EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball hosts No. 4 Bellarmine University Monday at 5:30 p.m. in a battle for first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division at the Physical Activities Center.
USI (14-2, 6-0 GLVC) is off to its best start to GLVC play since going 20-0 in 1996-97 after earning a 72-67 win over Truman State University and a 74-51 victory over Quincy University this past weekend.
Senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana) led the Screaming Eagles with 18.5 points per game, while senior forward Hannah Wascher(Rantoul, Illinois) and junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) each chipped in 14.5 points per contest.
Grooms leads the Eagles with 16.2 points per game on the season, while Wascher and Marcum are contributing 12.8 and 11.1 points per contest, respectively. Wascher leads USI with 7.9 rebounds per appearance, while junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) is contributing 9.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per outing.
Bellarmine (14-1, 6-0 GLVC), which is under the direction of former USI Hall of Fame coach Chancellor Dugan, is led by senior forward Sarah Galvin and junior guard Raven Merriweather. Galvin averages a team-best 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for the Knights, whose only loss came to No. 1 Ashland University last month, while Merriweather adds 13.2 points per game for the defending GLVC champions.
Following the USI-Bellarmine game, the Eagles host the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and No. 19 Lewis University Saturday at 1 p.m. USI is planning a “White-Out†for Thursday’s game against UW-Parkside, while Saturday’s game is Military Appreciation Day for the Eagles.
WSWI 95.7 FM will carry the games live on the radio, while live stats, audio, and GLVC Sports Network coverage can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.
USI Women’s Basketball Notes
- Eagles sweep another GLVC road trip.USI Women’s Basketball went 2-0 on the road last week with a 72-67 win over Truman State and a 74-51 triumph over Quincy. Senior guard Tanner Marcumaveraged 18.5 points per game to lead the Eagles, while senior forward Hannah Wascher and junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms each chipped in 14.5 points per contest. Wascher led USI with 7.0 rebounds per contest.
- Eagles 6-0 in GLVC play for first time in 20 years.USI is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its most successful campaign with a trip down memory lane, at least six games into league play. The Eagles are 6-0 in GLVC play for the first time since they went 20-0 in league play during the 1996-97 campaign.
- Eagles break Curse of Quincy.USI’s win over Quincy Saturday marked the first time the Eagles have earned a win in Quincy, Illinois, since the 1998-99 season. USI was 0-13 at the Pepsi Arena since 1998-99, including 0-12 versus Quincy and 0-1 against Lake Superior State (2004 NCAA II Tournament).
- Battle for first place.When the Eagles host No. 4 Bellarmine Monday, the two teams will be playing for first place in the GLVC East Division. The two teams currently hold a 1.5 game lead over No. 19 Lewis and a two-game lead over Indianapolis in the GLVC East Division.
- Stein earns 300th win in 500th game. Head Coach Rick Steinearned his 300th career win in his 500th career game at the helm of the Screaming Eagles with USI’s 57-39 win over William Jewell. Stein, the all-time winningest coach in program history, has been a part of 462 victories during his 26 years at USI, including 159 in eight seasons as an assistant coach for the Eagles.
- Busy slate.The Eagles are in the midst of a five-game in 10-day span that includes bouts against No. 4 Bellarmine and No. 19 Lewis.
- Stein vs. Dugan.Head Coach Rick Steinsquares off against his former boss, Chancellor Dugan, for the ninth time when USI plays Bellarmine Monday. Stein was an assistant coach under the USI Hall of Famer during her eight-year career with the Eagles. Dugan led the Eagles to the 1997 NCAA II Championship game. The all-time series between the two is tied, 4-4, after USI swept the series in 2014-15 and Bellarmine swept the series last season.
- Scouting the opposition (Bellarmine).Senior forward Sarah Galvin averages a team-best 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game for the Knights, whose only loss came to No. 1 Ashland last month. Junior guard Raven Merriweather adds 13.2 points per game for the defending GLVC champions.
- Last year against Bellarmine.After suffering a four-point loss at Bellarmine, USI ended the regular-season with a 28-point setback to the Knights at the PAC. Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms averaged 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game to lead USI.
- Marcum leads GLVC in assist-to-turnover ratio.Senior guard Tanner Marcumleads the GLVC with her 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. The next closest player to Marcum in the GLVC has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- USI in statistical rankings.USI begins the week leading the GLVC in 12 statistical rankings and is in the top six of 16 GLVC statistical categories. The Eagles also ranked in the top 25 of 11 NCAA Division II statistical rankings last week.
- Record book watch.Several players are starting to make appearances in USI’s record books:
–Tanner Marcum ranks 18th in scoring (900);
–Kaydie Grooms is 23rd in scoring (827) and 19th in blocks (41);
–Randa Harshbarger is 10th in assists (214);
–Hannah Wascher is 12th in blocks (55) and 40th in scoring (553);
–Morgan Dahlstrom is tied for 22nd in blocks (33).
