A look at Evansville women's basketball entering Year 1 under Ben Wierzba

EVANSVILLE — Ben Wierzba has repeated the same word these last few weeks: resilient. That rings true in multiple ways as he begins first year with University of Evansville women's basketball. The Purple Aces face a program reset to begin the 2026-27 season. A new coach and near complete roster turnover following their best Missouri Valley Conference Tournament finish in nearly 20 years. UE also endured a challenging offseason that included the tragic passing of sophomore guard Jordan Scott in September . Hence why Wierzba sees a level of resiliency in his first team. "We’ve had a lot of situations that have happened in the last three months," he said. "This team has been able to lean upon each other, be there for each other. They come into work every day and give us everything they have. That’s all we can ask for." More: A look at Evansville men’s basketball entering Year 5 under David Ragland Here's a look at the team, which has already been hit by injuries, with the season starting Nov. 3 at DePaul. The Aces don't have a home game at Meeks Family Fieldhouse until Nov. 21 against Lindenwood. Laying the foundation in Year 1 under Ben Wierzba Wierzba understands the mindset is very cliché. He still believes the Aces will be exponentially better between now and March. It's probably true based on the current state of his lineup going into November. Evansville defeated IU East 64-45 on Oct. 25 in its lone exhibition contest. The Aces only had six available players. As of that date, it was only the team's sixth day of playing 5-on-5 since official practice commenced. That boils down to the simple fact that a decent chunk of the roster is injured. The ability to even field a lineup was notable. Remolding the program into a success won't happen overnight. Evansville hasn't produced a winning record since 2008 and or a finish over .500 in the Valley since 2014. The Aces went 10-25 last season under former coach Robyn Scherr and lost to Murray State in the MVC final. Only three players returned. "It doesn’t matter who we are playing," Wierzba said. "It’s always about us. Getting better each day and paying attention to our details. Everybody talks about how their team’s going to get better as the year goes along. I think our team is going to make exponential jumps because of being in 5-on-5 situations." The offseason was already a truncated process with Wierzba not being officially introduced as the head coach until April 24. He brought with him 25 years on the sideline as the Division I level, including 2007-10 with UE men's basketball on Marty Simmons' staff. Wierzba spent the last three as the associate head coach at Miami (Ohio) with the RedHawks making the NCAA Tournament last spring. UE started season prep while being limited on the court. The program had to recruit from other sports on campus to fill out the roster. That's on top of mourning the loss of a teammate and friend. Junior guard Avery Kelley pointed to Wierzba has the team's rock during an emotional offseason. "He’s the coach I’d want to have in my corner," she said. "The preseason was really tough for us. We went through a lot as a team and individually. He was the perfect coach for us. That coach that got us through this, pushed us through every day." Who will the Purple Aces count on in the 2026-27 season? The exhibition is tough to judge considering the roster's current limitations. It still provided an early look at who could play major minutes and how Weirzba would like the Aces to play. Evansville shot 49% with 20 assists on 23 made field goals. Turnovers were an issue with IU East's press causing the Aces to play too quickly. The bigger takeaway was the individuals assigned significant roles to start the season. Mireia Musfaros had 23 points and eight rebounds. Kelley, who missed most of last year with a knee injury, totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Marina Artero added seven assists. Wierzba pointed to those three, along with junior guard Kaiden Kreinhagen, as the starting point for this season. He also likes the potential from his freshman class once they're healthy – only Kelyn Johnson was available against IU East. "We have girls that can shoot the lights out and have great posts," Kelley said. "On top of that, we have players with super high IQ. There’s a lot to look forward out of this team. I have teammates that can put the ball in the hoop. Teammates that will bust their butt on defense." More: 65 high school girls basketball players to watch in SW Indiana for 2026-27 season The exhibition was also the first look at sophomore Sophia Otten. The 6-foot-3 forward had seven points against IU East – a notable contribution considering she came to UE to play softball (18 appearances in the pitching circle last spring). Otten had Division II basketball offers coming out of Incarnate Word Academy in Missouri. Wierzba told Jevin Redman via the Aces on the Air podcast that additional athletes from the soccer program will join once the fall season is complete. The roster, let alone a working lineup, is very much a work in progress. "Avery, Kaiden and Mireia are the three returners," Wierzba said. "Great leaders for us. Then you’ve got Marina Artero that has come in as a senior. An awesome person, high basketball IQ and mother figure for everybody. You’ve got Kelyn as a freshman and Jayden (Scott). Both very talented with what they can do. Maria Serrano is getting there. Then adding Sophia Otten, a Division I athlete and knows how to win. She’s brought a different energy to our team." The Aces must navigate a lot of time away from campus The schedule was lower on the list of importance when considering the last three months. But with the season now in view, Evansville will be tested before conference play begins on Dec. 18. Most of that coming on the road. UE starts the 2026-27 season with five straight road games: DePaul, Lindenwood, No. 14 Kentucky, Eastern Illinois and IU Indy. The Aces also have a notable trip to No. 23 Illinois in December. Five opponents finished in the top 200 of last year's final NCAA NET ratings (UE plays home-and-home against Lindenwood). The MVC only published a top six preseason poll with two-time defending champion Murray State earning the top spot. The others were Illinois State, Belmont, Northern Iowa, Drake and UIC. The Aces open Valley play against three teams in that group – all on the road. "It’s a close-knit group," Wierzba said. "I think (the road schedule) just helps us to build those bonds. It’d be nice to have a home game sooner, but it’s part of it. What we’ve gone through, I think just being together is going to be huge for this team." Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at kyle.sokeland@courierpress.com.