# 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team

The 2016–17 Evansville Purple Aces women's basketball team represented the University of Evansville during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Purple Aces, led by interim head coach Matt Ruffing, played their home games at the Ford Center and are members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 14–17, 8–10 in MVC play to finish in sixth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley women's tournament, where they lost to Northern Iowa.

## Previous season

The Aces ended last season 3–28, 1–17 in MVC play to finish in last place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley women's tournament where they lost to Drake.
On February 29, 2016, head coach Oties Epps resigned after five years. Matt Ruffing became the interim coach for the remainder of the season and for the current one.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/12/2016* 1:00 pm | | Cleveland State | L 62–66 | 0–1 | Ford Center Evansville, IN |
| 11/14/2016* 5:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois | L 63–73 | 0–2 | Ford Center (456) Evansville, IN |
| 11/16/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Ball State | L 49–84 | 0–3 | Worthen Arena (1,012) Muncie, IN |
| 11/20/2016* 1:00 pm | | Southeast Missouri State | L 74–76 | 0–4 | Ford Center (437) Evansville, IN |
| 11/27/2016* 2:00 pm | | at Northwestern | L 66–88 | 0–5 | Welsh-Ryan Arena (853) Evanston, IL |
| 11/30/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Valparaiso | W 70–65 | 1–5 | Athletics–Recreation Center (396) Valparaiso, IN |
| 12/04/2016* 2:00 pm | | at Murray State | W 82–77 | 2–5 | CFSB Center (233) Murray, KY |
| 12/06/2016* 11:00 am | | Oakland City | W 108–68 | 3–5 | Ford Center (4,581) Evansville, IN |
| 12/10/2016* 12:00 pm | | Austin Peay | W 68–64 | 4–5 | Ford Center (471) Evansville, IN |
| 12/18/2016* 1:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 8 Louisville | L 47–89 | 4–6 | KFC Yum! Center (8,320) Louisville, KY |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm | | Alabama A&M | W 63–54 | 5–6 | Ford Center (449) Evansville, IN |
| Missouri Valley regular season ||||||
| 12/30/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 57–41 | 6–6 (1–0) | Ford Center (623) Evansville, IN |
| 01/01/2017 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 67–36 | 7–6 (2–0) | Ford Center (471) Evansville, IN |
| 01/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | L 65–82 | 7–7 (2–1) | Knapp Center (2,106) Des Moines, IA |
| 01/08/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Iowa | L 40–54 | 7–8 (2–2) | McLeod Center (1,059) Cedar Falls, IA |
| 01/13/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | L 41–77 | 7–9 (2–3) | Ford Center (605) Evansville, IN |
| 01/15/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wichita State | L 54–65 | 7–10 (2–4) | Ford Center (1,198) Evansville, IN |
| 01/22/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southern Illinois | W 63–60 | 8–10 (3–4) | Ford Center (622) Evansville, IN |
| 01/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Illinois State | L 58–71 | 8–11 (3–5) | Redbird Arena (647) Normal, IL |
| 01/29/2017 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | L 52–56 | 8–12 (3–6) | Renaissance Coliseum (396) Peoria, IL |
| 02/03/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Iowa | L 36–62 | 8–13 (3–7) | Ford Center (528) Evansville, IN |
| 02/05/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Drake | L 48–73 | 8–14 (3–8) | Ford Center (588) Evansville, IN |
| 02/10/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wichita State | L 68–69 | 8–15 (3–9) | Charles Koch Arena (1,412) Wichita, KS |
| 02/12/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | L 43–68 | 8–16 (3–10) | JQH Arena (2,705) Springfield, MO |
| 02/17/2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 74–61 | 9–16 (4–10) | SIU Arena (705) Carbondale, IL |
| 02/24/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bradley | W 73–71 | 10–16 (5–10) | Ford Center (579) Evansville, IN |
| 02/26/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Illinois State | W 60–56 | 11–16 (6–10) | Ford Center (719) Evansville, IN |
| 03/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola–Chicago | W 81–50 | 12–16 (7–10) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (273) Chicago, IL |
| 03/04/2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | W 52–44 | 13–16 (8–10) | Hulman Center (1,911) Terre Haute, IN |
| Missouri Valley Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2017 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (3) Missouri State Quarterfinals | W 65–59 | 14–16 | iWireless Center (1,404) Moline, IL |
| 03/11/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (2) Northern Iowa Semifinals | L 58–82 | 14–17 | iWireless Center (2,181) Moline, IL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||