EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball had seven players recognized with post-season honors by the Great Lakes Valley Conference Wednesday afternoon in the release of the league’s All-Conference teams.
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Junior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Illinois), junior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) and sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) were each named second-team All-GLVC, while fifth-year senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) and senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) were named third-team All-GLVC.
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Additionally, freshman guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) was named to the GLVC’s All-Freshman team, while fifth-year senior guard Ashley Hunter(Flossmoor, Illinois) was recognized as USI’s nominee for the James R. Spalding GLVC Sportsmanship Award.
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Wednesday’s All-GLVC honor is the third for DeHart, who was named first-team All-GLVC a year ago after collecting second-team All-League honors in 2019-20. Haithcock was named second-team All-GLVC for the second straight season after earning GLVC All-Freshmen honors in 2019-20, while Blackwell, Raley and Brown are earning All-GLVC honors for the first time in their careers.
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The All-GLVC announcement comes as USI gets set to take on Southwest Baptist University in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Championship Tournament Thursday at noon at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois.
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USI (22-4, 16-2 GLVC) is the top seed in this weekend’s tournament, while the Bearcats enter the weekend as the No. 8 seed. Other quarterfinal matchups include the No. 2 seed, Drury University, taking on the No. 7 seed, Rockhurst University, Thursday at 2:30 p.m.; the No. 4 seed, Truman State University, versus the No. 5 seed, Lewis University, Friday at noon; and the No. 3 seed, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, against the No. 6 seed, the University of Illinois Springfield, Friday at 2:30 p.m.
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The GLVC Tournament semifinals are Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m., with the winner of the USI-Southwest Baptist game slated to take on the winner of the Truman-Lewis game at noon. The winner of the Drury-Rockhurst game takes on the winner of the Missouri-St. Louis-Illinois Springfield game Saturday at 2:30 p.m., while the GLVC championship will be contested Sunday at 1 p.m.
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All USI games will be aired live on 95.7 The Spin, while the GLVC Sports Network will carry the games via a pay-per-view pilot program. Live stat, audio, video and ticket links can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com.
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Headlines
• Eagles earn top seed in GLVC Tournament. USI Women’s Basketball earned the No. 1 seed in the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2000-01 after finishing the regular-season with a 22-4 overall record and 16-2 mark in GLVC play. USI finished the regular-season with a 68-58 road win over Missouri-St. Louis before defeating future Ohio Valley Conference foe Lindenwood, 68-42, in its regular-season finale.
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• Last week’s leaders. Sophomore forward Meredith Raley averaged 13.5 points per game to lead the Eagles last week, while senior forward Ashlynn Brown and junior forward Hannah Haithcock finished with 11.5 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. Junior guards Tori Handley and Soffia Rieckerseach dished out a team-leading 3.0 assists per game, while Handley and fellow classmate Addy Blackwell each added a team-high 2.5 steals per game.
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• Seniors honored. The Eagles honored fifth-year seniors Emma DeHart and Ashley Hunter, along with senior manager Amanda Lewandowski following their win over Lindenwood last Saturday. Brown did not take part in the Senior Day ceremony as she is planning on returning for her NCAA-granted COVID year in 2022-23.
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• Eagles win GLVC East Division. USI clinched its fourth straight GLVC East Division title with its wire-to-wire 70-55 win over Maryville.
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• USI moves up a spot in region rankings. The Eagles moved up one spot to No. 5 in the final NCAA II Midwest Region ranking. Grand Valley State and Ashland held down their respective spots at No. 1 and No. 2, while Drury and Walsh were ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Missouri-St. Louis dropped a spot to No. 6, while Wayne State (7), Kentucky Wesleyan (8), Northwood (9) and Saginaw Valley State (10) rounded out the rankings.
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• Eagles net post-season honors. Seven USI Women’s Basketball players were honored Wednesday with post-season awards. Blackwell, Haithcock and Raley all earned second-team All-GLVC honors, while Brown and DeHart earned third-team All-GLVC accolades. Freshman guard Vanessa Shafford was named to the GLVC’s All-Freshman team, while Hunter was the Eagles’ nominee for the James R. Spalding GLVC Sportsmanship Award.
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• Season leaders. Haithcock and Raley lead the Eagles with 12.4 and 12.1 points per game, respectively, while Raley leads USI with 5.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per contest. DeHart and Blackwell both are tied for the team-lead with 1.7 steals per outing, while Blackwell holds a slight edge on DeHart with 2.1 assists per appearance.
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• Eagles still receiving votes. USI is the top team receiving votes outside the Top 25 in both the WBCA Division II Coaches’ Poll and D2SIDA Media Poll.
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• Returning to Edwardsville. USI is returning to the campus of SIU Edwardsville for its final GLVC Tournament appearance this weekend. This will not, however, be the last time USI makes a stop at First Community Arena as the Eagles, who used to face off against SIU Edwardsville when the Cougars were members of the GLVC at what was formerly known as the Vadalabene Center, will renew their rivalry with the Cougars in the OVC in 2022-23.
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• Eagles against the field. USI is 7-2 against this year’s GLVC Tournament field and is 125-82 all-time. Raley and Haithcock averaged 12.9 and 12.4 points per game, respectively, to lead the Eagles against the GLVC Tournament field, while DeHart and Brown respectively chipped in 12.0 and 10.2 points per game.
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• Haithcock nets GLVC weekly honor. After matching a career-high 22 points in back-to-back games and averaging 18.7 points on the week, Haithcock was named GLVC Player of the Week for her efforts in USI’s wins over Lindenwood, Rockhurst and William Jewell. She is the first USI Women’s Basketball player to net GLVC Player of the Week honors since Kaydie Grooms collected the award February 19, 2018.
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• Double-double. USI has had four players record double-doubles this season. Haithcock has had two double-doubles, while Blackwell, Brown and Raley have each posted one-double-double this season.
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• Double-figures. USI has had 10 different players reach double-figures in the scoring column this season, including nine players that have scored 10-or-more points in multiple games.
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• 20-point outings. USI has had four different players reach the 20-point plateau this season. DeHart and Haithcock have each reached the 20-point plateau twice this season, while Blackwell and Hunter also scored 20-or-more points this season.
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• Stein snares 400th win. USI Head Coach Rick Stein earned his 400th career victory with the Eagles 88-80 victory over Illinois Springfield. He’s been on the sidelines for 569 of USI’s 717 all-time wins during his 31 seasons on the bench, 23 of which have been leading the program after eight seasons as an assistant.
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• Gatling 500. USI Assistant Coach Randa Gatling also hit a milestone Thursday. Gatling, who has been on the bench for all of Stein’s 400 wins, picked up her 500th career win including her 100 wins as a player at USI.
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• About Southwest Baptist. Senior guard Kyleigh Vaught averages 15.9 points and 2.8 assists per game to lead the No. 8-seeded Bearcats, who defeated No. 9-seeded Indianapolis, 64-61, in the opening round Monday evening in Bolivar, Missouri. Senior guard Nyah Pettus chips in 8.8 points and a team-leading 6.6 rebounds for Southwest Baptist, which upset Truman State last Thursday before being upset by Quincy in its regular-season finale two days later.
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• USI vs. Southwest Baptist. USI defeated the Bearcats, 79-74, at Screaming Eagles Arena January 8 before carding a 70-48 in over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Missouri, February 12. Raley and Hunter each averaged 14.5 points in the two wins, while Haithcock had 18 points in USI’s road win over the Bearcats. Vaught led Southwest Baptist in the two losses with 19.0 points per game.
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• Record book watch. The Eagles have three players making moves inside the USI Women’s Basketball Record Books:
–Ashlynn Brown is No. 29 on USI’s all-time rebounding list (393) and No. 46 in scoring (562).
–Emma DeHart is USI’s all-time leader in games played (123), is No. 2 in three-point field goal attempts (423), No. 8 in made three-pointers (124) and No. 13 in points (1,160) and assists (223).Â
–Hannah Haithcock is No. 30 in scoring (789) and No. 35 in rebounding (364).
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• Magic Mark: 75 points. The Eagles are 437-78 (.849) all-time when scoring at least 75 points. USI is 310-29 (.915) since 1996-97 when reaching the 75-point plateau.
Seven Eagles honored with GLVC post-season awards
Polakovich and Simmons earn GLVC honors Henry honored with Sportsmanship Award
EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) and junior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) were honored with All-Great Lakes Valley Conference post-season honors today. Polakovich was named first-team All-GLVC, while Simmons was selected for the league’s second team.
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The All-GLVC honors are the first for Polakovich and Simmons.
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Polakovich leads the Screaming Eagles by averaging a double-double with 11.6 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. The 11.5 rebounds per game ranks first in the GLVC and fourth nationally. The unanimous first-team All-GLVC pick has had 11 double-doubles and has reached a career-high 19 rebounds in a game twice (at Lindenwood University; versus Missouri University of Science & Technology).
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Simmons earns second team honors after averaging a team-high 13.8 points per game, while grabbing 4.6 rebounds and dishing 1.8 assists per contest. The junior guard has reached double-digits in scoring in 20 of his 25 games this season and surpassed the 1,000 collegiate point plateau in the GLVC Tournament first round win over the University of Illinois Springfield (USI: 574 points; Youngstown State University: 430 points).
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Sophomore guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) was recognized with the GLVC Men’s Basketball James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award for USI. Henry is one of 15 players from around the league who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The recipient of this honor also must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
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The Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
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Polakovich, Simmons, Henry, and the Eagles (18-6) continue post-season play in the GLVC Tournamet Friday at 6 p.m. when they play the University of Missouri-St. Louis at the First Community Arena on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, Illinois. USI is the fifth seed in the league playoff, while UMSL is the fourth seed.
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The GLVC Tournament continues Saturday with the semifinals at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday for the championship game at 3:30 p.m.
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Three Eagles qualify for nationals
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s and Women’s Track & Field learned Tuesday afternoon that three of its student-athletes had made the cut to compete at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships March 11-12 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Junior All-American Titus Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) qualified in the men’s 3,000 and 5,000 meter races, while senior All-America Jennifer Comastri(Indianapolis, Indiana) and freshman Cameron Hough (Olney, Illinois) qualified in the women’s 5,000 meters.
Winders, the co-Great Lakes Valley Conference Track Athlete of the Year after winning three titles at last weekend’s GLVC Indoor Championships, ranks third in the 3,000 meters with his adjusted time of 7:54.07. He is 12th in the 5,000-meter field with his time of 13:56.82.
Comastri ranks 14th in the 19-competitor field in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:44.91, while Hough’s adjusted time of 16:48.17 puts her at No. 18 in the field.
This marks the third straight year Comastri has qualified for nationals during the indoor season. She earned All-America honors in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters after the meet was canceled due to COVID in 2020 and was a first-team All-American in the 5,000 meters a year ago after finishing fourth in the event at the 2021 NCAA II Indoor Championships.
Hough is making her first trip to nationals in track & field after earning All-America honors on the cross country course last fall.
Winders, who was named GLVC Track Athlete of the Week three times this season, is making his second trip to indoor nationals after earning All-America honors in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters two years ago.
The men’s 5,000 meters are scheduled for March 11 at 5:55 p.m. (CST), while the women’s 5,000 meters follows at 6:15 p.m. The men’s 3,000 meters are scheduled for March 12 at 7:05 p.m.
Aces open Arch Madness on Thursday evening
UE faces Valpo at 8:30 p.m.
 LOUIS – Arch Madness is up next for the University of Evansville men’s basketball team, who will open the tournament on Thursday evening with an 8:30 p.m. match-up against Valparaiso. The MVC TV Network and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the coverage. Bally Sports Midwest will have the coverage in the Evansville area.
 Reaching 1K
– Both Noah Frederking and Shamar Givance reached the 1,000-point mark in Saturday’s game against Missouri State
– Entering the game, Frederking needed just eight points to reach the mark, and made quick work of the milestone
– He scored UE’s first eight points and reach 1K with 13:28 remaining in the first half
– Givance came into the day with 989 points and was held off the score sheet in the opening half, but came back to score 20 in the second half
– He reached 1,000 with a pair of free throws with 5:11 left in the game
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Last Time Out                         Â
– Taking on eventual #2 seed Missouri State, the Purple Aces fought to the finish against the Bears, coming up just short by a final of 88-79
– UE overcame a 37-29 halftime deficit to jump in front in the second half
– Evansville drained a season-high 16 triples, just one shy of the school record
– Givance led the Aces with 20 points while Blaise Beauchamp added 18
– Noah Frederking and Blake Sisley scored 17 and 14, respectively, while Frederking set his career mark with nine caroms
A Senior Day to Remember
– Entering his final home game, Noah Frederking stood at 992 career points
– He came out on a mission and scored UE’s first eight points to become the 51st member of the Aces 1,000-point club
– Frederking had his best game of the year, registering a season-high 17 points and a career-high 9 rebounds while hitting four out of six 3-point tries
Vincennes University Board of Trustees receives university-wide updates during retreat
Lady Blazers fall in District Semi-Finals to Rend Lake College
MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers season likely came to an end Tuesday night in the Midwest District Semi-Finals as the Lady Blazers fell 86-64 to Rend Lake.
The Lady Blazers fell behind early in the first quarter, trailing by 11 points midway through the period.
VU closed out the first quarter on an 8-2 scoring run as Vincennes trailed 19-14 after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Lady Warriors built their lead backup in the second quarter to 14 midway through the second quarter at 36-22.
Vincennes attempted to narrow the margin before the break but were only able to cut the deficit to 13 as Rend Lake held a 44-31 lead at the half.
Rend Lake looked to take full control of the game in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 12-1 scoring run to lead 56-32.
Vincennes battled back to end the quarter, but still trailed by 15 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
VU continued to use the momentum of the game to cut the deficit back to single digits at 67-58 early in the fourth quarter.
This would be as close as the Lady Blazers would get however, as Rend Lake built their lead back and came away with the 86-64 win in the Midwest District Semi-Finals.
“We picked a bad night not to play well,†VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “Our shooting percentage was woeful and Rend Lake seemed to make every shot they threw up there for a while. I didn’t think we played that bad defensively but they seemed to have it going and we weren’t able to cut into their lead.â€
“We were able to get good looks at the basket, we just couldn’t make a shot,†Meeks added. “Rend Lake was able to slow down some of our scorers that we’ve been living off of this season and we just didn’t play well.â€
VU was led offensively by sophomore Laila Grant (Derwood, Md.) and freshman Candela Lascorz (Huesca, Spain) who finished with 12 points each.
Grant would also finish the game with seven rebounds and three assists. Lascorz also helped on the glass off the bench, finishing with five rebounds.
Freshman DayLynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) finished her night with nine points. Thornton also found the open passing lanes to a pair of assists.
Freshmen Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind.) and Kylee Shelton (Bloomfield, Ind.) ended the night with eight points each. Shelton connected on a pair of three’s and Harris dished out a team-high four assists.
Sophomore Nina Blade (Milwaukee, Wis.) ended her night with a team-high eight rebounds, while also scoring four points.
“Candela did a good job for us,†Meeks said. “She was on the boards rebounding and did a lot of good things for us tonight.â€
“Laila always plays her heart out for you,†Meeks added. “She will give you 40 minutes, no matter what. I thought she did that tonight and her effort tonight was superior. She has done a great job for us all year and I really appreciate her coming to play here.â€
The Lady Blazers will now look to receive and At-Large bid into the NJCAA National Tournament, with a season record of 20 wins and nine losses.
Mayor Winnecke Remarks Concerning City Council Passing F-2022-02 Amended, 8-0.
Mayor Winnecke Remarks Concerning City Council Passing F-2022-02 Amended, 8-0.
 See Mayor Winnecke’s Statement Posted Below:
We’ve spent a great deal of time over the last many months listening to community leaders and identifying significant community needs, exacerbated by the pandemic.
 One such area, where we have a substantial need, is in the area of mental health. It’s estimated that nearly half of the 60 million adults and children living with mental health conditions in the United States go without treatment.
 That’s why we propose investing some of our $64.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act with Southwest Behavioral Health, one of the city’s leading mental health providers, to renovate two spaces in order to create badly needed mental health services.
 The first is a new 20-bed adult residential treatment center. This co-ed facility will be for adults needing short-term residential treatment (28-35 days) following hospitalization or crisis.Â
 The second new program will be a new child and family services neurodevelopmental psychiatry specialty center.
 The new children and family service will allow for children and adolescents with dual diagnoses to have a local treatment option. No such treatment exists here today.
 We also propose investing in the new Evansville Diversion Center, a six-bed 23-hour facility at United Caring Services.
 This facility is designed to assist people experiencing substance use and/or a co-occurring mental health crisis.
 The Diversion Center will provide front-line intervention in order to divert people away from the unnecessary emergency department, emergency medical services, or the criminal justice system use toward the help, support, and recovery they need.
 The City of Evansville also recognizes Easterseals as a community partner in providing mental health services. The Easterseals Rehabilitation Center has developed a Doctoral level Internship for Clinical Psychologists and a post-doctorate Fellowship for psychologists who have just completed their doctoral degrees.Â
 An investment in Easterseals will expand the organization’s psychology testing and counseling capacity by four times.
 The City proposes investing in SWIRCA & More, the region’s preeminent organization focusing on enhancing the quality of life and independent living for those who are aging, people living with disabilities, and caregivers. With our senior population growing at a rapid rate, seniors are going to outpace SWIRCA’s existing services 3 to 1 in the next four years. That’s why we propose assisting SWIRCA with a major expansion of their current building.
 The City of Evansville is also pleased to increase funding to its Affordable Housing Trust Fund in order to help create additional affordable living units within the city.
 There is an estimated gap of 1,500 affordable housing units in Evansville. Our housing needs assessment/analysis of impediments to fair housing choice, shows this gap.
 The City of Evansville is pleased to collaborate with the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership on Talent 2025, a regional initiative to increase our population and improve our talent base.
 We want our workforce to be prepared for jobs and careers of the future. We want a resilient economy that can bounce back after routine downturns, or a major crisis like COVID-19. We want to ensure equitable opportunity for every family regardless of race, history or circumstance. We have to improve the quality of the place for a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle.
 It’s important to note that each of these proposed investments is qualified expenditures of the American Rescue Plan Act.
 We have other community investment plans that we will present to the city council in the weeks ahead that will have equally important impacts on our city.