Purple Aces Travel to Iowa for Top 25 Test
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s basketball team returns to the floor Sunday afternoon for a Top 25 test, taking on 21st-ranked Iowa in Iowa City. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 PM from Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Last Time Out
– Evansville opened the regular season on Thursday, dropping a 71-66 decision at SEMO
– Camryn Runner had a career day for Evansville, notching her first career double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds
– Georgia Cox and Avery Kelley also scored in double figures for the Purple Aces, tallying 11 points each
– Elle Snyder grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench
Series History
– Sunday is the fourth time Evansville has played Iowa and is the third meeting in the last five years
– Iowa leads the all-time series between the two teams 3-0, with all match-ups coming in Iowa City
– Current UE Graduate Assistant Molly Davis played at Iowa from 2022-24 and helped the Hawkeyes to back-to-back national championship appearances
– In the Hawkeyes and Purple Aces’ last meeting, Davis played 24 minutes while posting a line of 5 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists
Strong First Impression
– Eastern Illinois transfer Georgia Cox impressed in her first game in a Purple Aces uniform, scoring 11 points
– Cox added five rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes against SEMO
– In the second quarter of Thursday’s season-opener, Cox scored seven points to help the Aces open up their largest lead of the day
Getting to the Line
– As a freshman last season, Camryn Runner broke Evansville’s single-season and single-game made free throw records and finished among national leaders in free throws made and free throw attempts
– On Thursday, Runner picked up where she left off by going 12-17 from the free throw line against the Redhawks
– Runner’s 17 free throw attempts are good for the fourth-highest single game total in her career, while the 12 made free throws rank fifth
Scouting the Opponent
– Iowa enters the 2025-26 campaign ranked #21 in the AP Top 25 after going 23-11 and advancing to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last year
– The Hawkeyes opened their season on Monday with an 86-51 win over Southern
– Iowa is led by returning Second Team All-Big Ten selection Hannah Stuelke
– Prior to the season, Stuelke was a Preseason First Team All-Big Ten Selection and named to the Naismith Trophy Preseason National Player of the Year Watch List
EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT
FOOTNOTE: EPD DAILY ACTIVITY REPORT information was provided by the EPD and posted by the City-County-County Observer without opinion, bias, or editing.
Eagles come up short on Racers’ buzzer-beater
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball battled Murray State University to an exciting, competitive battle on Friday night at Liberty Arena, but the Screaming Eagles came up short, 79-77, after the Racers hit a game-winning layup at the buzzer.
USI Women’s Basketball (1-1) found itself in another tight contest against Murray State (1-0) on Friday night, just like last year’s battle in Murray, Kentucky. Neither side built a lead bigger than single digits on Friday night. USI led by as many as seven in the first quarter, while Murray State’s largest lead was nine points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Both teams shot for 42 percent from the floor in the game. USI went 32-76 compared to the Racers’ 22-52 effort in shooting the basketball. A significant difference came at the free-throw line. USI was 8-13 at the stripe, while Murray State racked up 34 attempts and made 30 free throws. The Racers won the battle on the glass by four, 42-38.
Individually, senior guard Ali Saunders returned to the court and paced the Screaming Eagles with 23 points on 10-18 shooting with eight assists. The 23 points are a personal best for Saunders since putting on the Screaming Eagles uniform. Right behind Saunders was junior guard Sophia Loden with a career-best 21 points on 8-15 shooting and a career-high 12 rebounds, marking Loden’s first career double-double performance. Junior forward Amiyah Buchanan nearly joined Loden with a double-double, recording 10 points and nine boards.
The Screaming Eagles got off to a solid start on both ends of the court, jumping out to a quick 8-1 advantage three and a half minutes in. USI limited Murray State to only one field goal for five-plus minutes in. Loden tallied the first four points for USI while also crashing the boards early. Following the first-quarter media timeout, the Racers charged back. However, sophomore guard Lexi Sepulveda came off the bench with five points in the final two minutes to help USI go ahead 15-14 after the opening quarter.
Murray State went on a small run to begin the second quarter, building a five-point lead, 24-19, just over four minutes into the frame. Saunders made a pair of field goals, while junior guard Shannon Blacher drained a three later in the second to propel USI back in front, 28-25, with three minutes to go in the first half. USI went ahead by as many as five in the final 90 seconds before Murray State responded to tie the game at 32 going into halftime.
After a quick bucket by junior forward Chloe Gannon to begin the second half, Murray State went on an 8-0 run to take a 42-34 advantage. Near the midway point of the third quarter, the Screaming Eagles cut the deficit down to three, 45-42, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Saunders. Murray State tried to pull away again, but once again, USI climbed back. With a minute left, Buchanan drilled a straightaway triple to tie the game at 51. The Racers ended up taking a 55-53 lead into the fourth period.
Murray State went on a 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter before Gannon scored a layup two minutes into the quarter to end the run. While the Racers’ lead grew to nine, 64-55, with seven minutes to go. The Screaming Eagles continue to show no quit, as Loden cashed in to reach a new career high, and Buchanan converted a three-point play to make the score 66-63 in favor of the Racers with under five minutes to play. The contest wound up coming down to the wire. As Murray State led by three, 77-74, with just under 10 seconds left, Saunders netted a game-tying triple with two seconds on the clock. Following a timeout and advancement of the basketball, the Racers scored a game-winning layup at the buzzer.
USI Volleyball picks up win at UT Martin to earn a spot in the OVC Tournament
MARTIN, Tenn.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball earned the sweep at the University of Tennessee at Martin on Friday night, to move to 9-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 13-12 overall. With the win, USI has officially earned its spot in the OVC tournament.
Friday’s victory marks the first time the Screaming Eagles have won on the road at Skyhawks Fieldhouse.
Set 1: USI 25, UTM 21
The Screaming Eagles started strong, taking a quick lead with a five-point serving run from junior Ashby Willis. Freshman setter Aysa Thomas dished out nine assists, two digs, and snuck in two kills for the team. Willis led the offense with four kills, followed by freshman Carley Wright with three.
Set 2: USI 25, UTM 19
The Skyhawks put up more of a fight at the start of the second set, holding the lead for the first 13 points before the Eagles took it back. Willis continued to find the court consistently, tallying four more kills, along with junior Leah Coleman, who also added four. Sophomore libero Audrey Small picked up four digs to double her first-set number.
Set 3:
With some quick push and pull to start the final set, the Eagles took control of the lead by the fifth point. Three USI players tallied three kills in the set, including Coleman, Willis, and senior Bianca Anderson, who made zero errors to hit a .600 percentage. Every Eagle player who took the court picked up a dig in the final set, led by Willis with five.
For the game, Thomas finished with 30 assists, five digs, and tied her career-high with five kills. Willis finished with her 13th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. As a team, USI tallied two blocks per set for six total, led by junior McKenzie Murphy.
Hemenway’s career game leads Aces in win over Calumet
UE wins by 92-50 final
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Alex Hemenway went a perfect 5-for-5 from outside to help the University of Evansville men’s basketball team defeat Calumet College of St. Joseph by a final score of 95-50 in Evansville’s home opener at the Ford Center.
Hemenway was 8-of-10 from the floor on his way to a career-high 21 points. His previous scoring mark of 18 points came in against USC Upstate in his time at Clemson.
“He was phenomenal today, it was exciting to see him play like this on Education Day,” UE head coach David Ragland exclaimed. “Alex was sitting in those seats when he was younger so it was neat to see his story come full circle.”
Hemenway’s tally was a game high. Josh Hughes joined him in double figures with 12 points. Trent Hundley finished nine points for the second game in a row while Kaia Berridge scored eight. Leif Moeller completed the game with eight assists and seven points while James Dyson-Merwe led all players with seven rebounds.
After hitting the first shot of the game, Calumet opened a 12-8 advantage knocking down their first attempts from the field. Triples from Alex Hemenway and Leif Moeller quickly put UE in front at 14-12. Hemenway’s fourth triple of the game pushed the lead to 20-12 at the 13:28 mark. His trey capped a 5-of-7 start by the Aces from long range.
Evansville continued to add to its lead when Hemenway capped a 5-for-5 start from 3-point range to give UE a 29-15 lead before Josh Hughes added a bucket to extend the advantage to 16 points. The Crimson Wave cut the deficit back down to ten before the Aces rallied to take a 19-point lead at the half. An alley-oop from Moeller to Connor Turnbull completed the first half scoring and made it a 44-25 game.
Hemenway wrapped up the half with 19 points while Moeller registered eight assists in the opening 20 minutes. Josh Hughes finished the period with 10 points.
Field goals by Hughes and Hemenway gave UE its first 20-point lead in the opening two minutes of the second half as the Aces held a 48-28 advantage. Keishon Porter and Moeller converted layups to extend the lead to 24 points at the 15-minute mark. It was all Aces from there as the final score marked the largest advantage for UE at 42 points.
UE shot 49.3% for the game while holding the Crimson Wave to 30.2%. The rebounding battle went the way of the Aces by a final of 49-25. J. Caleb Slawinski was the leading scorer for Calumet scoring 10 points.
On Sunday, the Aces are back home to face Oakland City at 3 p.m.
Volleyball drops weekend opener at ISU
Everett records six kills to lead the team
NORMAL, Ill. – Hinsley Everett led the University of Evansville volleyball team with six kills in Friday’s match at Illinois State inside CEFCU Arena, which saw the Redbirds take a 3-0 victory.
Josdarilee Caraballo and Chloe Cline recorded three kills apiece. Both wrapped up the contest with two blocks each. Kora Ruff registered 12 kills while Ainoah Cruz had nine digs. Aida Shadewale and Hann Reichensperger paced ISU with 12 and 10 kills, respectively.
Set 1 – Illinois State 25, UE 9
Illinois State scored the opening five points and eight of the first nine to set the early tone. Sabrina Ripple and Josdarilee Caraballo had solo blocks to make it an 11-5 game, but the Redbirds continued to roll. They grabbed a 17-6 edge before finishing the set with a 25-9 win.
Set 2 – Illinois State 25, UE 12
Just as they had in the first game, ISU was rolling early in the second. After posting the first five points, the Redbirds held a 7-1 lead. They pushed the lead to 19-8 before Evansville got bak into it with a 3-0 stretch. Hinsley Everett and Chloe Cline picked up kills before the duo assisted on a block to finish the run. The momentum was short-lived as Illinois State rebounded to take the set by a 25-12 final.
Set 3 – Illinois State 25, UE 18
Chloe Cline and Kora Ruff picked up kills to knot the score at 2-2 while Everett and McKenzie Laubach added kills to give UE its first lead of the evening at 5-4. Illinois State bounced back to go up by a score of 9-6, but the Aces rallied to tie the score at 10-10 on a Caraballo ace. Her kill shortly after gave Evansville a 16-14 advantage.
With the score tied at 17-17, ISU took control, scoring four in a row before clinching the match with a 25-18 win. UE looks to earn a weekend split with a 5 p.m. match at Bradley on Saturday.
THUNDERBOLTS DEFEAT HAVOC 2-1 FOR THIRD STRAIGHT VICTORY
DAD’S BIRTHDAY
GAVEL GAMUT
By Jim Redwine
www.jamesmredwine.com
(Week of 10 November 2025)
DAD’S BIRTHDAY
Gentle Reader, it is possible you have heard or read some of this Civil War type story before. But Peg and I are going to spend this coming weekend at the re-enactment of the Civil War Battle of Honey Springs which was the largest Civil War battle west of the Mississippi River involving Caucasian, Black, and several Native American tribes in a desperate struggle for the control of Fort Gibson, the main installation that controlled the western supply route along the Texas Road. I do not know if my Grandfather Redwine fought in this battle which occurred July 17, 1863 near what is now Checotah, Oklahoma. If he did, it would have been as a teenager on the side of the Confederacy. However, as he eventually ended up in this particular area immediately after the Civil War, I choose to believe that scenario. Anyway, as with many families, our history wanders through numerous thickets of possibilities. In this regard I am returning to what I choose to believe may be a part of the Redwine lore. Should you have seen or read the story before, I hope you will indulge me.
My father was born in 1905 in Indian Territory, what later became Oklahoma in 1907. My grandfather Redwine was born in Georgia in 1848, 13 years before the Civil War began. After the war he moved to Indian Country, declared himself a minister and sought to save souls among non-United States citizens. At a makeshift church-camp meeting he was preaching from a wagon hitched to a team that bolted. Grandpa was thrown off the wagon, hit his head, died from the fall and was buried by his flock right where he fell. The location of his grave was slowly forgotten by all but a few of his family.
During the Viet Nam War the anti-war protestors raised so much Cain our government sought to ease the pressure by honoring deceased veterans from prior wars. As the great Woke Movement had not yet begun, sometimes “veteran” included Civil War soldiers from both sides. As my paternal grandfather was a Georgia teenager during the war years 1861-1865, he must have been counted as a war veteran. The details of his allegiance were not noted.
However, Gentle Reader, my maternal great, great grandfather who was born in La Grange, Indiana served with the Iron 44th of the Union forces. My family was rather ecumenical. Regardless, Grandfather Redwine was included in the whole class and was deemed entitled to a bronze marker for his grave only 100 or so years after his service.
Therefore, the War Department sent out a representative to Oklahoma but he could not locate Grandpa’s grave. So, he contacted my first Cousin, Pal Gene Redwine in Wilburton, Oklahoma to enlist his help. Pal Gene was an accommodating and friendly guy who had been to our grandfather’s grave. He agreed to help but suggested that our Uncle Henry might be even more knowledgeable and brewed excellent moonshine besides. They proceeded to Uncle Henry’s still.
Uncle Henry was as affable as Pal Gene. He insisted his latest vintage be taste-tested before they went to find Grandpa’s grave. The federal man and Pal Gene felt it impolite to refuse such hospitality so a few hours were spent trying to get directions to Grandpa’s rural resting site. Of course, such mental exercise required chemical assistance.
Eventually, Pal Gene and the Veteran’s Affairs official left Uncle Henry’s with Grandpa’s marker and sought the mysterious grave. They never found it but did manage to lose the marker somewhere along the search. Talk about honor in the breach, or, just desserts if one is not a Rebel.
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USI Board of Trustees approves five new certificates and microcredentials, conferral of degrees
At its regular meeting on Thursday, November 6, the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees approved five new undergraduate certificates and microcredentials. They are as follows:
- Certificate in Restaurant Management: The nine credit hour Certificate in Restaurant Management would provide a foundation in food service operations through online coursework and hands-on experience, covering topics like food safety, management, purchasing, HR and cost control, and would be open to all majors and community members.
- Certificate in Human Lactation: The nine credit hour Certificate in Human Lactation would provide foundational knowledge to support breastfeeding mothers and infants through courses on nutrition, lactation anatomy and physiology, common issues and support in clinical and community settings, and would be open to all majors and community members.
- Financial Planning Certificate: The 12-credit hour Financial Planning Certificate would provide students with essential knowledge and skills for careers in financial planning, advising and wealth management, and would be open to all USI undergraduate students.
- Health and Society Microcredential: The nine-credit-hour Sociology of Health and Medicine Microcredential would provide a sociological foundation for students pursuing medical or health-related careers by exploring social determinants of health and the organization of healthcare, and would be open to all majors and community members.
- Public History Microcredential: The nine-credit-hour Public History microcredential would introduce students to modern research, methods and tools used in museums, archives, historic sites and libraries, providing hands-on experience and career preparation in public history while enhancing USI’s visibility as the first program of its kind in Indiana. It is open to USI students and community members interested in history-related careers outside the classroom.
All certificates and microcredentials will be reviewed next by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
In other business, the Trustees approved the conferral of degrees to candidates for 2025 Fall Commencement Exercises and heard reports on student financial assistance and campus construction projects.