The campus community is invited to the groundbreaking ceremony and news conference for the next stage of the facilities master plan: new townhouse apartments that will house approximately 150 UE students beginning this August. To learn more about the project, please visit the Residence Life website.

The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 18 at the Walnut Commons construction site at the corner of Walnut and Rotherwood. (The gates to the parking lot will be open, and guests can enter off Rotherwood Avenue.) The rain location is the Class of 1959 Gallery and Lounge, Ridgway University Center. We hope to see you there! 

We will be restarting all IP phone on campus Sunday, March 17 at 5:30 a.m.  This restart is required so that the phones receive a software update to fix an issue we are experiencing. The phones will be down at most 5 minutes while they download and install the update.  If you would like for your phone to receive the update early you can restart your phone by pressing the services button and then **#**.  This will cause your phone to reboot and receive the update.  If you do the update early, your phone will still restart but will come back up immediately as it will not need to go through the update process. If you have any questions contact Josh Norrick at  jn44@evansville.edu.

Tonight, Ken Schmidt, brand visionary and communications strategist for Harley-Davidson Motor Company, will speak in Evansville. The Institute for Global Enterprise Institute Speaker Series is pleased to sponsor Mr. Schmidt’s presentation “Going Global:  Succeeding in an International Marketplace” in both Indianapolis and Evansville. As the former director of communications for Harley-Davidson, Mr. Schmidt played an active role in one of the most celebrated turnarounds in corporate history - and got paid to ride motorcycles.  

The Evansville lecture, slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. in Aiken Theatre at the Centre, is free and open to the public. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. 

For more information, call 812-488-2455 or e-mail globalindiana@evansville.edu.

The Indiana Student Education Association will host a Diversity Panel on Thursday, March 14 at 6 p.m. in Graves 100, including guests from the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. All are welcome to attend. 

Ace Advocates is sponsoring a competition between different organizations to see who can raise the most money as a donation to the organization KIVA. KIVA is an online microfinance loan program, and by everyone donating just a dollar, we can help provide economic opportunities to entrepreneurs and people in need in countries all over the world.

The competition is already on and runs to March 22.  Ace Advocates will be collecting money at a Ridgway University Center table on March 14, 19, and 21 during lunch and dinner.  Any club or organization at the University of Evansville may compete. The team to raise the most money will receive campus-wide recognition and a trophy for their organization, as a token for their efforts to help people around the world.

For more information, email Nick Joyner (nj35).

The Department of Theatre opens Crimes of the Heart, by Beth Henley, on Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the May Studio Theatre. The show will continue with performances at 7:30 p.m. on March 16, 18, 19, and 20, and at 2:00 p.m. on March 17. This 1981 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a poignant snapshot of sibling rivalry set in a small Southern town. The three eccentric Magrath sisters humorously tackle issues of abandonment, adultery, and racial injustice in this dark comedy.

Collin Matthew Jones, a senior theatre generalist from New Albany, Ind., directs the play. The Magrath sisters are played by juniors Kelsey Miller; Olivia Shrum; and sophomore Logan Elizabeth Hardy. The cast also features performances from senior Aaron Fentress; juniors Ross DeWitt; and Katherine Nykanen.

The all-student creative team for Crimes of the Heart includes scenic design by junior Sarah Dory; lighting design by junior Jenna Dabkowski; costume design by junior Moriah James; and sound design by sophomore Alexis Richards. The play’s Technical Director is senior Mollie Hamilton and the Stage Manager is junior Rebekah Carriere.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for senior adults, students and UE faculty and staff. UE students may pick up their free student rush ticket beginning at 12 pm on the day of the performance they wish to attend. Seating is limited. For reservations, call the ticket office at 812/488-2031.

Five spaces are available for faculty, administration, and staff to participate in a webinar titled, “How To Support Student Veterans & Increase Retention During The Critical First Year”, sponsored by the Office of Veterans Affairs.  The webinar is set for Friday, March 15 from 12:00 -1:30 p.m. in Library room 209.   Here is a link to read more about it: http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/1009.htm. 

Please RSVP to Cherie Leonhardt at cl29 or 488-2141 by Thursday, March 14 at noon.

Please join us Thursday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m. in the lobby of Olmsted Hall for a dedication of art donated by Virginia Schroeder H’92. Ginny is a long-time supporter of UE and has made this donation in honor of President Tom and Dr. Sharon Kazee. The painting depicts Harlaxton College and the artist is Kathryn Waters. Please come out and thank Ginny Schroeder for her gift and support of UE.

Alcoa Warrick Operations has challenged UE, USI and Ivy Tech in a local Recyclemania contest and will provide a cash prize of $1,500 to whichever school improves the most in the second half of the challenge (March 3–30).  In addition to the local grant, the winner in the competition will also get a traveling trophy, created by a local artist from crushed aluminum cans.  UE, we can do this!  There are 18 days left - let’s make sure we are recycling the following items:
• Office paper
• Cardboard
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Cereal boxes, beverage and soda cases
• Books
• Aluminum cans (rinsed out, empty)
• Plastic: (rinsed out, empty) with #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 in the recycle symbol on the container, such as:  Milk containers; Water bottles; Shampoo bottles; Laundry detergent containers; and Margarine containers

If you’ve got questions, call ext. 2697 or email js652.

Dr. Kevin Miller is coming to UE to give a talk on his research, "Correlating Structural Variations with the Thermal Properties of Imidazolium-Containing Polyester Networks".  Dr. Miller is an assistant professor at Murray State.  He received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Notre Dame.  His talk will be at 3 p.m. in Room 101 in Koch Center this Friday, March 15.  Everyone is welcome to attend!

Come join PRIDE at their Religion Sexuality Panel on Monday March18 at 7 pm in KC 100. This event will be worth 0.25 honors credit and hopefully will prove to be an enriching experience to all those interested in learning more about the views of sexuality from different religions.

Please join us for the last Mentor Speaker Luncheon Series of the semester on Thursday, March 21 from 12-1 pm in Eykamp 253, Ridgway University Center.  We are pleased to have Alissa Fricke, UE alum 2012, as our speaker presenting on the topic of: "Life Skills for the 1st Year Professional."

This is an opportune  time to contact your mentor and invite them to meet you for lunch, or come by yourself and hear about the challenges and rewards of being a 1st year professional.

This event is open to the campus community.  If you wish to receive a free lunch, please RSVP to Donna Schmitt at ds120@evansville.edu by Monday, March 18.

Professor of English Arthur Brown will be reading from his new book of poetry, Duration and the Second Hand, this Thursday at 4 p.m. in Room 272 in Schroeder Family School of Business Building. He will also have copies of his book available and will be happy to sign one personally for you!

The University of Evansville's International Club would like to invite everyone to its 37th Annual International Banquet & Variety Show. Don't miss the opportunity to try international food and enjoy a variety of performances. So mark your calendars and come to Eykamp Hall in the Ridgway University Center on Saturday, March 23, from 5:30-8:00 p.m. Tickets are $5 for students in advance and $8 at the door. Adult tickets are $12 for singles, $20 for couples and free for children under the age of 8! Semi-formal attire is recommended and profits go to charity. Tickets are available now at the International Office, Ridgway 2nd Floor. You can also purchase your ticket at Ridgway Lobby on the following dates;

Tuesday, March 19 - 11:00 am-2:00 pm
Thursday, March 21 - 11:00 am-2:00 pm
Friday, March 22 - 12:00 pm-2:00 pm

Hurry and get your ticket before they are sold out!

 

Dr. Furrakh Iqbal, World Bank senior economist, will be speaking to UE students via international video conferencing  at 8.00 a.m. in Smythe Lecture Hall (Room 170) in Schroeder Family School of Business Building on March 19. The title of his presentation is, "The Role of the World Bank in International Development ".  Dr. Iqbal received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University and his PhD from Yale University in economics. He has been associated with the World Bank (Washington DC)  for the last 30 years. Currently he is assigned to a project in the Middle East. Dr. Iqbal graciously accepted an invitation to speak to UE students from Walayet A. Khan, professor of finance. The event is open to public.

This year’s History Department Spring Lecture will feature Dr. David Green, Lecturer in History and British Studies at Harlaxton College. The event is free and open to the public, and faculty, staff, students and the campus community are invited to attend. The lecture, titled "The English Empire in the Later Middle Ages," will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21 in Eykamp Hall, Room 251A. 

This speaking engagement represents in integral part of Dr. Green’s on-going research program which explores ‘colonial’ practices and attitudes at work in the dominions of the later medieval English monarchy (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Gascony, and Normandy).

By March 2013 Dr. Green will have published four articles in international peer-reviewed journals and essay collections, including the Journal of British Studies and the Journal of Historical Sociology. Another important element in this project is a major international conference (the Harlaxton Medieval Symposium) which Dr. Green will convene alongside colleagues from the universities of York and East Anglia (both in the U.K.). Together these scholarly activities form an innovative research program which examines, through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, a period of fundamental change in the construction of the English nation.

Dr. Green’s research trajectory and findings have been shaped, in part, by the core course in British Studies required of all students at Harlaxton College with its focus on the construction of the British nation, its identity, and the relationships between its component parts. Accordingly, research from this program will be used to inform the teaching of this course, particularly the recently developed Honors section, which will sustain and enrich the curricular and co-curricular experience of UE students at Harlaxton in accordance with the university’s Strategic Plan Core Goal 1.

Student Christian Fellowship will host the Red Bus Project on March 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Sesquicentennial Oval. The Red Bus is an English double-decker bus turned mobile thrift store where students can donate used clothing and purchase clothing donated by others. All proceeds go to Show Hope which helps financially with adopting orphans.

The University of Evansville will be closed on Friday, March 29, 2013 in observance of the Good Friday holiday.

Graduating seniors who ordered their graduation announcements on or before March 11 should be able to pick up their orders in the UE Bookstore at their convenience. Those orders that were to be shipped out should arrive by next week. If you still need graduation announcements please stop by the Bookstore and place your order today so that you have plenty of time to prepare them and mail them. If you have any questions please contact the UE Bookstore.

Some reminders about Harlaxton College applications and deadlines:

SUMMER 2013: 
Last call to apply for the five-week summer session!  There are still places available in the following five-week summer session classes.  Applications for these classes will be reviewed through March 15th:

ES 103 Fundamentals of Environmental Science
SOC 105 Introduction to Sociology
SOC 301 ST: Love, Sex, and Society
THTR 110 Introduction to Theatre
WRTG 330 Writing Workshop

SPRING 2014:
While the priority application for the Spring 2014 semester at Harlaxton College has passed,  we are still accepting applications on a space available basis.  Full course information and applications are available at the Study Abroad Office, SB 261.

FALL 2013: 
Last call to apply for the Fall 2013 semester!  It’s not too late to apply for the Fall 2013 semester at Harlaxton College.  However, only a very few spots remain, so early action is strongly recommended.  Applications will be reviewed on a space available basis through April 1st.

Questions?  Please visit the Study Abroad Office in Room 261 in Schroeder Family School of Business Building, or email studyabroad@evansville.edu.
 

Please e-mail or send all applications for the Zerah Priestly Carter Scholarship to the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations by Friday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m. University of Evansville African American Alumni raised the funds to make this an endowed scholarship and named it in honor of Ms. Zerah Priestly Carter ’38, the first African American graduate of the University.

This scholarship is awarded, each year, to a deserving African American UE student at the Annual UEAAA Luncheon. This year, the luncheon will take place on Saturday, April 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The 2013 scholarship funds are in addition to other financial aid/scholarships awarded to the recipient! 

Scholarship Criteria: Candidates must be African American, have sophomore standing as of Fall semester 2013, and have a 2.0 or higher grade point average. 

Applicants must submit the following to be considered:
1) Completed application (http://www.evansville.edu/alumni/downloads/ZPCScholarshipApp.pdf) , 2) Written statement (not to exceed two pages) explaining his/her current professional goals, demonstrating his/her involvement in the African American community, and explaining why he/she is deserving of the scholarship. 3) Two letters of recommendation that verify and support the candidate’s community involvement activities.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the office of alumni and parent relations, at 812-488-2586 or e-mail us at Alumni@evansville.edu. 

Students who are interested in living in their same residence hall for next year can select an open room in their current residence hall on the following nights from 9:30–10:30 p.m. Sign-ups will take place at your hall's RA office.

Thursday March 14 – Rising Seniors (students with 75+ credit hours)
Sunday March 17 – Rising Juniors (students with 44 – 74 credit hours)
Monday March 18 – Rising Sophomores (students with up to 43 credit hours)

Interested students should have their 2013-14 housing contract submitted through WebAdvisor prior to selecting a room.

Additional information about the residence hall selection process can be found on the Residence Life website.

Adoptions for Summer I, Summer 2, and Fall 2013 are due at the UE Bookstore from all academic departments.  Please submit your adoptions as per information provided in a seperate email sent to faculty and department administrative assistants.

If you are a faculty member and need regalia rented for May's graduation please contact the UE Bookstore at your earliest opportunity.  If you have rented in the past and need to rerent the same items you can note that, the Bookstore has that information on file.  If you need any changes at all you'll need to contact the Bookstore with the updated information.  You can email dg57@evansville.edu with your request.

Attention faculty:  Alumni Research and Scholarly Activity Fellowship proposals are now being accepted.  Up to $15,000 in grants can be awarded by the Alumni Association each year.  The online application form can be found on Acelink under the Academic Affairs area.  Completed proposals are due Monday, April 1.  Questions?  Contact alumni@evansville.edu or extension 2586. 

Are you interested in exploring Asian history, culture, art, music, media, economy, and politics this summer? UE offers an affordable four-week summer Asian program in Korea from July 1-27. If you would like further information about the program such as costs, detailed schedules, site visits, scholarship, etc., please contact with Dr. Young Kim by email at yk28@evansville.edu or by going to Room 53 in Schroeder Family School of Business Building ASAP.  Applications of the summer program and scholarship are available in the Study Abroad Office, SB 261. The final deadline for applications and $500 deposit is Friday, March 15.

Each year, UE students "give back" in service to their community during UE Gives Back. The Office of Community Service matches students and student organizations with local service agencies and community projects for two hours of service. This year UE Gives Back will be held on Saturday April 6, from 10 am to 12 pm.  Please visit our website to download the excel file and register yourself and/or your student organization.

All registration forms must be completed and submitted to csi@evansville.edu by March 22!
 

We encourage all students to submit original, unpublished work for the 32nd issue of The Ohio River Review, an annual publication dedicated to the work of UE students. Feel free to submit to all categories.

What We’re Looking For:
Fiction: Up to two unpublished piece of no more than 3,500 words each.
Creative Non-Fiction: Up to two unpublished pieces of no more than 3,500 words each.
Poetry: Up to five unpublished poems.

Format Guidelines:
• Each piece is to be titled with numbered pages.
• Times New Roman font, double-spaced with standard margins.
• Have your name, category, email address, and phone number in the upper-left corner of the first page of each separate submission.
• All prose works must be in individual files, though poetry can be in a single document.

Contact the editors with any questions: Christine Mueller (cm208@evansville.edu) and Brennan Girdler (bg102@evansville.edu)

Selected authors will be notified and asked to provide a brief biography.

Email submissions to ohioriver13@gmail.com by Friday, March 15

Need to practice your skills and build your portfolio? Want academic credit for the work you do? Enjoy working with really great people?  Then be a part of the Crescent Magazine or LinC staff for 2013-14. Applications for all positions (sales, editing, writing, photography and design) with the magazine and yearbook are now being accepted.  Visit www.facebook.com/uecrescent or www.facebook.com/uelinc to download an application and learn more about the available positions. Deadline for applications is Friday, March 15. For more information, contact tm2@evansville.edu.

Congratulations to UE students Taylor Butcher and Maria Lynn for the acceptance of their posters at the 2013 37th Annual Midwest Nurses Research Society's conference in Chicago, Illinois.  Taylor's poster reported finding in the literature about the contributing factors to quality of life for patients who are diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and their caregivers, and Maria's poster literature review examined how patient-centered care influences patient outcomes. These two students were accompanied by Dr. Angie Wooton who also presented her research which focused on balance and gait in the geriatric population, and Dr. Jerrilee LaMar.

Creative writing majors Brennan Girdler, Rachel Chestnut, Kyrsten Wilson, Brodie Gress, Klara Nichter, Jessica Russell-Pope, Jessica Ingle, James Drury, Miranda Stinson, Jenelle Clausen, Christine Mueller, Mindy Hensley, and Jenna McCord attended and worked at the 2013 AWP Writer’s Conference in Boston on March 6-10. Representing the Evansville Review, Measure, UE Press, and the Student Writers in the School Program, these UE students staffed the University of Evansville booth, attended panels and readings, and met graduate school directors, editors, writers, agents and publishers from the 12,000 attendees there.

Professors of Creative Writing Bill Baer, Paul Bone, Rob Griffith and Margaret McMullan also attended the conference and hosted the annual UE Creative Writing Alumni Reunion night.
 

Associate Professor of  Chemistry Arlen Kaufman presented his R01 research titled 'Determination of Secondary Plant Metabolites using Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) and Tandem Mass Spectrometry' at the 2013 International Gordon Research Conference (GRC)  on Plant-Herbivore Interactions. Associate Professor of Biology Cris Hochwender also presented his research on plant tolerance to foliar damage by beetles during the GRC.

The 12th GRC on Plant-Herbivore Interactions brought together an outstanding group of junior and senior scientists. Sessions include evolution of plant defenses, microbial contributions to extended phenotypes, and the consequences of induction to individuals, populations and communities. The conference embraced mechanism and theory, and link ecology and evolution. To complement the diverse themes of the session presentations, poster sessions were scheduled for the evenings. 

 

Associate Professor of Creative Writing Paul Bone will be featured this Friday at 12:30 p.m. on The Trend with Micah Schweizer (88.3 FM). Professor Bone will be discussing poetry and his new poetry collection Nostalgia for Sacrifice, which has just been published by David Robert Books. 

Junior Jake Mahon knocked in four runs while junior starting pitcher Ryan Billo tossed five shutout innings to lead the Purple Aces baseball team to a 9-0 win over Oakland City on Wednesday evening at Braun Stadium.

Mahon went 3-5 with 4 RBIs and three runs score to lead the Aces (6-9) to the win.  He registered three of UE’s six hits on the night.  Kevin Kaczmarski and Chris Pearson scored two runs apiece.  Leading Oakland City (4-11) was first baseman Chaz Ferguson, who recorded two out of the five hits for the Mighty Oaks.

“It is nice to win our third in a row,” head coach Wes Carroll said.  “Jake (Mahon) did a great job for our offense while (Ryan) Brillo did well getting ahead of the batters; now we have to get ready for a big weekend with Purdue coming in.”

Mahon was the first Ace to reach base with a hit in the first while the first Oakland City threat came in the second as Chaz Ferguson and Logan Mohr recorded back-to-back hits with one out.  Ryan Billo clamped down, registering a strikeout before getting A.J. Beach to ground out and end the threat.

Following a scoreless 2 ½ innings, Evansville plated six runs in the bottom of the third.  With one out, Jake Mahon hit a single to left field to score Kevin Kaczmarski.  After the Aces loaded up the bases, Kyle Pollock was hit by a pitch and Chris Pearson drew a walk as two more runs scored.

An error by OCU first baseman Ferguson allowed two more runs to score before Jonathan Ramon completed the six-spot with an RBI groundout.

Evansville had three more runs cross the plate in the bottom of the eighth, all coming off the bat of Mahon.  Pearson singled to begin the inning before two more reached via a hit batter and walk. With two outs, Mahon crushed the ball to right center for a bases clearing triple to put UE up 9-0.

That would be the final as the Aces pitching staff finished off the shutout.  Brillo went five scoreless to take his first win of the season.  James Kohler, Connor Strain and Forrest Herrmann each posted a hitless inning with the only baserunner being a walk by Strain.  Josh Biggs threw a scoreless night, giving up the first hit in four innings of work by the bullpen.

OCU starter Trent Benningfield was tagged with the loss, dropping him to a 1-3 mark on the year.  He went 2 2/3 innings allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks.  Dalton McCool gave up three runs in the eighth on a pair of hits and a pair of walks.

This weekend, Evansville will host the defending Big Ten champions as the Purdue Boilermakers come to town for a 3-game set.  The action at Braun Stadium commences on Friday at 6 p.m. with Saturday’s game set for 2 p.m. and Sunday’s finale slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

The University of Evansville softball team dropped to #7 Missouri in a doubleheader in Columbia, Mo. The Aces were defeated, 3-1, in the first game before suffering a close one, 4-3, in the second.

Senior Halie Malone and junior Kacey Rogers led UE at the plate on March 13, both going 2-for-5 at bat and averaging a .400. Malone also tallied a double and one RBI on the day as Rogers went 1-for-1 in stolen bases. Freshman Kirsten O’Conner and sophomore Kayla Fortner also provided power at the plate as they both averaged a .667 slugging percentage while combining for two RBI’s, one double, and one home run.

The Aces will be back in action this weekend as they open conference play against Creighton at home in a doubleheader beginning on Saturday, March 16, at 12:00 p.m. CST.

Game 1: Missouri 3, UE 1
Missouri wasted no time in the bottom of the first inning as a sacrifice fly out to left field kicked off a 1-0 lead over the Aces.

The Tigers continued to expand their lead in the third with a double and a homer to left field that brought in a two run score, making it 3-0 game with Missouri still on top.

The Aces were able to score a single run off a homer to left field by Fortner, but fell short as the Tigers took a 3-1 victory.

Missouri pitcher ChelseaThomas, now 5-1 on the season, took the win for the Tigers as she pitched a complete 7.0 innings while striking out 10 and allowing just one run.

Evansville pitcher Sarah Patterson took the loss for the Aces as she pitched 6.0 innings while striking out four and allowing three runs. Patterson is now 4-4 on the season.

Game 2: Missouri 4, Evansville 3
After a home run to left center, the Tigers once again struck first on the Aces as the score quickly went to 1-0 in the first.

The Aces answered right back with a run of their own in the top of the third frame with a single by senior Alicia Betancur that allowed Fortner to cross the plate and tie it up, 1-1.

With a double to left center by Malone, the Aces were able to take the lead, 2-1, over the Tigers in the top of the sixth. Another double by O’Conner allowed another runner to cross home plate and advance the score further, making it a 3-1 game.

Missouri fought right back in the bottom of the sixth frame with a pair of singles that allowed them to once again take the lead over the Aces, 4-3.

Evansville was unable to get anything going in the seventh with a ground out and a couple of strikeouts that left the Aces defeated by Missouri in a close, 4-3, second game.

Missouri pitcher Nicole Hudson, now 4-0 on the season, took the win for the Tigers as she pitched a complete 7.0 innings while striking out six and allowing three runs.

UE freshman pitcher Sarah Baldwin suffered the loss for the Aces as she struck out one and allowed three runs, making her 1-3 on the season. Junior Taylor Perry saw the start, pitching 4.0 innings while striking out three and allowing one run.

University of Evansville freshman Alex Turner was named the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week by the league office on Wednesday.

Turner posted the top round of his career, tallying a 1-under 70 in the final round of the Don Benbow Invitational.  He began the event with a 72 in the opening round of play on Monday.  The Evansville native was just one shot off of the winning score.

His efforts propelled the Aces to a fourth place finish.  That came just a week after finishing 18th at the Samford Intercollegiate.

The No. 7 seed University of Evansville women’s basketball team will open the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Thursday at 7:05 p.m., when it takes on No. 10 seed Southern Illinois at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.

Evansville (9-20, 7-11 MVC) will be looking for its first MVC Tournament win since 2009, when the Purple Aces won four games in as many days to capture the tournament title.  UE swept Southern Illinois in the regular-season series, earning a 71-65 victory Jan. 13 at the Ford Center, prior to topping the Salukis, 52-41, Feb. 9, at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill.

The Aces closed their regular-season by splitting a pair of games last weekend at Creighton and Drake, falling to the Bluejays, 74-69, in overtime, before rebounding with a 70-59 win over the Bulldogs in their regular-season finale.  Senior Samantha Heck earned MVC Player of the Week honors by averaging 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last weekend, notching her fifth double-double of the season at Creighton by scoring 21 points and pulling in 13 rebounds.  Fellow senior Meagan Collins led UE in its win over Drake, scoring a game-high 20 points, while redshirt senior Chelsea Falkenstein narrowly missed her first career double-double by scoring nine points and grabbing 11 boards.

Evansville enters the MVC Tournament averaging 57.8 points per game and shooting 38.4 percent from the field.  The Aces rank second in the Valley in free throw percentage (75.2%) and are hitting 31.9 percent of their shots from behind the arc, a mark that ranks four in the conference. 

Heck, an All-MVC Second Team selection who leads the team and ranks eighth in the MVC in scoring at 14.1 points per game, is also among the league’s top shooters, as the Auxvasse, Mo., native ranks third in the league in field goal percentage (48.9%), three-point field goal percentage (39.5%) and free throw percentage (90.7%).  In addition, Heck ranks second on the team and eighth in the conference in rebounding (7.6 rpg). 

Sophomore Mallory Ladd, who earned All-MVC Honorable Mention recognition, missed UE’s last two games due to a foot injury.  Ladd ranks second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg) and leads the squad in rebounding at 8.7 boards per contest, a mark that ranks second in the MVC.  The Evansville native is also on pace to break the Aces’ single-season free throw percentage record, as she has knocked down 94.7 percent of her free throw attempts, a mark that ranks second among Valley players.

Collins is adding 8.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing, while Falkenstein ranks third on the team in rebounding (5.5 rpg) and blocks (12).

Southern Illinois (4-25, 1-17 MVC) enters Thursday’s contest having lost its last 16 games.  The Salukis are 15-19 all-time in the MVC Tournament and claimed titles in 1987 and 1990.  SIU’s last win in the MVC Tournament came in 2008, when they topped Bradley in an opening round game.

Southern Illinois averages 60.6 points per game, but is giving up a league-worst 75.0 points per game.  The Salukis shoot 37.9 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from beyond the arc and 63.7 percent from the free throw line.  SIU is getting outrebounded by 6.1 boards per game and average 18.3 turnovers per contest.

Sophomore guard Cartaesha Macklin leads Southern Illinois and ranks second in the MVC in scoring (14.9 ppg).  Macklin also leads the Valley with 4.3 assists per game and has dished out a team-high 125 assists.  Dyana Pierre leads the conference in rebounding (8.8 rpg), has hauled in 10 or more rebounds in 12 games this season and ranks third on the team in scoring (7.8 rpg).  Rishonda Napier is adding 10.9 points per contest for SIU and has made a team-high 51 three-pointers.

Evansville holds a slim, 24-23, advantage in the all-time series with Southern Illinois and the winner of Thursday’s game will advance to face No. 2 seed Creighton Friday at 6:05 p.m.

Two University of Evansville women’s basketball players were named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference teams announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.  Senior Samantha Heck earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team and sophomore Mallory Ladd was selected as an honorable mention, marking the Purple Aces’ first all-conference selections since Amy Gallagher was named All-MVC honorable mention in 2010.

Heck enters the MVC Tournament as UE’s leading scorer (14.1 ppg) and shot blocker (21).  The senior center is also shooting a team-best 48.9 percent from the field and was named the MVC Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Monday, after averaging 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds in Evansville’s final two regular-season games.  Heck has recorded five double-doubles this season and is averaging 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest over her last six games, while shooting 64.1 percent from the field.  In addition, Heck is just the fourth player in program history to record over 1,300 career points and grab 700 career rebounds.

Ladd, a transfer from Valparaiso, made an immediate impact for the Aces this season by recording double-doubles in her first six games in a UE uniform.  The Evansville native is currently averaging 10.9 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 boards per outing.  The sophomore forward has scored in double figures 11 times this season, became UE’s first MVC Player of the Week honoree since 2010, when she was selected for the honor on Jan. 7.  Ladd has also been named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on three occasions this season and is pace to break the Aces’ single-season free throw percentage record, as she has connected on 94.7 percent of her attempts from the charity stripe and hit 44-straight free throws earlier this season.

Evansville will open MVC Tournament play Thursday at 7:05 p.m. against Southern Illinois at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.