University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball is set to take part in the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association’s Play4Kay initiative when it hosts the University of Illinois Springfield Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Physical Activities Center.
USI will wear its pink uniforms and are encouraging fans to wear pink as the Screaming Eagles help raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.
Following the Eagles’ bout with Illinois Springfield, USI hosts McKendree University for Senior Day Saturday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will honors their five seniors—forward Tasia Brewer (Terre Haute, Indiana), guard Kendyl Dearing (Huntingburg, Indiana), guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana), center Ruta Savickaite (Vilnius, Lithuania) and forward Hannah Wascher (Rantoul, Illinois) following the game.
The Eagles, who slipped to No. 22 in the Division II Media Poll and No. 24 in the WBCA Division II Coaches’ Poll, can secure a first-round bye in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a win this week and could clinch the GLVC East Division title with two wins and a Lewis University loss.
Both games can be heard on WSWI 95.7 FM, while live stats, audio and GLVC Sports Network video can be accessed on GoUSIEagles.com.
USI Women’s Basketball Notes
- Eagles split road weekend.USI Women’s Basketball suffered its first road loss of the year last Thursday as Missouri-St. Louis dealt the Eagles a 65-59 loss. The Eagles, however, bounced back with a dominating 74-50 win over Maryville. Senior forward Hannah Wascheraveraged 20.0 points and 11.5 rebounds to lead the Eagles, while junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom chipped in 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest.
- GLVC Tournament positioning.Entering their final three games of the regular-season, the Eagles need just one win to secure a first-round bye in the GLVC Tournament. USI can clinch the GLVC East Division by winning the final three games and can secure the No. 1 overall seed in the GLVC Tournament with three wins and a Drury loss. USI can clinch the GLVC East Division this week with two wins and a Lewis loss.
- Midwest Region rankings.The Eagles will have their eyes on NCAA.comWednesday as the first NCAA II Midwest Region rankings are slated to be released.
- Back to Pod play.The Eagles finish the regular-season against their four-team GLVC East Division pod. USI is 2-1 against its pod this year and is 17-4 since pod-play began in 2013-14.
- 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.
- USI slips in Top 25.The Eagles fell in this week’s WBCA Coaches’ Poll and Division II Media Poll. USI is ranked No. 22 in the Media Poll and No. 24 in the Coaches’ Poll. USI also is No. 19 in the latest Herosports.comDivision II rankings.
- Time for another streak?The Eagles saw their season-best six-game winning streak come to an end with their loss at Missouri-St. Louis last week. USI, however, bounced back with a win at Maryville to end the week on a winning note. USI has followed each of its previous three losses with winning streaks of at least four games.
- 80-point plateau.USI saw its GLVC-best scoring average dip below the 80-point plateau following last week’s games. The Eagles, who are currently averaging 79.4 points per game, have not finished a season averaging more than 80.0 points per game since they averaged 82.3 points per outing in 2001-02.
- 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 46 to become the 17th player in program history to eclipse the mark.
- Wascher puts up big numbers.Senior forward Hannah Wascher has put up big numbers in her collegiate career. Including two seasons at Parkland, Wascher has racked up 1,867 career points and 1,109 career rebounds.
- Scouting the opposition (UIS).Junior forward Destiny Ramsey averages 12.8 points per game to lead the Prairie Stars, who have lost eight straight games. Senior forward Syerra Cunningham leads the GLVC in rebounding at 10.7 rebounds per game.
- Scouting the opposition (McKendree).Senior forward Ellie Pusheck averages 7.7 points per game to lead the Bearcats, who have lost seven straight games. McKendree averages just 57.7 points per game, but leads the GLVC in scoring defense by allowing just 58.8 points per contest.
- Marcum leads GLVC in three statistical categories.Senior guard Tanner Marcum leads the GLVC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4), three-point field goal percentage (.483) and total steals (73).
- Record book watch.Several players are in USI’s record books:
–Tanner Marcum is ninth in steals (156), 10th in assists (221), and 13th in scoring (1,070);
–Kaydie Grooms is 19th in scoring (954), is 18th in blocks (45), and 29th in rebounds (370).
–Randa Harshbarger is ninth in assists (243);
–Hannah Wascher is eighth in b
