ULLIN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers continued their winning ways Thursday night after overcoming a slow start to pick up a 66-43 road win at Shawnee.

The Lady Blazers got off to a slow start after the long bus trip to Ullin, with the Lady Saints jumping out to an early 9-2 lead in the first quarter.

Vincennes would immediately wake up and battle back in a big way, outscoring the Saints 24-2 to roll into the halftime break holding a 28-15 lead.

VU continued this run in the second half, with an 8-0 run giving the Lady Blazers a 23-point lead in the third quarter.

The Lady Trailblazers would grow their lead to as much as 30 before the Lady Saints answered back late, but were unable to overcome the large deficit as VU finished off a very defensive-minded 66-43 win over Shawnee.

VU was led offensively by a double-double by freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. This is Baseyila’s eighth double-double this season.

Sophomore Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) also had a big night on both ends of the floor, ending with 14 points, eight rebounds and a team-high six steals.

Sophomore Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) ended her night with 13 points including three made three’s, giving her 167 in her VU career, just five away from breaking the Lady Blazers All-Time record for three-point makes in a career.

The Lady Trailblazers controlled a majority of the game on the defensive end of the floor, ending with 16 steals as a team and holding the Lady Saints to 11 points or fewer in three quarters Thursday.

The Lady Blazers will be off this weekend as VU prepares for their Region 24 matchup with John A. Logan College at the Physical Education Complex, Wednesday, Feb. 8. Tip-off time Wednesday is 5 p.m. eastern.

Vincennes defeated the Lady Volunteers 81-62 earlier this season in Carterville behind 20 points and nine rebounds by sophomore Nyre Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.).

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (66): Cherrelle Newsom 5-9 0-0 13, Daylynn Thornton 5-15 2-4 14, Brie Miller 1-1 5-6 7, Elikya Baseyila 5-11 4-6 14, Maycee Lange 1-7 2-2 4, Chanice Willis 3-6 0-0 7, Elena Tzelou 0-0 0-0 0, Nyre Williams 3-8 1-3 7, Ra’Mya Milton 0-0 0-0 0, Team 23-57 14-21 66.

VU (16-8, 9-2) – 7   21   22   16 – 66

Shawnee – 9   6   11   17 – 43

Three-point goals: VU 6 (Newsom 3, Thornton 2, Willis). Rebounds: VU 33 (Baseyila 10). Assists: VU 16 (Lange 5). Steals: VU 16 (Thornton 6). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Baseyila, Lange). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 17. Fouled out: None.

ULLIN, Ill. – The No. 12-ranked Vincennes University Trailblazers picked up a big Region 24 road win Thursday night after heading to Shawnee Community College and coming away with the 84-65 win.

The Trailblazers wasted little time grabbing control of this Region 24 showdown, scoring the first 16 points of the game and building a 27-8 lead midway through the first half.

Shawnee would answer back on their home floor however, cutting the VU lead down to single digits before halftime as the Blazers headed into the locker room leading 37-30 at the break.

The Saints would score the first basket out of the halftime break to cut VU’s lead down to just five, but this would be as close as Shawnee would get Thursday night as VU quickly grabbed the momentum back and built a commanding 69-47 lead late in the second half.

Shawnee would again not go away quietly as the Saints were spurred on by a late 8-0 scoring run, but ran out of steam as Vincennes picked up their fourth-straight win, going wire-to-wire to win 84-65 at Shawnee.

“I thought the start was really, really good,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Todd Franklin said. “It wasn’t an accident. Our guys were locked in defensively on what the game plan was and what their tendencies were. I thought Ryan Oliver and Michael Osei-Bonsu were ready to go on the offensive end of the floor. Ryan gave us that punch from the outside that we have been looking for on the road. It was great to see him get over that hump. I thought he hasn’t played as well on the road as he does at home and tonight he did.”

“We were playing well, then we went to the bench and had a couple of defensive breakdowns,” Franklin added. “Shawnee got some easy buckets off of some things that they haven’t been getting. Then the score kind of held at 12 or 14 really for the rest of the half and then we had a bad end of the first half. We just had some guys who didn’t finish and finalize some plays. We had some guys start to get beat on the screens and our bigs that were in at the time didn’t really step up and give any resistance at the rim. Then the next thing you know, it’s a seven-point game.”

“We made some adjustments at halftime as to who was out there on the floor,” Franklin said. “I thought Karyiek Dixon gave us something to start the second half with some physicality. I thought our team was more intense in the second half. They played with a little bit more of that toughness that we always talk about. I know what that is. Obviously we’ve built our reputation on that and I’m trying to get that across to these young men and they don’t really know what it is yet. So it’s constantly every day trying to get them over that line. Sometimes it’s pretty, sometimes it’s not but we have got to get across that line if we want to get done the things that we can.”

“We are in a tremendous position right now,” Franklin added. “We’re 22-2. Playing who we’ve played and are in the position that we are as a legitimate top-10 team. We are going into February with a tremendous chance of going to the National Tournament and a tremendous chance to still get a bye at Hutch. We still have a great chance of being one of those teams at the end that is playing in a Final Four. So I’m going to do everything I can to get us over that hump. I thought we got closer to that in the second half and because of that, we were able to handle a pretty tough situation.”

“Shawnee in the second half, we knew they were just going to drive it right at us,” Franklin said. “Play very physical. Grab us, press us and we were tested. There were a few times where it weighed on us but overall, we did a good job with it. Hopefully that’s a growing moment for us because we are going to have to be extremely tough, mentally, physically and emotionally to compete to beat a tremendous Logan basketball team. I think since December, Logan has probably been the best basketball team in the country. But we want to flip places with them and I thought tonight was some growing things that we can build off of going into our week of preparation.”

VU was led offensively by a breakout performance by freshman Ryan Oliver (Antioch, Tenn.) who set a new career high with 24 points, including a stellar five of eight shooting behind the three-point arc, while also grabbing five rebounds.

Freshman Michael Osei-Bonsu (Bolingbrook, Ill.) controlled the boards from the jump and finished off a big double-double with 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.

Sophomore Caleb Johnson (N. Preston, Nova Scotia) continued his streak of scoring in double-figures Thursday by picking up 14 points and seven rebounds.

“Ryan has done that at home for us this year,” Franklin said. “He’s had those types of nights. He just hasn’t put one of those together on the road. Right now it’s all about getting to that next stage with this team. That’s what’s still exciting about this team, we’ll see if it happens or not, but so many of these guys have an opportunity to go up another level or two. Because they are still new guys who haven’t been through this and haven’t done this yet.”

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball could not hold onto a 12-point second half lead and fell to Tennessee State University, 80-76, Thursday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Eagles go to 13-11 overall and 6-5 in the OVC, while the Tigers are 13-11, 5-6 OVC.    
 
With the loss, USI falls into a three-way tie for fourth in the OVC standings and two games out of first.
   
USI and TSU traded baskets and leads through the first six minutes before USI went on a 6-0 run to take a five-point lead, 13-8, on pair of buckets by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) and a basket by junior guard Gary Solomon (Detroit, Michigan). The Tigers responded with a burst of their own to retake the lead, 17-16, on a 9-3 dash.
 
A 9-2 surge by the Eagles would match the earlier five-point lead, 30-25, with 3:23 left in the opening half. Junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) led run with six of the nine points.
 
The Tigers bounced back for a second time and used an 8-0 run to get their largest lead of the half, 33-30, with 50 second left before the intermission. Swope, who had 12 first half points, would get the Eagles back to within a point, 33-32, with the final bucket of the first half.  
 
The second half started in the Eagles favor as USI regained the lead, and largest to that point, 39-33 on a 7-0 run. USI’s defense was the star of the second half opening run, holding TSU scoreless for the first 3:51 of the final stanza.
 
USI’s overall run to start the second half was 16-5 and gave the Eagles a 10-points advantage, 48-38, with 13:23 to play. The Eagles pushed the lead to as many as 12, 54-42, on a Swope three-pointer with 11:38 to play.
 
TSU would once again rally to re-take the lead, 67-66, with a 25-12 wave and 5:42 to play in the contest.
 
The Tigers would expand their new lead to as many as five points, 71-66, before USI came back to knot the game, 73-73, on a pair of buckets and a free throw by Swope. TSU, however, would score seven of the final 10 points of the game, for the 80-76 final, holding USI to one-of-five from the field in final three minutes.
 
USI had four players score in double-digits for the game, led by Swope, who had 24 points and six assists. Swope was nine-of-18 from the field, four-of-nine from beyond the arc, and two-of-three from the line.
 
Senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) continued his march to becoming the 23^rd Eagle to reach 1,000 points at USI by posting 14 points. Simmons, who has 1,370 career in his career at USI and Youngstown State University, has 940 points in his three seasons as an Eagle.
 
Henry and graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
  
Next Up For USI:   
USI concludes the homestand Saturday when it hosts Morehead State University for the Homecoming game at Screaming Eagles Arena. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m.  
 
The game, which is slated for a 3:30 p.m. tip, will be streamed on ESPN+ in addition to being heard on ESPN 97.7FM and 95.7FM The Spin.   
  
Morehead watched its season go to 15-9 overall and 8-3 in the OVC after defeating Tennessee Tech University, 64-45, this evening at home. The Morehead Eagles, who maintained at least a share of first in the OVC standings, were led by senior guard Mark Freeman with 18 points.  
 
USI lost the first ever meeting with Morehead, 84-80, January 5 in Morehead, Kentucky. The USI Eagles were led by Swope with a 25-point, four assists game, while the Morehead Eagles were paced by 24 points by Freeman and 22 points by senior guard Jake Wolfe.