USI struggles to find flow on Saturday, falls to Tennessee Tech

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball had a difficult time finding its flow in its return to Liberty Arena to begin a three-game homestand on Saturday, as the Screaming Eagles fell to Tennessee Tech University, 81-62.

Southern Indiana moved to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Screaming Eagles left the day still tied for fourth in the standings. Meanwhile, Tennessee Tech improved to 16-5 with a 10-2 mark in the OVC. The Golden Eagles moved up into a three-way tie for first in the OVC alongside Lindenwood University and Eastern Illinois University.

Tennessee Tech started the contest with a 7-0 run. Southern Indiana got going with success inside the paint and trailed only by four, 12-8, by the four-minute mark of the opening quarter. Graduate guard Lexie Green hit a key three late in the first, but the Tennessee Tech lead remained at four, 17-13, by the end of the first quarter.

Green connected on another three to begin the second quarter to make it a one-point game. However, Tennessee Tech responded, as the Golden Eagles went up 26-18 while holding Southern Indiana scoreless for nearly five minutes in the middle of the second. A triple by senior guard Vanessa Shafford ended the drought for USI. In the last two minutes of the first half, Tennessee Tech increased its lead, but a little boost from graduate forward Meredith Raley helped keep USI within six, 31-25, going into halftime.

Out of the halftime break, Tennessee Tech started the second half with a 21-0 run over the first five minutes of the third period. Sophomore guard Sophia Loden got USI on the second-half scoreboard with a three-pointer. A spark off the bench from sophomore forward Chloe Gannon and another triple by Loden helped USI finish the third on an 18-8 run. The Golden Eagles led 59-43 entering the fourth quarter.

Within the first three minutes of the fourth frame, graduate forward Madi Webb scored six points to help bring USI back within 11, 64-53. However, Tennessee Tech answered to halt Southern Indiana’s momentum. The Screaming Eagles came within 11 points once again after a Shafford layup with 2:36 left, but the Golden Eagles closed out the game from there.

Southern Indiana shot for just below 34 percent (21-62) overall and nearly 44 percent (7-16) from beyond the arc. USI missed only one free throw out of 14 attempts for over 92 percent. Shafford led USI in scoring with 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Junior guard Ali Saunders tallied 11 points.

Tennessee Tech went for 54 percent (27-50) from the floor and just under 37 percent (7-19) from three. The Golden Eagles shot nearly 77 percent (20-26) from the free-throw line. Tennessee Tech had five players in double figures with graduate guard Keeley Carter scoring a game-high 20 points.

The Screaming Eagles will resume their homestand from Liberty Arena next week. They will play the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Thursday at 5 p.m. and celebrate Black History Month. Then USI will host Southeast Missouri State University for Homecoming and Hall of Fame Weekend next Saturday at 5 p.m. Tickets for all home games at Liberty Arena can be purchased online at usiscreamingeagles.com or the USI Ticket Office.

Lady Blazers late comeback comes up just short at John A. Logan

CARTERVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers were on the road again Saturday afternoon for a tough Region 24 road matchup against the Lady Volunteers of John A. Logan College.

The Lady Blazers played from behind for most of the game and looked to be building momentum with a late comeback in the fourth quarter, but just ran out of time as VU fell to the Lady Vols 76-73.

The Lady Blazers got off to a great start Saturday afternoon, riding an early 7-0 scoring run to take an 11-8 lead over the Lady Vols.

VU would hold this lead for most of the first quarter before John A. Logan closed out the opening period of play with seven straight points to take a 20-14 lead into the second quarter.

The two teams traded small scoring runs to open the second quarter of action with VU’s offense having a hard time finding the bottom of the net as the Lady Blazers headed into the locker room break trailing John A. Logan 37-24.

John A. Logan looked to put the game away early in the second half, building their largest lead of the night at 48-28 before the Lady Blazers gained some momentum with eight straight to cut the Logan lead to 12.

The Lady Vols would hold off the VU comeback in the third quarter, getting their lead back to 16 and taking a 61-45 lead into the fourth quarter.

John A. Logan continued to add to their lead early in the fourth quarter and built a 70-51 advantage but the Lady Blazers refused to go away quietly.

Vincennes continued to battle and ramped up the defensive pressure to ride a 22-4 run to get back within one.

John A. Logan would hit a pair of free throws to put the Lady Vols up by three in the final seconds, with VU getting one last attempt to send the game to overtime but were unable to convert as VU unfortunately just ran out of time to complete their late comeback, falling to the Lady Vols 76-73.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively by sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) who was close to completing a triple double with 20 points, eight rebounds and a team-high eight assists.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) also matched Gutierrez with 20 points in Saturday’s game, while also grabbing nine rebounds for the Lady Blazers.

Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) was the third VU scorer in double figures, finishing her day with 16 points, four assists and three steals.

Freshman Jazmyn Robey (Sellersburg, Ind.) came away with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists in the game.

The Lady Trailblazers will look to bounce back and get back in the win column when VU returns home to the Physical Education Complex Wednesday, Feb. 5 as VU hosts Lincoln Trail College at 5 p.m. eastern on Community Schools Night at VU.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (73): Ahmya Thomas 6-13 4-4 16, Jazmyn Robey 4-9 0-2 9, Marta Gutierrez 5-10 8-10 20, Emani Washington 0-0 0-0 0, Delora Pricop 9-15 2-4 20, Yanni Huggins 1-6 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 2-13 1-2 6, Team 27-66 15-22 73.

John A. Logan – 20   17   24   15 – 76

VU (10-13 5-3) – 14   10   21   28 – 73

Three-point goals: VU 4 (Gutierrez 2, Robey, Dixon). Rebounds: VU 40 (Pricop 9, Huggins 9). Assists: VU 22 (Gutierrez 8). Steals: VU 13 (Gutierrez 4). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Robey 2, Pricop 2). Turnovers: VU 23. Personal Fouls: VU 24. Fouled out: Thomas, Robey.

No. 16 Trailblazers pick up big Region 24 road win at John A. Logan

CARTERVILLE, Ill. – The No. 16-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers were on the road again Saturday afternoon as the Blazers headed to Carterville, Ill. for a tough Region 24 road showdown with the Volunteers of John A. Logan.

The Trailblazers got going early and were able to close out the game strong at the free throw line as VU picked up the 80-74 victory over the Volunteers.

The Trailblazers opened the game Saturday afternoon with another excellent start, jumping out to an early 10-1 lead and later building a 19-5 advantage over the Volunteers.

The VU lead would hold at 14 before the Volunteers offense began to chip away at the deficit, using a 13-5 run to cut the Trailblazer advantage down to six.

John A. Logan would get as close as five points in the first half before the Trailblazers closed out the first half strong to take a 39-31 lead into the locker room.

The two teams opened the second half trading baskets before Vincennes looked to be in complete control of the game with an 8-0 scoring run to take a 60-46 lead.

John A. Logan would fire back in front of the home crowd and use an 8-0 run to help get back within three at 70-67.

The Trailblazers would weather the storm from the Vols and come through big, first with a clutch three by freshman Travelle Bryson (Anderson, S.C.) and later at the free throw line by sophomore and 2024 NJCAA All-American Lebron Thomas (Bishopville, S.C.).

Vincennes would connect at the free throw line and come away with their seventh straight wire-to-wire Region 24 victory by the final score of 80-74.

“I thought we were locked in early,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “I thought we were locked into the game plan. The things that we wanted to do, we did. The things that we wanted to take away from them, we did.”

“I thought several guys were good early,” Franklin added. “I thought Dayton Williams was good early. He maybe got a little tired as the game went along, but early in the game he was good. I just thought we were locked in. They had five points after quite a bit of time and they were five that they shouldn’t have had. We had a couple of busted assignments otherwise we would have pitched a shutout to that point.”

“As the game went on, we got a little relaxed and it’s hard to continue it against teams with that much talent at home,” Franklin said. “But I thought it was a good effort. I thought Hussein Elmaraghy was huge. Bryan came out to by physical. Sometimes it can be a wild ride with Bryan, but he gave us a physical presence and an active presence. Hussein, I thought, was just tremendous. One thing you worry about with Hussein is defense but he was really good there. He was in the right spots. This was a game where I thought he could do that and he did and offensively he was really good. He was on the offensive glass and he took advantage of that we were getting downhill on them and they like to block shots. We talked about that extensively and Hussein took that to heart and did a good job today and that was huge.”

“Travelle Bryson hit a big shot late and he made some big defensive plays at times,” Franklin added. “He was active with his hands and got some deflections and pick offs which were big stops when we needed them. Christian Andrews did a good job off the bench. He held the fort and allowed us to keep Lebron out of foul trouble and keep him fresh for the finish. We made a concerted effort and knew that it would probably come down to a grind like that down the stretch. So those were all huge in this basketball game.”

The Trailblazers were led offensively by Lebron Thomas who finished with 22 points and a team-high four assists, while hitting 10 big free throws in the game.

Sophomore Hussein Elmaraghy (Cairo, Egypt) stepped up big for the Trailblazers in the post off the bench, finishing his night with a season-high 16 points and seven rebounds.

Sophomore Bryan Akanmu (Paris, France) was the third VU scorer in double figures, finishing the game with 13 points and nine rebounds, while freshmen Dayton Williams (Louisville, Ky.) and Travelle Bryson finished with eight points each.

Bryson would come through for the Blazers on the defensive end as well, matching Akamnu’s team-high with nine rebounds in the game and finishing with a team-high five steals.

The Trailblazers will look to keep their 13-game winning streak going as the Blazers return home to the Physical Education Complex Wednesday, Feb. 5 when VU hosts Lincoln Trail College at 7 p.m. eastern on Community Schools Night at the P.E. Complex.

“This is a big win for us,” Franklin said. “I think this legitimizes us in every way. It legitimizes this streak and it legitimizes this team that has not lost a game with its full team. I don’t think we’ve trailed much with our full team available here. But we’ve got a long way to go to get what we want. What we want is to be the last team standing when everybody is done. I think we certainly should be in the conversation with those teams today. Maybe we’ll go on to do nothing the rest of this year, it guarantees nothing. But right now, today, there is no way that that is the 16th ranked team in the country. That ball club should definitely be in the top five, six or seven without any question about it.”

“Then when you take into account that our losses happened against pretty good teams and when we didn’t have our full team,” Franklin added. “We were young and new but we also didn’t have all of our guys. Travelle has made some big plays and he didn’t play in two of our losses. Ali Sakho didn’t play in any of them. Now we’ve had them all back and that puts people in the right places and positions and since that’s happened and we got a little bit of practice time together, we’ve been pretty good. But we can get a lot better because we’ve had a lot of times where those guys couldn’t practice. So we’re still catching up. So there’s still another punch or two left in us to move up.”

“That’s where we’ve got to get,” Franklin said. “We’ll go home and we’ll enjoy it, take a big breathe and then come back and we’ve got two big home games next week. Both will be very quality games. Lincoln Trail has a nice team and SWIC is hot. Since we beat them, Coach Harrington has rallied the troops. He played Logan really tough and he’s won ever since. So they will be ready for us on Saturday.”

“The home folks need to come out,” Franklin added. “We’ve got two home games and then we’re not going to have any home games until the first of March and we’ve only got four left period. This is a basketball team that deserves their attention. This 13 game winning streak, against Division I teams, league games, two over Logan, one over Triton, at SWIC and at Wabash. It’s been quality. So I think at this point in time, this team has earned the right for people to come see them and people should want to come see them because they are a fun team to watch. Sometimes they are a wild ride for me, but it should be a fun team for everybody to watch and I think our best basketball is still in front of us. We’ll see if we can do it, but I think it is.”

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (80): Bryan Akanmu 5-11 3-4 13, Michael Cooper 0-7 5-9 5, Lebron Thomas 6-11 10-13 22, Dayton Williams 4-12 0-0 8, Ali Sakho 3-4 0-1 6, Christian Andrews 0-3 0-1 0, Taveon Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Travelle Bryson 3-7 0-0 8, Darstin Onye 0-0 0-0 0, Kenaz Ochogwu 1-1 0-0 2, Hussein Elmaraghy 5-7 6-6 16, Team 27-64 24-34 80.

John A. Logan – 31   43 – 74

VU (19-3, 9-0) – 39   41 – 80

Three-point goals: VU 2 (Bryson 2). Rebounds: VU 44 (Akanmu 9, Bryson 9). Assists: VU 15 (Thomas 5). Steals: VU 11 (Bryson 5). Blocked Shots: VU 7 (Williams 2). Turnovers: VU 15. Personal Fouls: VU 19. Fouled out: None.

Nolan, Terry PR’s land duo at top of OVC list

Austin’s 3k effort leads Eagles

Trailblazer Track and Field faces tough competition at PNC Lenny Lyles

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams were once again in action this weekend as VU headed back to Louisville, Ky. for the two-day PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational hosted by the University of Louisville.

The Trailblazers faced some very tough competition Friday and Saturday in Louisville, going up against several NCAA Division I athletes including athletes from traditional Track and Field powers like University of Miami (FL) and Florida State University.

The VU athletes held their own over the two day event and were able to put together some solid times and continue to show improvement early in the Indoor season.

The Vincennes men’s track team was led by another outstanding weekend by sophomore Olamipo Ladipo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who broke his own school record in the 200 meters, which he set last weekend, with a time of 21.41 seconds to finish 12th in the event.

Ladipo continued his weekend in the 4×400 relay along with teammates freshman Isaiah Ervin (French Lick, Ind.), sophomore Zion Pruitt (Avon, Ind.) and freshman Artezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.), the Trailblazers relay team finished with a time of 3:21.78 to take 14th place overall.

Butler-Sanders would also compete in the 400 meter dash, placing 42nd with a time of 52.28 seconds.

Freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) continued his early season success over the weekend, finishing 28th in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:27.21, with teammate sophomore Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) placing 68th with a time of 9:11.26.

The VU distance runners packed into the 5000 meter race, led by sophomore Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.), who finished 34th with a time of 15:42.67.

Sophomore Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and freshmen Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) and Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) joined Noel in the 5000 meters, with Hostetler placing 37th at 15:51.41, Connaway taking 39th at 16:15.57 and Mendez finishing 41st overall at 16:31.29.

Freshman Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) placed 55th overall in the 800 meters at 2:03.06 and sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) close out the VU men’s track results with an 58th place finish in the mile at 4:39.43.

The Trailblazer men’s team was led in the field events by another good showing from freshman Tremayne Brown (Anderson, Ind.) who finished third overall in the high jump after clearing a height of 2.00 meters.

Freshman Chase Guthrie (Indianapolis, Ind.) once again pulled double duty this weekend, placing 17th overall in both the long jump and triple jump events. Guthrie’s best distance in the long jump was 6.09 meters and 12.90 meters in the triple jump.

The VU men’s team was rounded out on the weekend by sophomore Maliek Bush (Jeffersonville, Ind.) who competed in the heptathlon over the weekend.

Bush placed fifth overall in the event with a total of 4623 points over the seven events.

Bush placed second in the 60 meters at 7.04 seconds, third in the long jump at 6.83 meters, fifth in the high jump (1.89m) and pole vault (3.65m) and placed seventh in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.84 seconds, ninth in the shot put at 10.72 meter and 10th in the 1000 meter with a time of 3:24.53.

“This weekend was one of our most competitive meets of the season,” VU Interim Head Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “This was a big meet for Maliek as it was his only opportunity to qualify for Nationals in the heptathlon. He got off to a great start on day one with PRs in the 60m and shot put and ended the day right on qualifying pace. Day two started off with a solid 60m hurdles that held his position. In the pole vault, Maliek had very little experience going in. When he had vaulted before in the multi, he was only able to jump over the opening bar. He far surpassed that on day two, hitting the 12 foot mark and jumping four feet higher than ever before.”

“This week we were finally able to get our pole vault coach Travis Herb on board and in just that short time, his coaching experience and Maliek’s quick learning resulted in a huge improvement,” Steigenga added. “The 1000m was the last event and while Maliek didn’t do as well as he wanted, he still ended up with a score of 4623, qualifying for nationals and getting the fifth best time in VU history.”

“Olamipo continued his streak of PRing in the 200m but this time with an even bigger improvement,” Steigenga said. “His time of 21.41 qualified him for the NJCAA Nationals and bested his own school record.”

“Nathan also had a huge improvement in the mile,” Steigenga added. “He went out much faster than he had before and ended with a nine second PR. Anis equaled his PR and qualifying mark from two weeks ago in the 3000m. The 5000m saw three of four VU runners achieving a PR. Cody ran a very smart and even race and finished two seconds behind his PR from outdoor season last year. Caden ran an eight second PR and Lane ran his first collegiate 5k in a PR as well. Jeremy had a big PR running a 16:31.”

“In the 4x400m relay, we were originally using this race to qualify, but Maliek was unable to run,” Steigenga added. “Despite that setback, we put together a season best time, with Olamipo anchoring the relay home with a 47 second split. However, Zion was the highlight of the relay with a fantastic 49 second split, which he has never done before. His first few races were rough but he really came through when it matters. Two of our baton exchanges were rough. If we can clean those up and cut a little time off, we could scare the qualifier with this team.”

The VU women’s track team also looked to pick up some good times on the weekend as the Trailblazers look to continue to add National Qualifiers.

The Trailblazer women’s team was led by freshman Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) who placed 30th overall in the 3000 meters with a time of 11:17.57.

Hale was joined by freshman Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) in the 3000 meter race, where Black finished 38th overall with a time of 12:27.67.

Freshman Zoe Allen (Anderson, Ind.) placed 36th in the 400 meters over the weekend, finishing the race with a time of 1:02.55.

Sophomore Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) placed 44th overall in the 800 meters at 2:32.96 and freshman Sara Belgacem (Tunis Tunisia) and sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) competed in the mile.

Belgacem placed 54th overall in the event with a time of 5:29.07 and Fuller came away with 56th overall at 5:30.79.

“On the women’s side, Zoe took a break from the hurdles and got some work in a longer distance,” Steigenga said. “She ran a new PR in the 400 and will play a key part when she runs the distance on our DMR when we attempt to qualify in two weeks.”

“Jasmyn ran a fantastic race in the 800m, just a second off her PR,” Steigenga added. “She has come a long way in the last year. She is learning to trust herself and push the third lap instead of just waiting to kick. She has a huge breakthrough coming and I’m excited for it.”

“In the mile, both Sara and Adi ran a good race,” Steigenga said. “Adi barely missed her PR. She had a great last 200m but played it too safe in the middle of the race. Sara’s time moved her ahead of Adi on the VU top ten list as they currently sit ninth and 10th respectively.”

“Alexis and Allie both ran the 3000m and came away with PRs,” Steigenga said. “For Alexis in particular, she had a huge 42 second improvement. She basically ran her high school PR in the mile and then ran it again. Alexis has come a long way since coming to VU and has taken her running to another level.”

The Trailblazers will look to build on this weekend of tough competition as they head back to Louisville for the final time this season Friday, Feb. 7 when VU takes part in the Eastern Indoor Collegiate event.

“This was a great meet to test ourselves against some tough competition,” Steigenga said. “We added some National Qualifiers and gained some good racing experience. Next week we will return to Louisville for the final time this season. We’ll try and add a few more qualifiers, with the 4x800m being the focus for the men and women.”

VINCENNES RESULTS

MEN’S RESULTS

200m

Olamipo Ladipo – 12, 21.41

400m

Artezz Butler-Sanders – 42, 52.28

800m

Kelvin Kipsang – 55, 2:03.06

Mile

Nathan Whitehead – 58, 4:39.43

3000m

Anis Abdaoui – 28, 8:27.21

Tanner Spence – 68, 9:11.26

5000m

Cody Noel – 34, 15:42.67

Caden Hostetler – 37, 15:51.41

Lane Connaway – 39, 16:15.57

Jeremy Mendez – 41, 16:31.29

4×400 Relay

Ervin, Pruitt, Ladipo, Butler-Sanders – 14, 3:21.78

High Jump

Tremayne Brown – 3, 2.00m

Long Jump

Chase Guthrie – 17, 6.09m

Triple Jump

Chase Guthrie – 17, 12.90m

Heptathlon

Maliek Bush – 5, 4623 points

1000m – 10, 3:24.53, 444 pts

60m – 2, 7.04, 868 pts

60m Hurdles – 7, 8.84, 781 pts

High Jump – 5, 1.89m, 705 pts

Long Jump – 3, 6.83m, 774 pts

Pole Vault – 5, 3.65m, 522 pts

Shot Put – 9, 10.72m, 529 pts

WOMEN’S RESULTS

400m

Zoe Allen – 36, 1:02.55

800m

Jasmyn Self – 44, 2:32.96

Mile

Sara Belgacem – 54, 5:29.07

Adi Fuller – 56, 5:30.79

3000m

Alexis Hale – 30, 11:17.57

Allie Black – 38, 12:27.67