UE women's basketball set winning expectations with best season in six years
EVANSVILLE — Robyn Scherr-Wells sat in her office for the Missouri Valley Conference media Zoom session with her familiar smile and excitement for the next game. The University of Evansville women’s basketball coach hasn’t been happy with recent performances but can put them into perspective.
The Purple Aces (11-18, 6-14 MVC) haven’t been healthy for the better part of six weeks. That could be a problem heading into Hoops in the Heartland, opening against Murray State at 12 p.m. Thursday in Moline, Illinois. UE has had at least one starter missing in each of the past 10 games.
Starting center Barbora Tomancova is still day-to-day with an injury, while point guard Anna Newman missed time through concussion protocols and guard Myia Clark was out with illness. UE has dropped five consecutive games heading into the conference tournament, perhaps in part due to the shortening of an already slim rotation.
“It’s been very challenging, of course, and we always approach it with a positive mentality. The next person needs to be ready,” Scherr-Wells said. “It’s really challenged our consistency. … We haven’t made any excuses. We come out and I still expect to win every game that we play.”
The Aces’ first-round matchup with the Racers is the first game of the MVC Tournament. UE is the No. 9 seed against eighth-seeded Murray State (14-15, 7-13) with the winner advancing to play regular-season co-champion Illinois State.
The Aces have set an expectation for winning after this season's jump
UE has its most wins in six years and its first double-digit victory count since 2017. While the season has been a success by those metrics, the five-game skid has dampened the feeling — “there is no one more disappointed in this back stretch of the season than I am,” Scherr-Wells said.
UE had six wins at the same point before Scherr-Wells took over.
“I’m very proud of the growth that we’ve shown as a program, the positions that we’ve put ourselves in this season to be successful,” she said. “I think that we have laid a culture of expectation for winning here.”
The Aces will lose Newman and Clark after this season, with leading scorer Abby Feit undecided on using her extra year of eligibility. Those losses will hurt, but the staff is excited about the incoming freshman class and could look to the transfer portal to replace lost production.
That comes from what Scherr-Wells said UE has established: Expectations.
“That’s something that I’m confident that we’re going to continue to build off of and springboard us into this conference tournament,” she said. “Hopefully we play, come out the way we’re capable of, and that’ll be something that we can build off of heading into next year.”
Opportunity awaits in the conference tournament, starting Thursday
The Aces split their regular-season series with the Racers with a 75-67 win at home and an 80-60 loss on the road.
“I think it’s a really good matchup for us and it’s tournament time. Everybody’s 0-0,” Scherr-Wells said. “It’s a chance for us to get back to hopefully playing the way we’re capable of.”
Feit will be key to any success UE has over the course of the week. The Aces are 1-13 when she scores fewer than 15 points and 10-5 when she hits that threshold. Tomancova’s health and condition will also be key on both ends, as well.
Murray State coach Rechelle Turner said Feit is “obviously” someone her team will have to guard well in order to win.
UE has struggled with slow starts in recent games. That will need to change against the Racers. Katelyn Young will be the main threat for the Aces’ defense to handle if they are to win their first tournament game since 2017.
“We look at this week as an opportunity to do something that Evansville hasn’t done in a while, which is winning a game at the conference tournament,” Scherr-Wells said. “I’m very confident that this team is ready to keep fighting and fight to win a game this week.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville women's basketball hopes to make noise at MVC tournament
