UE women’s basketball welcomes Chicagoland teams to Meeks

The Purple Aces gave up 100 points to its first Missouri Valley Conference opponent over the weekend. UE struggled at the home of the Murray State Racers in the 104-66 loss on Sunday afternoon. A bright spot in Murray for Evansville is that the Aces had their first perfect game from the free throw line this season. UE was 11 from 11 at CFSB Arena for the program’s first perfect game at the charity stripe since January 6, 2024, at Drake. Evansville had not had a perfect double-digit free throw game since December 31, 2017, when the Aces made all 15 free throws against Missouri State.

UE begins games this week with the UIC Flames on Thursday evening. Evansville will be hosting its annual Pride Night game with the local LGBTQ+ community inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse. The Aces played the Flames to two close losses in the 2023-24 season and will look to return to a winning streak on Thursday. UIC comes into the River City with a 6-11 overall record and a 3-5 MVC record. The Flames are led by a pair of upperclassmen in senior guard/forward Makiyah Williams and graduate forward Jaida McCloud as Williams averages 11.2 points a game and McCloud averages 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 23.6 minutes a game.

After a day off UE will host Valparaiso for its National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Saturday night. Local girls from four to 13 years old will participate in a sports clinic before the game and will then watch Evansville take on the Beacons at 5 p.m. Valpo brings a 6-13 overall and 2-6 Valley record to Meeks. The Beacons are looking for their first road win of the season at either Indiana State on Thursday or Saturday’s game against the Aces. Valparaiso’s leader on the floor is fifth-year guard/forward Leah Earnest as she leads the Beacons in points (16.6), rebounds (7.1), and assists (2.2) per game.

Sophomore forward Claudia Clement (Barcelona, Spain) had a career game on defense for UE at Murray State. Clement set a career-high against the Racers with 3 steals in 22 minutes on the floor. She also matched a career-high in blocks, stopping 3 of Murray State’s field goals on Sunday. Along with a career game for Clement, Evansville had strong individual performances at the Valley leaders over the weekend. For the first time since early non-conference play, the Aces had back-to-back games with at least one player scoring 20+ points.

Freshman guard Avery Kelley (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) has become one of Evansville’s key offensive players in MVC play. Kelley is currently on a five-game double-digit scoring streak while leading the Aces in three-pointers in two games. Prior to conference action, Kelley was averaging 2.4 points a game. Almost midway through the season, Kelley is averaging 10.5 points against Valley opponents. The freshman has also become one of the conference leaders at the line with an 85.7% free throw percentage. Kelley ranks seventh in the MVC and is the highest-ranked freshman.