Eagles struggle against Tigers, become no. 5 seed for OVC tournament

NASHVILLE – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball struggled to find its shooting rhythm on Saturday in a 73-64 road loss against Tennessee State University to conclude the Ohio Valley Conference regular season.

As a result of Saturday’s game, Southern Indiana (20-11, 12-8 OVC) will be the no. 5 seed in this week’s upcoming OVC Championship Tournament despite being tied with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who also lost on Saturday, in the conference standings. Little Rock owned the tiebreaker for the no. 4 seed and a first-round bye over USI after winning both regular-season meetings against the Screaming Eagles.

Saturday’s game started tight with each side looking to find an early groove. At the 3:58 mark, Tennessee State (10-20, 6-14 OVC) grabbed a two-possession difference, 13-8, with its second made three of the game. The triple sparked an 8-0 run by the Tigers. Meanwhile, USI was still searching for its rhythm offensively, going 0-7 from deep in the first quarter. Tennessee State led 18-10 after the first 10 minutes.

Tennessee State’s lead grew to 14, 24-10, after two quick made threes to begin the second quarter. USI answered when senior guard Vanessa Shafford scored her third basket of the game. Following a two-minute dry spell, sophomore guard Triniti Ralston knocked down back-to-back shots, and graduate forward Meredith Raley converted a three-point play to get USI back within 10, 29-19, in the middle of the second quarter. Southern Indiana continued to chip away, taking advantage of opportunities at the free-throw line late in the first half to pull within three, 33-30, going into halftime.

Southern Indiana scored five straight out of the intermission, including a three-pointer by junior guard Ali Saunders, to take the lead, but Tennessee State responded with seven straight points to go up 40-35. After another stretch without a made field goal in the middle of the third quarter, the Tigers went on an 11-0 run to surge ahead 55-40 while USI continued to try and find consistency shooting the ball. Raley helped cut into the deficit in the last minute with a three and a layup, as the Tigers led 57-45 going to the fourth quarter.

After a couple of early shots went down for both sides to start the fourth period, Saunders drained a triple with 7:18 on the clock to get Southern Indiana back within single digits, 61-52. Once again, Tennessee State had an answer with the game turning into a defensive struggle down the stretch. The Tigers’ advantage remained around 13 with USI seeking to organize one big run. Inside the last 90 seconds, Saunders and Ralston canned a pair of three-pointers, but Tennessee State cashed in at the free-throw line late as time ran out.

Southern Indiana wound up shooting just over 37 percent (26-69) in the game and 28 percent (7-25) from beyond the arc. USI was 5-10 at the foul line and edged Tennessee State on the glass, 43-42. Saunders led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in six rebounds. Raley tallied 14 points with five boards.

Tennessee State shot above 40 percent (24-59) overall and 32 percent (9-28) from long range. The Tigers shot nearly 70 percent (16-23) at the charity stripe. Junior guard Aaniya Webb led three Tigers in double figures with 17 points.

With Tennessee State sweeping its games this week against Morehead State University and USI, the Tigers claimed the final spot in the OVC tournament as the no. 8 seed. Therefore, the Screaming Eagles and Tigers will have a rematch on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. to open the conference tournament in the five versus eight matchup. The winner will get to face Little Rock in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Wednesday’s game at Ford Center in downtown Evansville between Tennessee State and Southern Indiana can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and WREF 97.7 FM. Ticket information can be found online at usiscreamingeagles.com and ovcsports.com.