Eagles move up in rankings, prep for St. Louis trip

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball has cracked the WBCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll for the first time since January 22, 2013 and is ranked in the Top 25 of both the WBCA and Division II Media Polls for the first time in program history as it makes its final preparations for its two-game trip to St. Louis.

USI, which is No. 15 in the Media Poll and No. 20 in the Coaches’ Poll, visits the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Maryville University Saturday at 1 p.m.

Both games will be aired on WSWI 95.7 FM, while live stats, audio and GLVC Sports Network coverage can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com. The GLVC Sports Network also is available on Apple TV (4th generation), Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Roku.

USI (20-3, 12-1 GLVC) takes a six-game winning streak into its game against Missouri-St. Louis after earning an 84-78 victory over No. 9 Drury University in a battle between Great Lakes Valley Conference division leaders.

Senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana) had 24 points and four assists to lead the Eagles, while senior forward Hannah Wascher(Rantoul, Illinois) chipped in 20 points and six rebounds.

Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) is one of four Eagles averaging in double-figures in the scoring column as she is contributing a team-best 15.8 points per game. Marcum is averaging 14.2 points and 3.3 assists per outing, while Wascher is chipping in 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest.

USI also is getting 10.1 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game from junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois), while junior guard Randa Harshbarger (Philo, Illinois) is averaging 5.6 points and a team-high 3.8 assists per appearance.

Missouri-St. Louis (11-10, 6-7 GLVC) is led by sophomore forward Laura Szorenyi and junior forward/center Jordan Fletcher, who are averaging 15.5 and 14.0 points per game, respectively. The Tritons have won two straight games and four of the last six.

Maryville (11-9, 7-6 GLVC), which hosts No. 17 Bellarmine Thursday, has won five straight games and seven of the last eight. Sophomore guard Stephanie Sherwood’s 12.0 points per game leads the Saints, who have three players averaging in double-figures in the scoring column.

USI Women’s Basketball Notes

• Eagles snap Drury’s 12-game win streak in Top 25 showdown.USI Women’s Basketball snapped Drury’s 12-game winning streak with its 84-78 win over the Panthers Saturday. Drury had won its previous 25 GLVC regular-season games. Senior guard Tanner Marcumhad 24 points and four assists to lead the Eagles, while senior forward Hannah Wascher added 20 points.

• Last week’s leaders.Senior guard Tanner Marcumaveraged a team-high 21.5 points in USI’s wins over Missouri S&T and Drury last week. Junior guard Kaydie Grooms chipped in 18.0 points, while senior forward Hannah Wascher contributed 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds. Junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom rounded out USI’s double-figure scorers with 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.

• USI inching toward GLVC Tourney first-round bye.USI is closing in on a first-round bye in the GLVC Tournament. The Eagles, who have secured no worse than a first-round home game, can clinch a first-round bye with a pair of wins or a win and a Rockhurst loss in the final five games.

• Eagles looking to keep road, Thursday-Saturday record intact. USI is looking to remain unbeaten away from the PAC and keep its perfect record on Thursdays and Saturdays in tact when it travels to St. Louis this weekend. The Eagles are 8-0 on the road and 9-0 away from the PAC in 2016-17; and have not lost a game on Thursday or Saturday this year.

• USI notches 20th-win.The Eagles reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time in program history with their win over Drury. Each of the previous nine times USI has won 20 or more games, the Eagles have advanced to the NCAA II Tournament.

• 80-point plateau.USI is averaging a GLVC-best 80.5 points per game in 2016-17. The Eagles have not finished a season averaging more than 80.0 points per game since they averaged 82.3 points per outing in 2001-02.

• USI moves up in Top 25.The Eagles are ranked in the Top 25 in both the WBCA Coaches’ Poll and Division II Media Poll for the first time in program history. USI is ranked No. 15 in the Media Poll and No. 20 in the Coaches’ Poll. The last time USI was ranked in the Coaches’ Poll was January 22, 2013. USI also is No. 14 in the latest Herosports.comDivision II rankings.

• Eagles push win streak to season-best six games. The Eagles pushed their winning streak to a season-best six games with their victory over Drury. USI’s previous best was five in a row. USI has followed each of its three losses this year with winning streaks of at least four games.

• Marcum reaches 1,000-point plateau, Grooms next?Senior guard Tanner Marcumbecame the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in USI’s win over Indianapolis. Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms is the next closest USI player to 1,000 points as she needs just 69 to become the 17th player in program history to eclipse the mark.

• Wascher puts up big numbers.Senior forward Hannah Wascherhas put up big numbers in her collegiate career. Including two seasons at Parkland, Wascher has racked up 1,827 career points and 1,086 career rebounds.

• Upcoming events.USI will wear pink uniforms for its Play4Kay game against Illinois Springfield February 16. Senior Day is February 18 against McKendree.

• Scouting the opposition (UMSL).Sophomore forward Laura Szorenyi and junior forward/center Jordan Fletcher average 15.5 and 14.0 points per game, respectively, to lead the Tritons, who have won two straight and four of the last six games.

• Last year against UMSL.USI shot 51.0 percent from the field and used a 13-4 fourth-quarter run to secure a 76-69 win over the Tritons. Randa Harshbargerand Kaydie Grooms each had 14 points to lead the Eagles, while Jordan Fletcher had 16 points to pace the Tritons.

• Scouting the opposition (Maryville).Led by sophomore guard Stephanie Sherwood’s 12.0 points per game, the Saints have three players averaging in double-figures on the year. Maryville has won five straight games and seven of the last eight.

• Last year against Maryville.Kaydie Groomsand Tanner Marcum combined for 48 points as USI snapped a 10-game losing streak with its 74-61 win over Maryville. Grooms had 27 points, while Marcum added 21 for the Eagles, who used a 13-2 first-quarter run to open a double-digit lead.