Last weekend the Marquette and Evansville women's basketball team ended their exhibition slate by winning in exactly the same fashion. The Golden Eagles and the Purple Aces both defeated their opponents 80-58 and both had four players scoring in double-figures. The two teams will face off this weekend in Marquette's regular season opener Friday in Evansville, Ind. The preseason Missouri Valley Conference basketball polls tabbed Evansville to finish sixth this season. Last year, Evansville finished 17-11 and 10-8 in conference. The Purple Aces return nine players from last season's team, which finished fifth in conference.

Marquette will find itself facing a young team Friday. Evansville has nine underclassmen on their roster. Honorable mention All-MVC senior guard Megan Liffick and 2005 MVC All-Freshman team selection Rebekah Parker are expected to lead the way for Evansville this year. Liffick led the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game and added 5.0 rebounds per game, while Parker averaged 7.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists as a freshman.

Marquette will head back to the Al McGuire Center on Sunday to play Oakland. The Golden Eagles finished their exhibition season 2-0 at home. Oakland has four of five starters back from last year's squad. The team finished last season with a 21-8 record and a second place finish in conference at 12-4. The Golden Grizzlies were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-Continent Conference preseason poll. Three members of the squad were voted on the preseason all-conference first team. Oakland will be led by seniors Anne Hafeli and Jayme Wilson, who finished the regular season as the team's leading scorer with an average of 15 points per game. Junior Nicole Piggott is also expected to contribute. The Grizzlies played Western Ontario in their lone exhibition game. Despite being down at intermission, Oakland came back strong in the second half and defeated the Mustangs.