On Saturday at 1 p.m., the University of Evansville women’s basketball team will open up the regular season at Xavier.
The game, which is being played in honor of Lauren Hill, will be carried live on Fox Sports Ohio.
UE went 2-0 in its exhibition outings, including a 97-53 win over Berea last weekend as six players finished in double figures, led by Laura Friday, who hit 5 of her 6 3-pointers on her way to 15 points. Kerri Gasper also scored 15 as she shot an accurate 70% (7/10) and hauled in five rebounds. Newcomer Ashley Hawkins registered a double-double in the game, notching 11 points and 12 rebounds while also blocking a pair of shots.
“We are excited to begin our journey,†Aces head coach Oties Epps said. “We feel comfortable with the work that we have put in up to this point and we look forward to the challenge of competing against Xavier.â€
Saturday’s game will mark the first of three in a row on the road in Ohio; the Aces head to Miami Ohio on Monday before traveling to face Cleveland State on Wednesday, Nov. 18
It marks the first meeting against the Musketeers since the teams played together in the MCC. The Aces look for their 4th opening-day victory in a row as they defeated Austin Peay at home by a 72-68 margin last season. UE is on the road for its first six regular-season contests as they do not play at home until December 5.
Junior Sara Dickey set the single-season scoring mark last season with 602 tallies. After scoring 546 as a freshman in 2013-14, Dickey has 1,148 career points and is just 79 points out of the top ten. Should she follow up last year’s scoring pace, she would break the all-time program scoring mark in just three years. Shelly Brand-Adlard is the all-time UE scoring leader with 1,713 points
The Aces have eight returning players including three seniors (Sara Dickey, sophomore guard Taloni Reese and junior forward Sasha Robinson). Additionally, the team brings back Peyton Langston, Kenyia Johnson, and senior guard Laura Friday.
UE has six newcomers on the roster this year (freshman forward Jordan Campbell, freshman guard Camille Coleman, freshman forward Kerri Gasper, freshman forward Tattenai Hall, freshman forward Erin Sinnott, and junior guard Camary Williams). The Aces will also benefit from having Aaliyah Gaines and junior forward Ashley Hawkins eligible after their redshirt seasons.
Xavier is coming off of an 18-15 campaign last season, which saw them win in 13 out of their 19 home contests. They return their top two scorers from last year in Briana Glover and Raeshaun Gaffney. Glover tallied 10.8 points per game while Gaffney finished the year at 10.4 PPG.
