Aces women’s basketball to host IU Columbus for Education Day

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The University of Evansville women’s basketball team hosts its final non-conference opponent of the season for it’s annual Education Day game.

The Purple Aces struggled to stop the Vanderbilt Commodores explosive offense and get around their stifling defense on Saturday afternoon in their past game. UE fell in its return to Memorial Gymnasium after 30 years 106-40 as the Commodores NET ranking rose to eight. Evansville returns to the River City for its first-ever meeting with the IU Columbus Crimson Pride. IU Columbus is in its first year with a women’s basketball team as the Indiana regional campus did not have formal athletics until the 2023-24 academic year. The Crimson Pride is under the direction of Head Coach Dana Dunson, the uncle of Aces Associate Head Coach Dodie Dunson.

UE will host its annual Education Day against IU Columbus on Tuesday morning. With the game at 11 a.m. in the Ford Center, the Aces will welcome over 1,400 area students from multiple local school districts during their last week of school before the holidays. The game will feature educational videos on the center scoreboard, a workbook students can fill out during the game, and an exciting arena atmosphere.

Evansville’s underclassmen continue to lead through non-conference action. Of the Aces’ 590 points this season 73.9% have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. All but one of UE’s top five scorers through nine games are underclassmen. Evansville’s leading scorer has been freshman guard Camryn Runner (Cicero, Ind. / Hamilton Heights HS) who is averaging 18.7 points a game. Along with leading the Aces in points, Runner is one of the top free throw shooters in the country. As of Monday, Runner is third in the nation in free throw attempts with 99. She is also fourth among Division I players in free throws made with 80 made attempts at the line.

Freshman guard Logan Leubbers Palmer (Union, Ky. / Randall K. Cooper HS) was an important part of UE’s offense in her collegiate debut. In 17 minutes at Vanderbilt, Palmer was second on the team in scoring with nine points while also pulling down two boards. With the nine-point performance, Palmer is now one of Evansville’s top five scorers in points per game.