EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball clinched its first regular-season conference title since 2000-01 with a 68-42 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over visiting Lindenwood University Saturday at Screaming Eagles Arena.
The Screaming Eagles (22-4, 16-2 GLVC) held the Lions to just 12-of-57 (.211) shooting and to just 12 first-half points as they cruised to their fifth straight win as well as the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in next week’s GLVC Tournament.
USI held Lindenwood to just four points and 2-of-21 (.095) shooting throughout the final 14 minutes of the first half as it took a commanding 27-12 lead into the intermission.
Lindenwood (11-15, 8-12 GLVC), which is joining the Eagles in the jump to NCAA Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference next season, kept pace with USI throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half, but USI closed the game with a 12-2 run to clinch the victory.
USI got scoring contributions from 10 different players, including at least six points or more from seven different players. Junior forward Hannah Haithcock(Washington Courthouse, Ohio) and senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) each had 11 points to lead the Eagles, while sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) had 10 points.
Playing in their final home games, fifth-year senior guards Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois) and Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) finished with eight and four points, respectively. DeHart, Hunter and senior manager Amanda Lewandowski (Bloomington, Indiana) were honored following the game—Brown is returning for her NCAA-granted COVID year in 2022-23.
Senior forward Ellen McCorkle led the Lions with 14 points, while senior guard Julia Ruzevich, who had 33 points in Lindenwood’s win over the University of Indianapolis, finished with six points and 12 rebounds.
USI, which committed just four turnovers in the contest, will await the results of Monday’s first-round GLVC Tournament games to find out who its opponent will be in the quarterfinals Thursday at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois.
