Aces pick up multiple victories

CHARLESTON, Ill. – It was an exciting day in Charleston, Ill. as the University of Evansville swimming and diving squads swept Eastern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. Evansville’s women took a 143-114 victory while the men earned a 136-126 decision with the final freestyle relay being the decisive event.

Logan Tenison had a strong performance for the Purple Aces. After earning a win in the 100-backstroke event with a time of 50.89, Tenison set the EIU pool record in the 200-backstroke race. His winning time of 1:52.57 broke the previous pool mark of 1:53.54. Joseph Capo recorded the first win of the day for the men, recording a 1:45.15 in the 200-free to defeat teammate Bryce Ryan by just over one second. Capo followed that up with a win in the 500-free as he bested the competition with a time of 4:45.64.

Michael Pruett took the win in the 100-free with his time of 47.23 while Adam Pawlawk’s time of 1:58.87 gave him a win in the 200-fly. Tyler Jackson set a PR in the 200-IM with a 1:56.47. He took the victory by over four seconds. The men completed the day with a win in the 200-free relay as Sammy McCall, Pruett, Alex Willis, and Tenison swam a 1:25.47 to defeat EIU by 0.53.

Ane Madina, Claire Mewbourne, Evelyn Chin, and Grace Moody set the tone for the ladies as they opened the meet with a win in the 400-medley relay. Their 4:01.51 defeated the competition by over four seconds. Jadyn Dauphinais started her day with a win in the 200-free. She swam a 2:02.61 to win by 1.64 seconds.

Madina followed with a win in the 100-backstroke race as she registered a 1:00.05. Claire Mewbourne kept things rolling as she topped the podium in the 100-breaststroke race. Her 1:08.77 defeated a pair of Panther swimmers. She added a win in the 200-IM with a finish of 2:15.31.

Grace Moody added two victories for the Purple Aces. Posting a 24.92 in the 50-free, she came in 0.70 in front of teammate Evelyn Chin. Moody followed that effort with a 54.93 in the 100-free to lead a sweep of the podium. Mia Pesavento (56.82) and Delaney Miller (57.23) rounded out the top three. Chin added a victory in the 100-fly swimming a 58.82.

FULL RESULTS

Women’s 400-Medley Relay

Madina/Mewbourne/Chin/Moody – 1^st – 4:01.51

Hamilton/Markarewicz/Dauphinais/Pesavento – 3^rd – 4:13.31

Carrotta/Thomas/Denny/Miller – 4^th – 4:18.99

Men’s 400-Medley Relay

Tenison/Guilherme/Willis/Pruett – 2^nd – 3:28.83

Tavrovsky/Montano/Ulewicz/McCall – 4^th – 3:39.71

Morse/Rector/Hargrove/Pawlak – 5^th – 3:43.26

Women’s 1000-Free

Hannah Krings – 3^rd – 11:25.51

Men’s 1000-Free

Tyler Jackson – 2^nd – 10:00.83 – Personal Best

Luke Cook – 3^rd – 10:12.75

Carter Bolling – 4^th – 10:15.04 – Personal Best

Women’s 200-Free

Jadyn Dauphinais – 1^st – 2:02.61

Luana Carrotta – 3^rd – 2:04.93

Delaney Miller – 5^th – 2:05.58

Men’s 200-Free

Joseph Capo – 1^st – 1:45.15

Bryce Ryan – 2^nd – 1:46.21

Michael Pruett – 4^th – 1:48.43

Harry McDowell – 5^th – 1:49.15

Women’s 100-Backstroke

Ane Madina – 1^st – 1:00.05

Jaley Hamilton – 3^rd – 1:04.70

Men’s 100-Backstroke

Logan Tenison – 1^st – 50.89

Boris Tavrovsky – 5^th – 55.07

Ben Morse – 6^th – 56.92

Women’s 100-Breaststroke

Claire Mewbourne – 1^st – 1:08.77

Rafaela Markarewicz – 4^th – 1:11.51

Tristen Thomas – 5^th – 1:12.31

Men’s 100-Breaststroke

Joao Pereira – 2^nd – 1:00.53

Robert Hargrove – 3^rd – 1:01.16

Trevor O’Sullivan – 5^th – 1:01.42

Jesse Montano – 6^th – 1:02.58

Chris Rector – 8^th – 1:03.20

Women’s 200-Fly

Mia Pesavento – 3^rd – 2:27.92 – Personal Best

Men’s 200-Fly

Adam Pawlak – 1^st – 1:58.87

Alex Willis – 4^th – 2:03.95

Wyatt Gallas – 5^th – 2:04.76

Women’s 50-Free

Grace Moody – 1^st – 24.92

Evelyn Chin – 2^nd – 25.62

Amanda Denny – 5^th – 27.08

Men’s 50-Free

Sammy McCall – 2^nd – 21.45

Brendan Ulewicz – 4^th – 22.03

Mohammed Rashed – 5^th – 22.95

Women’s 100-Free

Grace Moody – 1^st – 54.93

Mia Pesavento – 2^nd – 56.82

Delaney Miller – 3^rd – 57.23

Men’s 100-Free

Michael Pruett – 1^st – 47.23

Sammy McCall – 5^th – 48.34

Harry McDowell – 6^th – 49.70

Mohammed Rashed – 7^th – 52.21

Women’s 200-Backstroke

Luana Carrotta – 2^nd – 2:14.77

Ane Madina – 3^rd – 2:17.34

Jaley Hamilton – 4^th – 2:19.45

Men’s 200-Backstroke

Logan Tenison – 1^st – 1:52.57 – EIU POOL RECORD

Carter Bolling – 4^th – 2:02.90

Boris Tavrovsky – 6^th – 2:03.80

Women’s 200-Breaststroke

Claire Mewbourne – 2^nd – 2:30.08

Rafaela Markarewicz – 4^th – 2:40.90

Tristen Thomas – 5^th – 2:45.67

Men’s 200-Breaststroke

Robert Hargrove – 2^nd – 2:17.95

Jesse Montano – 3^rd – 2:19.07

Trevor O’Sullivan – 6^th – 2:24.98

Women’s 500-Free

Aubrey Wandling – 3^rd – 5:39.30

Hannah Krings – 5^th – 5:41.79

Lilly Yancey – 6^th – 5:52.02

Men’s 500-Free

Joseph Capo – 1^st – 4:45.64

Luke Cook – 3^rd – 4:49.39

Wyatt Gallas – 4^th – 4:50.56

Bryce Ryan – 5^th – 4:52.54

Joao Pereira – 6^th – 4:55.45 – Personal Best

Chris Rector – 7^th – 4:59.96 – Personal Best

Women’s 100-Fly

Evelyn Chin – 1^st – 58.82

Jadyn Dauphinais – 3^rd – 59.70

Amanda Denny – 4^th – 1:03.65

Men’s 100-Fly

Alex Willis – 3^rd – 52.50

Adam Pawlak – 4^th – 53.30

Brendan Ulewicz – 5^th – 53.84

Women’s 200-IM

Claire Mewbourne – 1^st – 2:15.31

Rafaela Markarewicz – 4^th – 2:31.57

Tristen Thomas – 5^th – 2:38.00

Men’s 200-IM

Tyler Jackson – 1^st – 1:56.47 – Personal Best

Trevor O’Sullivan – 6^th – 2:11.49

Women’s 200-Free Relay

Moody/Dauphinais/Madina/Chin – 1^st – 1:39.80

Men’s 200-Free Relay

McCall/Pruett/Willis/Tenison – 1^st – 1:25.47

Morse/Rashed/Ulewicz/Rector – 3^rd – 1:28.75

Capo/Gallas/McDowell/Ryan – 4^th – 1:30.79

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball lost a seesaw battle with Tennessee State, 73-67, at Gentry Center Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles go to 4-14 overall and 1-7 in the OVC, while the Tigers are 12-6, 6-2 OVC.
 
USI had a hard time prying the lid off the bucket in the first 11 minutes of the game, hitting only six of its first 18 shots and missing its first seven three-point attempts, and found itself in an 11-point hole, 25-14. The Eagles rallied to close the gap to one point, 34-33, before halftime with a 19-9 surge and capped off with an old fashion three-point play by junior forward Tolu Samuels.
 
USI junior guard/forward Amaree Brown led the Eagles’ charge with 10 points during the run and 12 points for the half. He was five-of-eight from the field after coming off the bench.
 
The Tigers bounced back to get the final four points of the half to lead 38-33. USI picked up the offense in the final 10 minutes of the first half, hitting seven-of-12 from the field (58.3 percent) and three-of-six from beyond the arc (50 percent).
 
After TSU pushed its lead back to nine points, 42-33, to start the second half, USI exploded on a 13-2 rally to take its first lead of the game, 46-44, when senior guard Ismail Habib hit a three-point bomb from the left corner. Senior guard Cardell Bailey led the USI charge with eight of the 13 points as the Eagles hit five-of-nine from the field and three-of-seven from long range as a team to take the lead.
 
The USI lead would grow to six points, 51-45, before TSU would get its offense back in gear. The Tigers would run off eight-straight points to re-take the lead 53-51 before Brown knotted the game once again, 53-53, and gave USI back the lead 59-53 on back-to-back long-range bombs with 7:46 left.
 
TSU, however, was not ready to let USI take control, as it rallied back with a 17-2 run to regain the advantage, 70-61.  Bailey snapped USI’s six-minute field goal drought with a three-pointer to pull the Eagles to within six, 70-64, with 1:50 to play and kept them with six with a second bomb, 73-67, with 28 ticks left.
 
The Eagles would not get another chance in the final seconds as the Tigers closed out the 73-67 final.
 
The Eagles had three reach double-digits in the scoring column, led by the 20-point game of Brown. Brown, who scored 20 for the first time as an Eagle, was eight-of-14 from the field and four-of-seven from beyond the arc.
 
Bailey followed Brown with 19 points and posted his second double-double of the year with a team-best 10 rebounds. The senior guard was seven-of-21 from the field and a blistering five-of-seven from long range.
 
Habib rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points. He was five-of-15 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
 

NASHVILLE – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball fought back from an 11-point deficit to gut out a 72-67 road victory at Tennessee State University on Saturday afternoon, giving the Screaming Eagles an Ohio Valley Conference road swing sweep and the team’s fourth win in a row.
 
Coming off a thrilling overtime victory at Tennessee Tech University on Thursday, USI Women’s Basketball (13-4, 7-1 OVC) finished off its third OVC weekly sweep of the conference season. Saturday was USI’s first win at Tennessee State (3-14, 2-6 OVC) since the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, which was USI’s first year competing at the Division-I level. Plus, Saturday’s triumph kept the Screaming Eagles at the top of the OVC standings alongside Western Illinois University.
 
Saturday’s contest was highlighted by senior guard Ali Saunders‘ 29-point performance, which is her second-best scoring output in a USI uniform behind her career-high 35 points from earlier this season at home against Morehead State University. Saunders’ 29 points marked her second consecutive 20-point effort, the fourth time scoring 20-plus in the last five games, and the fifth time dropping 20 or more in OVC play. The guard scored 23 of her 29 points in the second half on Saturday. The senior was 9-17 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and went a perfect 9-9 at the free-throw line. Saunders also corralled five rebounds.
 
Another notable performance came from junior guard Shannon Blacher, who notched 14 points on 6-12 shooting for her second double-digit scoring game out of the last three outings. Blacher helped USI chip away at Tennessee State during the middle of the game and hit a big three in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Chloe Gannon posted 10 points and 10 boards for her second double-double of the season. Junior guard Sophia Loden also had 10 points with nine rebounds, coming up a rebound shy toward an eighth double-double on the year.
 
As a team, USI shot 38 percent (24-63) overall with four three-pointers and went a perfect 100 percent at the foul line with 20 makes in 20 attempts. The last time USI went perfect at the free-throw line with at least 15 attempts was February 9, 2023, at Tennessee Tech (18-18). The last time the Eagles were 100 percent at the foul line with at least 20 attempts was January 16, 2014, against Saint Joseph’s College (22-22). The Eagles also won the rebounding battle on Saturday, 44-35.
 
Tennessee State, which had three double-figure scorers on Saturday, shot 37 percent (23-62) from the floor and 38 percent (8-21) from beyond the arc. The Tigers were 13-16 for 81 percent at the charity stripe.
 
In a back-and-forth start to Saturday’s contest, Blacher and Gannon each scored a pair of field goals in the early minutes. However, Tennessee State led 10-8 through the first five minutes. After the Tigers built a 15-10 lead late in the first period, USI finished with a 7-0 run to lead 17-15 at the end of the opening quarter.
 
Tennessee State jumped out in front early on in the second quarter, but Blacher scored a layup to knot the game at 19 at the 7:33 mark of the frame. The Tigers then went on an 8-0 run to grab a 27-19 lead. Despite a three-point play by Blacher later in the second, Tennessee State pushed its lead to double figures, 35-24, with 1:49 left in the first half. Saunders tallied a couple of makes from the floor down the stretch of the second quarter to help bring USI within seven, 35-28, at halftime.
 
Out of the break, Loden and Gannon scored in back-to-back possessions for USI to bring the Screaming Eagles within one possession, 35-32. The Tigers responded and pushed their lead back to eight, 40-32. However, the Eagles had an answer themselves. Saunders helped spark a 12-0 USI run, scoring eight points during the run to propel the Screaming Eagles in front, 44-40, with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Tennessee State closed back in, but Saunders remained in control with her second three-point play of the period. USI led by one, 49-48, through 30 minutes of action.
 
The seesaw battle continued into the start of the fourth quarter, as Saunders continued to assert her scoring ability for the Screaming Eagles. With USI up by two, 59-57, and less than five minutes left, Loden scored inside to give the Eagles a two-possession advantage.  USI’s lead later grew to five after vital free throws from Loden. The Tigers fought back to tie the game at 65 with two minutes to go. Seconds later, Saunders had the answer with another three-point play. USI cashed in on late free throws to seal the gutsy road win and complete the road swing sweep.
 
The Screaming Eagles will return home to Liberty Arena for the start of a season-long four-game homestand next week. The homestand will stretch over the next two weeks until the end of January.
 
Thursday’s home game against Eastern Illinois University begins at 5 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear white to help white out Liberty Arena. The first 500 students in attendance receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Pepsi.