basketball will have its lone exhibition game against the Oakland City Mighty Oaks.

The Purple Aces women’s basketball team will host Oakland City on Thursday night in their first action before the 2023-24 season. It will be a new look team for UE in the 2023-24 women’s basketball season. With 10 new players on the roster for the upcoming season, the Aces have recruited talent with championship experience at all levels. Among UE’s 10 new players, three come from winning junior college programs, three from winning high school programs, and one with national team experience. Evansville will look to improve on their best season record in six years with their 2023-24 roster.

Along with several new players to the team, the Aces welcome back four returners in sophomore Kynidi Mason Striverson, graduate student Barbora Tomancova, redshirt senior Celine Dupont, and junior Lexie Sinclair. Tomancova and Mason Striverson return as the team’s points leaders after being in the 2022-23 Top 5 in scoring. A consistent starter, Tomancova brings experience in big situations to the young team, while Mason Striverson and Dupont were key bench players looking to make the move to the starting five.

Going into her third year leading the Aces, Head Coach Robyn Scherr-Wells has seen consistent improvement from her team and will continue that growth with a retooled staff, promoting two and bringing in three new faces to the bench. Assistant Coach Tori Jarosz was raised to the Aces recruiting coordinator while Caleb Poston was elevated from the Aces Director of Basketball Operations to an Assistant Coach. Former UIC assistant Dodie Dunson was named UE’s Associate Head Women’s Basketball Coach in May while Van Klohmann was brought on as a new Assistant Coach and Director of Basketball Operations from Division II Missouri S&T. Rounding out Scherr-Wells coaching staff for the season is graduate assistant Dominique McBryde, returning to the states after three years playing abroad.

Oakland City is a Division III school 40 minutes down Indiana 57 from Evansville. The Aces have played the Mighty Oaks 24 times in the team’s series since UE began sponsoring women’s basketball in 1971. In that time span, Evansville has won 19 games with their last loss coming in 1981. The Aces only recently resumed games with Oakland City in the mid 2010s including their last meeting in the winter of 2021.