EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball returned home to Screaming Eagles Arena on Saturday and got back on track in a big way, capturing a 79-59 win against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Ohio Valley Conference action.
 
The victory moved the Screaming Eagles’ record to 8-7 overall and 2-2 in OVC play. For the Cougars, the loss dropped their record to 3-12 overall and 2-2 in the OVC.
 
Southern Indiana was led on the night by a pair of double doubles. Sophomore guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) posted 18 points and 12 rebounds, while senior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) recorded 14 points and 10 boards. Shafford’s 12 rebounds were a career high. Saturday marked the first time two USI players tallied double doubles in the same game since February 17, 2018, when Kaydie Grooms registered 26 points and 12 rebounds and Morgan Dahlstrom accumulated 20 points and 10 rebounds against Rockhurst University.
 
After SIUE scored the first basket of the game, USI went on a 10-0 run to grab the lead three and a half minutes into the contest. The Screaming Eagles went to junior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) inside, establishing an early post presence.
 
The Cougars closed the gap following the first-quarter timeout, but USI increased its lead late in the first. With USI up 16-9 and 3:19 left in the first quarter, senior forward Tara Robbe (Wildwood, Missouri) went on an individual run. Robbe scored seven straight points for USI. The Screaming Eagles led 23-15 after the opening period.
 
Southern Indiana’s defense was stout to begin the second quarter, holding the Cougars scoreless for the first 4:08 of the second quarter until a made free throw. In the meantime, the Screaming Eagles were finding themselves in a physical clash on the other end of the court.
 
Both teams endured a cold spell from the field in the latter portion of the second quarter. USI increased its lead after hitting six free throws in the period. Plus, Shafford made a layup before the halftime horn sounded, giving USI a 38-24 advantage at halftime.
 
The start of the third quarter was just as much of a defensive contest as the second quarter. Senior guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) snapped a USI scoreless drought that nearly reached three minutes when she connected on a corner three-pointer with 5:13 left in the third period. The triple gave Southern Indiana a 17-point lead, 47-30, the largest of the game at that time of the game.
 
USI’s unselfishness continued through the third quarter. Haithcock, who had six points at halftime, scored six in the third period. Haithcock joined Raley, Shafford, and Robbe as players who had scored eight or more through the end of the third period. USI led 60-40 after three.
 
Shafford had a solid start to the fourth quarter, connecting on a pair of threes within the first few minutes of the period. Her second triple of the fourth gave USI a 68-46 lead with 7:18 remaining. Shafford also achieved the double-double in the fourth, her fourth double-double of the season. Haithcock also joined Shafford with the double-double in the fourth quarter, her second of the season.
 
The Screaming Eagles continued to spread the wealth for the rest of the game, as graduate forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) had a strong finish around the basket with four minutes left, pushing USI’s lead to 72-53 and helping close out the win.
 
On the night, Raley joined Shafford and Haithcock in double figures, tallying 14 points and a 6-for-6 night at the line. Brown also finished in double digits with 10 points while also pulling down eight caroms. The team effort also saw Handley score nine points and Robbe score eight points.
 
Overall, the Screaming Eagles shot 27-69 from the field for 39.1 percent with seven three-pointers. Southern Indiana had 21 assists. USI was 18-for-23 for 78.3 percent at the stripe. USI matched a season-high with 53 rebounds for the third time this season, going plus-nine on the glass, and grabbing 19 offensive rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Sofie Lowis led SIUE with 22 points, the only Cougar to reach double figures. Reigning OVC Player of the Week and senior forward Ajulu Thatha was held to four points after dealing with foul trouble throughout the game.
 
As a team, the Cougars were 21-68 from the floor for 30.9 percent with three triples. At the line, SIUE was 14-24 for 58.3 percent.
 
The Screaming Eagles return to action against the University of Arkansas Little Rock Thursday at 5 p.m. from Screaming Eagles Arena on Whiteout Night. Fans should come out wearing white apparel to support USI Basketball and fill the arena for a USI Basketball doubleheader. USI students should pack the Penn Station Student Section and will receive a free white shirt and a rally towel provided by Liberty Federal Credit Union upon entering through the student entrance.
 

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers tipped-off the new year of VU basketball Saturday afternoon when the Lady Blazers hosted No. 21-ranked Moberly Area Community College at the P.E. Complex.

VU welcomed back freshman center Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) who had been sidelined with an injury for a month and Baseyila wasted little time getting back into game shape with a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double. Her fifth of the season.

The Lady Greyhounds took control of the game early, answering an early basket by the Blazers with a 9-0 scoring run.

Vincennes would battle back to cut the deficit to two before ending the first quarter of play trailing 15-11.

Moberly Area really grabbed control of the game in the second quarter, using a 10-0 scoring run to take a 12-point first half lead and continued to add on, closing out the first 20 minutes of action with a 43-26 lead.

The Lady Greyhounds came out of the locker room and continued their run, building a 51-28 advantage, which would be their largest lead of the game.

Vincennes began to slowly chip away at the deficit with a quick 6-0 run, but still trailed by 18 heading into the fourth period of play.

VU opened the fourth quarter on an 11-2 scoring run to cut the Moberly lead to single digits.

Moberly Area would get a couple of late baskets to get the lead back to 15, which the Lady Blazers were unable to overcome as the clock ran out. Vincennes fell to Moberly Area 75-60.

“I thought we play alright,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “Not great, but alright. There are some things that we need to work on both defensively and offensively. The problem that we have had so far this season is keeping everybody healthy. We need to get those young ladies who have missed a lot of practice time back on the floor and doing a really good job for us.”

“The second quarter today cost us,” Meeks added. “If we would have competed a little bit better in the second quarter, we would have been right there at the end of the game. But we didn’t. It got away from us. We were able to cut the score back down to nine and I was really pleased with that and how hard we played.”

“We are going to be better,” Meeks said. “Elikya came back and really helped us out. She had literally only practiced once or twice before today. She did a really good job and was a factor inside. I think she will continue to help us and if I can get Najra back healthy here in a reasonable amount of time, I think that is really going to help our team. We still have people hurt. We still have people sick and we’ve got to get those ladies back and practicing and back to being a productive part of our team. I look forward to the rest of this season. I do not feel bad about where we are as a team moving forward. I think we are going to show something the rest of the season.”

The Blazers were led by freshman Elikya Baseyila who recorded her fifth career double-double coming off the bench after being sidelined with an injury since December 7th.

Vincennes got big games out of sophomore guards Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.).

Newsom ended with 16 points, six rebounds, a team-high four assists and three steals. Thornton finished with 12 points, including a perfect two of two shooting from three-point range and seven rebounds.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) came away with six points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, while freshman Brie Miller (Greencastle, Ind.) set a new career-high with 10 rebounds against the Greyhounds.

Freshman Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) came off the bench to add five points, a team-high four steals and a pair of rebounds.

“Elikya, Cherrelle and Daylynn were all three a big part of this basketball game for us,” Meeks said. “Daylynn with her hustle and her play. She’s been hurt and just never seems to slow down. She works really hard all of the time and she has really helped us. She hasn’t been shooting well, but she has got into the gym and worked on it and she looks like she has really improved quite a bit.”

“I’m looking on more ways to get Elikya the ball more inside,” Meeks added. “She can score at will in the post. She has the moves, the strength and she is a very productive player in the paint.”

“Cherrelle had a rough start to the game but Cherrelle never gives up,” Meeks said. “You can’t tell if she is having a good day or a bad day shooting the ball. She is going to give it to you all the time. I love having her on the team. She’s a great shooter. But she has to be a little more consistent and not worrying about missing a shot.”

“Kids love playing for me because I let them shoot the ball,” Meeks added. “If you can demonstrate that you can shoot from there, I’ll let you. Cherrelle has demonstrated that she is a good three-point shooter. She just got off to a rough start today but came on and did a really good job for us in the second half. She plays hard all the time and gives it all she has. I’m really pleased to have her on this basketball team because she is definitely an asset.”

The Lady Blazers will dive headfirst into their Region 24 schedule to close out the rest of the regular season, beginning with a short trip to Robinson, Ill. Wednesday, Jan. 11 to take on Lincoln Trail College. Tip-off time for the Lady Blazers is set for 6 p.m. eastern.

“I think our strength of schedule so far will help us moving forward,” Meeks said. “I know I hate losing games and I hate having this many losses this early in the season but it could have been worse. We practically got down to five active players just before the break. We went and won a game with five guards, just playing our heart out.”

“I think the girls really understand what it takes to be a winner and I think they are really getting better,” Meeks added. “I think we’ve made the turn and I think we are getting better and better with that. We are working on things that are going to help the team. I really look forward to getting Elikya back on the floor more. I think that is going to help us. If I can get Najra back, that would really help us. She can play some four or five, which would give us a big body on the floor at all times which is difficult to play against.”

“I think the experience of playing and playing the teams we have played, where we have played them, I think that has helped us,” Meeks said. “I think you will see that we will continue to get better. I think you are going to see that we are going to play harder. It is going to be more difficult to beat us in the coming days, weeks and months left in this season. I really feel like this group is getting ready to explode and have a really strong second half of the season.

Aces drop 69-61 game on Saturday

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Kenny Strawbridge Jr. and Marvin Coleman II recorded 16 points apiece to lead the University of Evansville men’s basketball team in Saturday’s 69-61 loss to Illinois State at the Ford Center.

Strawbridge hit five shots and led the way with three steals.  Coleman also had five field goal makes in the contest while hauling in four rebounds.  Antoine Smith Jr. totaled nine points while Gage Bobe checked in with eight.  Preston Phillips had a team-best seven rebounds.

“Today was a hard-fought game.  It was a game that we gave ourselves the opportunity to win,” Purple Aces head coach David Ragland said.  “Forcing 19 turnovers is great but not capitalizing on them is not.  Making 29 trips to the free throw line is great but missing 11 is not.  Credit goes to Illinois State for doing what they needed to win.”

Kenny Strawbridge Jr. opened the scoring with Evansville taking a 3-0 lead.  Over the first four minutes, Illinois State missed its first three field goal tries while turning it over four times.  Once the Redbirds got on track, they reeled off seven in a row to take their first lead at 7-3.  ISU continued to hold the lead until Strawbridge scored his second basket of the game to tie it at 12-12 just past the midway point of the half.  Down 12-7, Chris Moncrief got the rally started with a 3-point play.

Connecting on four of their next five attempts, the Redbirds scored 10 in a row and pushed their lead into double figures for the first time at 22-12.  Their lead would reach 11 when a pair of free throws made it a 30-19 game with 3:52 remaining in the half.  The Aces took control in the final minutes, completing the period on a 12-4 run to make it a 34-31 score at the break.  Gage Bobe got things rolling with his second triple of the game.

After a Preston Phillips bucket, the Redbirds called a time out and scored four of the next six points to stabilize a 34-26 edge with 84 ticks on the clock.  Marvin Coleman II picked up his second field goal before the Aces forced a turnover on the in-bound.  Strawbridge hit a free throw to make it a 5-point game and the defense got the job done once again.  Forcing the 13^th Redbird turnover of the half, Strawbridge took it the distance for a layup in the final seconds to make it a 34-31 game heading into the locker room.

Illinois State extended the lead back to seven points in the opening two minutes of the second half before Evansville fought back once again.  Antoine Smith Jr. drained a 3-pointer and Coleman added four points to make it a 43-41 game in favor of the Redbirds as the contest entered its final 12 minutes.

Strawbridge capped off a 7-0 run with a trey that put the Aces back in front by one at the 11:27 mark before a Coleman triple with 9:45 remaining completed an 11-2 run that gave UE a 48-45 edge.  Illinois State hit back-to-back shots to jump back in front and the teams would swap the lead multiple times down the stretch. Evansville took four leads over the next sequence but ISU fought back each time, leading to a 60-60 score with under three minutes remaining.

Knocking down 9 out of 10 attempts, the Redbirds answered each time before changing the course of the game with an 11-0 run that turned a 60-58 deficit into a 69-60 advantage in the final minute of play.  They would take the game by a 69-61 final.  ISU shot 48.0% in the game while holding the Aces to 37.5%.  The Redbirds also outrebounded the Aces by a 37-24 margin.

On Wednesday, UE will be in Peoria, Ill. for a 7 p.m. game versus Bradley.