Aces to play at 11 a.m. 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It is a quick turnaround for the Purple Aces as they face off against North Carolina Central on Monday at the Ford Center.  It will mark the annual game where local high schools from the Evansville area join the team to cheer them on.

Monday’s contest against the Eagles will mark the 500th in the head coaching career of Marty Simmons.  Simmons has won 266 of his first 499 games as he is in his 17th season.

Taking on a 20-win team from a year ago, the Aces led by as many as 26 points against Arkansas State before winning by a final of 77-63 on Friday.  Four Aces hit double figures, a feat the team accomplished eight times last season.  UE registered nine steals in the game, a number they hit in 2016-17 just five times.  Evansville attempted 17 three-pointers in the contest, connecting on five; last year, UE attempted that many treys just four times, going 1-3 in those contests.

Ryan Taylor had a great season debut, pacing the team with 23 points and 7 rebounds.  His rebound total was a career-best while his point total saw him reach 20 for the 7th time with the Aces.  Taylor was a perfect 6-6 from the line.

Evansville has had a great history with players from Lithuania and Dainius Chatkevicius is looking to keep that going.  In his first contest at Evansville, Chatkevicius posted 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks; his block total led the team.  He was also on the floor for 25 minutes.

Blake Simmons has done everything needed to make his way back after missing last season due to injury.  Simmons had an admirable game against the Red Wolves, playing a game-high 35 minutes while notching four assists.

Sophomore K.J. Riley made an immediate impact with UE in his first game, playing 16 minutes while getting to the line seven times, hitting six of those attempts.  Riley finished with 10 points in the game; it was the top total for a UE player in their debut since Mislav Brzoja had 21 against Earlham in first game in an Aces uniform.

North Carolina Central opened up its 2017-18 season on Friday in Chicago against UIC.  The Eagles dropped a 65-55 decision to the Flames as Raasean Davis led the way with 16 points and 9 rebounds.  Brandon Goldsmith and Reginald Gardner Jr. chipped in 13 apiece.  Last year, the Eagles went 25-9 on their way to the NCAA Tournament.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball senior point guard Randa Harshbarger (Philo, Illinois) flirted with a triple-double as the Screaming Eagles earned an 86-60 Midwest Region victory over visiting Saginaw Valley State University Sunday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center.

Harshbarger finished with nine points, eight assists and a career-high 11 steals as the Eagles outscored the Cardinals 40-15 throughout the final 17 minutes of the contest.

Senior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) led all scorers with 23, while senior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) had her second straight double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.

The Eagles (2-0), who shot 54.2 percent (32-59) from the field, had five players with at least nine points. Junior forward Kacy Eschweiler (St. Charles, Missouri) added 10 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) matched a career-high with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc.

USI returns to action Thursday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Midwest Region foe Ohio Dominican University at the PAC.

Four UE seniors honored prior to match

Sophomore Rachel Tam recorded 13 kills and Cassie Brooks had 22 digs, but Loyola was able to finish off a 3-0 victory over the University of Evansville volleyball team on Saturday night at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

Tam’s 13 kills came in 33 attempts.  She also had five digs.  Brooks led everyone with 22 digs while Mildrelis Rodriguez had 11 for the Purple Aces (10-18, 4-12 MVC).  Allana McInnis had 25 assists.  Quinn Spieker was the leader for the Ramblers (4-23, 3-13 MVC) as she tied Tam’s game-high of 13 kills.

Prior to the match, the four seniors – Erlicia Griffith, Jelena Merseli, Montana Schafer and Cathy Schreiber – were recognized for their contributions to the program throughout their careers.

The Aces got off to a nice start, taking a 3-0 lead before Loyola rallied to tie it up at 4-4 before taking their first lead at 9-7.  A pair of kills by Rachel Tam helped the Aces tie it right back up at 9-9 before Rocio Fortuny posted a kill to put Evansville back up by a 14-11 score.

Two service aces courtesy of Loyola’s Alex Nunez helped them retake the lead at 16-15.  They added to it, going up 23-18 before winning by a 25-19 final.  Tam had five kills in the set.2-0

Carrying their momentum from game one, the Ramblers scored the first four tallies of the second frame.  Mildrelis Rodriguez got UE on the board with a kill, but Loyola was able to push its lead back out to 9-5.  Tam came through once again as a pair of kills helped UE tie it up at 9-9 before grabbing the lead at 11-10.  Loyola had the answer once again; already up 15-14, they reeled off nine in a row before grabbing a 2-0 match lead with a final of 25-17 in the second game.

Cassie Brooks notched a service ace to give the Aces an early 5-4 lead in game three, but the Ramblers made their way back into it, taking a 15-13 edge but two Rodriguez kills saw the lead go back into the Aces hands at 17-16.  UE was able to push its lead to a pair at 21-19, but a late rally by the Ramblers gave them a 24-22 lead.  Down to their last point, the Aces notched two in a row to tie it up, but Loyola was able to fend off the challenge and take game three, 29-27.

Regular season play comes to an end next weekend as the Purple Aces travel to Bradley and Illinois State.

The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team blistered the nets in the first half before holding on to defeat Malone University, 87-76, in final game of the G-MAC/GLVC Crossover Saturday evening in Canton, Ohio. USI watched its record to 2-2 overall in 2017-18, while Malone starts the year, 1-1.

The Screaming Eagles flew out of the gate to start the game, racing out to an 11-0 lead after hitting four of the first six shots in the first two minutes. USI would extend the lead to as many as 20 points after shooting 66.7 percent from the field (18-27) and a blistering 71.4 percent from beyond the arc (10-14), taking a 47-30 lead into halftime.

USI senior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) led the first half surge with 15 points on a perfect five-of-five from downtown, while junior guard Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) opened his Eagles career with a near-perfect four-of-five from long range for 12 points.

The Eagles continued to widen the margin in the second half, extending the lead to as many as 25 points, 69-44, with 6:13 to play. The Pioneers, however, would make a run at the Eagles, using a 16-2 run to pull to within 11 points with 1:52 left, 71-60.

Malone would close to within seven points, 81-74, with 26 ticks remaining on the clock before junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) and junior forward Jacob Norman (Evansville, Indiana) sealed the USI victory with six-straight free throws.

After blistering the nets in the opening half, the Eagles finished the game by hitting 57.1 percent from the field (28-49), 56.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc (13-23), and 81.8 percent from the charity stripe (18-22). USI also won the battle on the boards, 34-21.

Washington finished the game with a career-high 22 points as three Eagles reached 20-or-more points. The senior guard was six-of-eight overall, six-of-seven from long range, and a perfect four-of-four from the stripe.

Hansen finished his USI debut with 21 points, also hitting six-of-eight from the field, five-of-seven from downtown, and four-of-six from the line. Stein, who had 13 second half points, rounded out the double-digit scorers with 20 points on seven-of-10 from the field, including a three-pointer, and five-of-six from charity stripe.

The Eagles begin the 2017-18 home slate Tuesday when they host Brescia University for a non-conference 7 p.m. contest. USI leads the all-time series with Bresica, 3-0, after winning the last meeting in 2010-11, 98-62, at the PAC. The Bearcats are 0-2 to start the season.

The University of Evansville women’s basketball team opens up its 2017-18 season on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Murray State as the Aces return to campus for their first game since 2000.

Back on campus, the Aces will call the newly renovated Meeks Family Fieldhouse home and welcome in the Racers for the 2017-18 season opener.

Murray State similarly opens the season on Sunday as the Racers are under the direction of first year head coach Rechelle Turner. The Races enter the opening weekend after a 15-14 season in 2016-17. Returning for Murray State this season are four of its top five scorers from a year ago, including leading scorer senior guard/forward Ke’Shunan James who averaged 20.5 points and 7.3 boards in 2016-17.

The Aces and Racers meet for the 25th time in the series history on Sunday with Murray State holding a 20-14 advantage in the series. In last year’s matchup, Evansville used strong efforts in the second and third quarters to push the Aces past the Racers, 82-77. The last time Evansville and Murray State met in Meeks Family Fieldhouse was November 29, 1993 when the Racers captured a 96-94 overtime victory.

At halftime of Sunday’s contest, Evansville will recognize Aces’ women’s sports pioneer Lois Patton for her efforts in building women’s athletics at the University of Evansville.

Short Box Score (Match)
Southern Indiana vs Wisconsin-Parkside (Nov 11, 2017 at Somers, WI)

Wisconsin-Parkside def. Southern Indiana 25-20,25-22,11-25,25-22

Southern Indiana (12-19, 5-13 GLVC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Whitfield, Te’Ayla 13-1-3; Coleman, Elexis 12-0-1; Jung, Amanda 9-0-2; Yochum, Alyssa 8-0-0; Stose, Lindsey 3-0-0; Cepicky, Casey 3-0-2; Gardner, Lizzy 2-0-0; Lee, Jessica 1-0-0; Farrell, Shannon 1-1-0; Humphrey, Mikaila 1-0-0; Totals 53-2-4.0. (Assists) – Cepicky, Casey 46. (Dig leaders) – Farrell, Shannon 25; Gardner, Lizzy 14; Cepicky, Casey 8

Wisconsin-Parkside (13-17, 8-10 GLVC) (Kills-aces-blocks) – Hedman, Rachel 15-0-0; Turek, Lexi 14-0-4; Calloway, Lexie 11-0-0; Fenske, Leah 7-3-3; Mavis, Elizabeth 3-0-1; Adams, Katie 3-0-2; Anders, Lyndsie 1-0-0; Leo, Annie 0-1-0; Totals 54-4-6.0. (Assists) – Adams, Katie 43. (Dig leaders) – Leo, Annie 21; Calloway, Lexie 14; Ysteboe, Maleia 9

Site: Somers, WI (DeSimone Gym)
Date: Nov 11, 2017   Attend: 152   Time: 1:51
Referees: Jim Momsen, Bill Petersen