Seven Eagles honored with GLVC post-season awards

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball had seven players recognized with post-season honors by the Great Lakes Valley Conference Wednesday afternoon in the release of the league’s All-Conference teams.
 
Junior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Illinois), junior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) and sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) were each named second-team All-GLVC, while fifth-year senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) and senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) were named third-team All-GLVC.
 
Additionally, freshman guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) was named to the GLVC’s All-Freshman team, while fifth-year senior guard Ashley Hunter(Flossmoor, Illinois) was recognized as USI’s nominee for the James R. Spalding GLVC Sportsmanship Award.
 
Wednesday’s All-GLVC honor is the third for DeHart, who was named first-team All-GLVC a year ago after collecting second-team All-League honors in 2019-20. Haithcock was named second-team All-GLVC for the second straight season after earning GLVC All-Freshmen honors in 2019-20, while Blackwell, Raley and Brown are earning All-GLVC honors for the first time in their careers.
 
The All-GLVC announcement comes as USI gets set to take on Southwest Baptist University in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Championship Tournament Thursday at noon at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois.
 
USI (22-4, 16-2 GLVC) is the top seed in this weekend’s tournament, while the Bearcats enter the weekend as the No. 8 seed. Other quarterfinal matchups include the No. 2 seed, Drury University, taking on the No. 7 seed, Rockhurst University, Thursday at 2:30 p.m.; the No. 4 seed, Truman State University, versus the No. 5 seed, Lewis University, Friday at noon; and the No. 3 seed, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, against the No. 6 seed, the University of Illinois Springfield, Friday at 2:30 p.m.
 
The GLVC Tournament semifinals are Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m., with the winner of the USI-Southwest Baptist game slated to take on the winner of the Truman-Lewis game at noon. The winner of the Drury-Rockhurst game takes on the winner of the Missouri-St. Louis-Illinois Springfield game Saturday at 2:30 p.m., while the GLVC championship will be contested Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
All USI games will be aired live on 95.7 The Spin, while the GLVC Sports Network will carry the games via a pay-per-view pilot program. Live stat, audio, video and ticket links can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.
 
Headlines
• Eagles earn top seed in GLVC Tournament. USI Women’s Basketball earned the No. 1 seed in the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2000-01 after finishing the regular-season with a 22-4 overall record and 16-2 mark in GLVC play. USI finished the regular-season with a 68-58 road win over Missouri-St. Louis before defeating future Ohio Valley Conference foe Lindenwood, 68-42, in its regular-season finale.
 
• Last week’s leaders. Sophomore forward Meredith Raley averaged 13.5 points per game to lead the Eagles last week, while senior forward Ashlynn Brown and junior forward Hannah Haithcock finished with 11.5 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Junior guards Tori Handley and Soffia Rieckerseach dished out a team-leading 3.0 assists per game, while Handley and fellow classmate Addy Blackwell each added a team-high 2.5 steals per game.
 
• Seniors honored. The Eagles honored fifth-year seniors Emma DeHart and Ashley Hunter, along with senior manager Amanda Lewandowski following their win over Lindenwood last Saturday. Brown did not take part in the Senior Day ceremony as she is planning on returning for her NCAA-granted COVID year in 2022-23.
 
• Eagles win GLVC East Division. USI clinched its fourth straight GLVC East Division title with its wire-to-wire 70-55 win over Maryville.
 
• USI moves up a spot in region rankings. The Eagles moved up one spot to No. 5 in the final NCAA II Midwest Region ranking. Grand Valley State and Ashland held down their respective spots at No. 1 and No. 2, while Drury and Walsh were ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Missouri-St. Louis dropped a spot to No. 6, while Wayne State (7), Kentucky Wesleyan (8), Northwood (9) and Saginaw Valley State (10) rounded out the rankings.
 
• Eagles net post-season honors. Seven USI Women’s Basketball players were honored Wednesday with post-season awards. Blackwell, Haithcock and Raley all earned second-team All-GLVC honors, while Brown and DeHart earned third-team All-GLVC accolades. Freshman guard Vanessa Shafford was named to the GLVC’s All-Freshman team, while Hunter was the Eagles’ nominee for the James R. Spalding GLVC Sportsmanship Award.
 
• Season leaders. Haithcock and Raley lead the Eagles with 12.4 and 12.1 points per game, respectively, while Raley leads USI with 5.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per contest. DeHart and Blackwell both are tied for the team-lead with 1.7 steals per outing, while Blackwell holds a slight edge on DeHart with 2.1 assists per appearance.
 
• Eagles still receiving votes. USI is the top team receiving votes outside the Top 25 in both the WBCA Division II Coaches’ Poll and D2SIDA Media Poll.
 
• Returning to Edwardsville. USI is returning to the campus of SIU Edwardsville for its final GLVC Tournament appearance this weekend. This will not, however, be the last time USI makes a stop at First Community Arena as the Eagles, who used to face off against SIU Edwardsville when the Cougars were members of the GLVC at what was formerly known as the Vadalabene Center, will renew their rivalry with the Cougars in the OVC in 2022-23.
 
• Eagles against the field. USI is 7-2 against this year’s GLVC Tournament field and is 125-82 all-time. Raley and Haithcock averaged 12.9 and 12.4 points per game, respectively, to lead the Eagles against the GLVC Tournament field, while DeHart and Brown respectively chipped in 12.0 and 10.2 points per game.
 
• Haithcock nets GLVC weekly honor. After matching a career-high 22 points in back-to-back games and averaging 18.7 points on the week, Haithcock was named GLVC Player of the Week for her efforts in USI’s wins over Lindenwood, Rockhurst and William Jewell. She is the first USI Women’s Basketball player to net GLVC Player of the Week honors since Kaydie Grooms collected the award February 19, 2018.
 
• Double-double. USI has had four players record double-doubles this season. Haithcock has had two double-doubles, while Blackwell, Brown and Raley have each posted one-double-double this season.
 
• Double-figures. USI has had 10 different players reach double-figures in the scoring column this season, including nine players that have scored 10-or-more points in multiple games.
 
• 20-point outings. USI has had four different players reach the 20-point plateau this season. DeHart and Haithcock have each reached the 20-point plateau twice this season, while Blackwell and Hunter also scored 20-or-more points this season.
 
• Stein snares 400th win. USI Head Coach Rick Stein earned his 400th career victory with the Eagles 88-80 victory over Illinois Springfield. He’s been on the sidelines for 569 of USI’s 717 all-time wins during his 31 seasons on the bench, 23 of which have been leading the program after eight seasons as an assistant.
 
• Gatling 500. USI Assistant Coach Randa Gatling also hit a milestone Thursday. Gatling, who has been on the bench for all of Stein’s 400 wins, picked up her 500th career win including her 100 wins as a player at USI.
 
• About Southwest Baptist. Senior guard Kyleigh Vaught averages 15.9 points and 2.8 assists per game to lead the No. 8-seeded Bearcats, who defeated No. 9-seeded Indianapolis, 64-61, in the opening round Monday evening in Bolivar, Missouri. Senior guard Nyah Pettus chips in 8.8 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds for Southwest Baptist, which upset Truman State last Thursday before being upset by Quincy in its regular-season finale two days later.
 
• USI vs. Southwest Baptist. USI defeated the Bearcats, 79-74, at Screaming Eagles Arena January 8 before carding a 70-48 in over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri, February 12. Raley and Hunter each averaged 14.5 points in the two wins, while Haithcock had 18 points in USI’s road win over the Bearcats. Vaught led Southwest Baptist in the two losses with 19.0 points per game.
 
• Record book watch. The Eagles have three players making moves inside the USI Women’s Basketball Record Books:
–Ashlynn Brown is No. 29 on USI’s all-time rebounding list (393) and No. 46 in scoring (562).
–Emma DeHart is USI’s all-time leader in games played (123), is No. 2 in three-point field goal attempts (423), No. 8 in made three-pointers (124) and No. 13 in points (1,160) and assists (223). 
–Hannah Haithcock is No. 30 in scoring (789) and No. 35 in rebounding (364).
 
• Magic Mark: 75 points. The Eagles are 437-78 (.849) all-time when scoring at least 75 points. USI is 310-29 (.915) since 1996-97 when reaching the 75-point plateau.