USI Women’s Basketball gets back on track behind Raley’s career-high 29 points at SEMO
Shafford ties program’s three-point record on Thursday
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball got back on track Thursday night behind a career-high 29 points from graduate forward Meredith Raley to earn a 93-69 road victory against Southeast Missouri State University.
The road win did not come easy for the Screaming Eagles. Southern Indiana registered its largest comeback win of the season after trailing by 12 points late in the opening quarter. USI put together three strong quarters to finish the game to improve to 12-4 on the campaign and 4-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, grouping the Eagles in a three-way tie for second in the league. Southeast Missouri dropped to 4-10 overall and 2-3 in the OVC.
Southern Indiana tallied the game’s first four points out of the opening tip. However, Southeast Missouri answered with the next six. Neither side allowed easy looks in the early going, leading to a slow start offensively. With three minutes left in the first, SEMO pulled ahead by six, 13-7. USI closed the gap before the Redhawks caught fire from three-point range. An 8-2 run for SEMO in the last two minutes of the first led to a 24-14 lead for the Redhawks after the opening frame.
Junior guard Ali Saunders gave the Screaming Eagles an early second-quarter spark, knocking down a couple of jumpers in the first two minutes to help draw USI back within six, 27-21. Raley drilled a three later in the period to make it a four-point game, 33-29, in favor of Southeast Missouri. Trailing by nine halfway in the second quarter, USI turned the tides. The Screaming Eagles went on a 15-0 run in the first half’s final minutes and held SEMO without a field goal in the final five minutes. Saunders and Raley reached double figures before the intermission, as USI carried a 44-40 lead into halftime.
The Screaming Eagles picked up where they left off from the first half with a strong start to the second half. Southern Indiana stretched its lead in the third quarter up to 13, 59-46, with 6:32 on the clock when senior guard Vanessa Shafford cashed in her fourth trey of the contest to tie Stephanie Carpenter’s (2010-14) program record of 194 career three-pointers made. Down the stretch of the third period, USI leaned on its post play. Raley remained effective inside and reached the 20-point mark for the third time this season. Sophomore forward Amiyah Buchanan made her return to SEMO where she spent her freshman season last year. Buchanan converted a pair of inside buckets to help increase Southern Indiana’s lead to 19, 73-54, going to the fourth quarter.
Buchanan continued to make her presence felt at her old stomping grounds with a basket to push USI’s lead to 20 and blocking a shot on the perimeter early in the fourth quarter. With six minutes left in the game, Raley added to her big outing with a layup to extend Southern Indiana’s margin to 25, 85-60. A little over a minute later, Raley set her new career high on a layup, as USI led 89-60. Southern Indiana closed out the win from there.
Southern Indiana finished the game shooting over 60 percent overall for the first time since USI shot above 65 percent at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock last February. On Thursday, USI shot for 63 percent (35-56) against the Redhawks with a 45 percent clip from three (9-20). The Eagles were 14-19 for 74 percent at the foul line. USI outrebounded SEMO, 25-22, and the Screaming Eagles’ defense turned 22 SEMO turnovers into 31 points. USI also had 48 points in the paint.
Raley’s career-best 29 points, which surpassed her previous mark of 27 that she set at Southeast Missouri two seasons ago, led all scorers in Thursday’s game. Raley was 12-16 shooting in 32 minutes of action. Shafford was next in scoring for USI with 18 points while adding six rebounds and five assists in the contest. Shafford was 7-9 from the floor and 4-6 from three, as Shafford’s next made three will set a new program career record for three-pointers made. Saunders dropped 14 points with six assists and sophomore guard Triniti Ralston added 11 points.
After a hot start for Southeast Missouri, the Redhawks were limited to 41 percent shooting (24-58) and 41 percent from three (9-22). SEMO went for 86 percent (12-14) at the charity stripe. The Redhawks had three double-digit scorers including with 20-plus points. Senior guard Skylar Barnes had a team-high 21 points with freshman guard Zoe Best right behind at 20 points for the game.
The Screaming Eagles conclude their road swing this weekend at Little Rock. The game is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM. For the potential of any schedule changes due to inclement weather, stay tuned to usiscreamingeagles.com.
