VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers celebrated the VU careers of six sophomores Saturday night in style, hitting 15 of 29 three-point shots in the Lady Blazers 101-58 win over Olney Central.

The Lady Blazers started four sophomores Saturday against the Blue Knights and early on the new lineup had trouble getting on the same page which allowed Olney Central to jump out to a quick five-point midway through the first quarter.

VU responded to go on a 13-1 scoring run to take a 19-12 lead. Vincennes closed out the first quarter with a six-point advantage.

The Lady Trailblazers got a few shooters into the game in the second quarter and the shots immediately began to fall.

Sophomore Anete Bluma (Saldus, Latvia) and freshman Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) entered the game and each hit three three-pointers in the quarter, as Vincennes held a 55-33 lead at the break.

The Lady Blazers continued to grow their lead in the second half, opening the third quarter on a 14-4 scoring run.

Sophomore center Macy Michels (Teutopolis, Ill.) got in on the three-point action to hit a pair of long-range shots in the quarter.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – For the fourth meet in as many tries this season, the University of Evansville track and field team rewrote the record book on Saturday, as graduate student J.J. Pedersen (Milford, Conn./Platt Tech) and senior Taiza Alexander (Berea, Ky./Berea Community) both set new school records at the Indiana State Open in Terre Haute.

Pedersen beat the UE indoor school record in the 3,000-meter event by over six seconds, as he placed third overall with a time of 8:48.59.  Alexander, meanwhile, tied her own indoor school record in the long jump with a distance of 5.15 meters.  Overall, Evansville set 14 different individual personal-best marks at the meet as well.

“Overall, I thought that we did a great job today across the board,” said UE track and field head coach Don Walters.  “We have been stressing the importance of teamwork all week, and the team really bought in today and were pulling for each other, and it helped big time.

“J.J. was outstanding in his race today, and really smashed the old school record.  And, I thought that Taiza was locked in today and jumped really well.  Those are good signs with the conference championships coming up next weekend.”

Pedersen led a group of six men to PR on Saturday with his third-place finish in the 3,000-meters.  Senior Joey Rucinski (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) set a new personal standard in the pole vault with a height of 4.37 meters, while placing fourth.  Junior sprinter Giovanni Purser (Port Maria, Jamaica) ran a personal-best 60-meter time of 7.10 to advance to the main finals.  Sophomore Peter Epur (Eldoret, Kenya) set a new standard in the mile with a time of 4:30.73, and freshmen Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn./Central) and Justin Nichols (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) turned in personal-best performances in the 800-meters (2:00.30) and 3,000-meters (9:57.99), respectively.

On the women’s side, eight PRs were set, led by Alexander tying the school record in the long jump.  Senior Skylar Tucker (Linton, Ind./Linton-Stockton) set indoor PR marks in both the long jump (5.07 meters) and the 200-meters (27.71).  Senior McKenna Sapp (Bloomington, Ill/University) turned her fastest 60-meter dash time of 8.47, while junior Mariah Schaefer (Columbia City HS) recorded her indoor-best mark in the pole vault of 3.08 meters.  Junior Claire Griffy (Salem, Ill./Salem Community) lowered her personal-best time in the mile, while freshman Kara Yunker (Evansville, Ind./North) turned in personal-best performances in both the 60- (8.45) and 200-meter (29.17) races.

Overall, the UE men placed fifth and the women placed sixth at the Indiana State Open.  The Purple Aces will return to action next on Sunday, February 27, when UE opens competition at the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – University of Southern Indiana Baseball junior second baseman Lucas McNew (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) launched a second inning grand slam to propel the Screaming Eagles to a 11-4 win at #26 Young Harris University Saturday afternoon in Georgia. The Eagles start the year 2-0, while Young Harris falls to 6-3.   
 
After spotting the Mountain Lions a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, USI rallied with six runs in the top of the second. The Eagles started the second frame by cutting the deficit to one run, 3-2, when sophomore third baseman Nolan Cook (Evansville, Indiana) and senior shortstop Ethan Hunter (Terre Haute, Indiana) drove in both runs with back-to-back bases-loaded walks.
 
McNew followed and put the Eagles up for good with a grand slam over the left field wall to make the score 6-3. The home run was McNew’s first of the season and the 13^th of his career at USI.
 
The score would remain 6-3 until the top of the sixth when the Eagles put a trio of runs across the plate to extend the margin to six runs. Junior rightfielder Ren Tachioka (Japan) increased the lead to 7-3 with a RBI-single, while McNew drove in his fifth and sixth run of the game with a two-RBI single through the left side of the infield for the 9-3 lead.
 
USI and Young Harris would add a run each in the seventh with the Eagles closing out the scoring with a run in the eighth for the 11-4 win.
 
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Blake Ciuffetelli (Newburgh, Indiana) picked up the win in relief for the Eagles. Ciufetelli, who entered in the fifth, threw 2.1 innings, allowing one on two and striking out two.
 
Sophomore right-hander/designated hitter Trent Robinson (Louisville, Kentucky) started and got a no-decision for the Eagles. Robinson went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits and a walk. He also struck out a pair of batters.
 
USI closed the contest with sophomore right-hander Nick Belcher (Owensboro, Kentucky) on the mound. The sophomore went two innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball sophomore guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) led a second half Screaming Eagles’ charge to a victory over Missouri University of Science & Technology, 72-65, Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI goes to 16-6 overall and 11-5 in the GLVC, while Missouri S&T is 10-15 overall, 6-12 in the league.
 
The Eagles and Miners went back-and-forth in the first half with eight lead changes. USI tried to break away with five minutes to play in the first half, posting its largest lead of the half, 31-25, before Missouri S&T surged with a 12-2 run to take a 37-33 lead in to the break.
 
USI started the second half with a 20-8 rally to regain the lead, 53-48, after Missouri S&T had extend its lead to seven points in the opening minutes of the final half. Henry led the charge with 11 of the 20-point rush as the Eagles hit eight-of-14 from the field as a team during the run.
 
The lead would expand to nine points, 67-58, with 3:13 to play in the contest when junior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) scored off of one of his career-high tying and game-high 19 rebounds. The Miners closed the gap to four points, 67-63, before junior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) notched five of his 15 points in the final 30 seconds to seal the 72-65 victory.
 
Henry would lead all USI scorers with a USI career-high tying 24 points, scoring 17 points in the second half, and posting his first career double-double with 11 rebounds. The sophomore was nine-of-18 from the field, including a pair from long range, and four-of-five from the stripe in 38 minutes of action.
 
COMING UP FOR USI:
USI finishes the 2021-22 regular season with a split away home schedule. The Eagles starts the week with a visit to the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip and hosts Lindenwood University for Senior Day February 26 at 3:15 p.m.
 
UMSL moved to 18-6 overall and 12-5 in the GLVC after posting a 92-75 win over Lindenwood this afternoon at home. The Tritons, second in the GLVC Central Division, have been on a roll the last three week, winning four-straight and seven of the last nine games.  
 
USI holds a 39-14 all-time series lead over UMSL, 32-4 in GLVC action. The Eagles and the Tritons did not play last season due to COVID. UMSL has had USI’s number the last five games, taking three of five and two of three in 2019-20.
 
Lindenwood is 11-14 overall and 7-10 in the GLVC after its matchup with UMSL. The Lions, who host the University of Indianapolis Thursday before traveling to USI, have lost five of the last seven, including a loss to the Eagles, 70-56, at home.
 
USI sophomore guard Tyler Henry and junior guard Jelani Simmons  paced the Eagles with 18 points and 17 points, respectively, in the January win at Lindenwood. Junior forward Jacob Polakovich also had a big game in the victory with a double-double of 12 points and 19 rebounds.  
 
 

UE opens final week of regular season

 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Shamar Givance tied for the game high with 21 points on Saturday when the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fell to Valparaiso by a final of 72-56 at the Ford Center.

Givance was the only double-digit scorer for the Purple Aces (6-10, 2-13 MVC), hitting 8 of his 13 attempts on his way to the 21-point game.  Evan Kuhlman scored nine points while leading the team in rebounds (7) and steals (4).  Kobe King was one of four double figure scorers for the Beacons (12-15, 5-10 MVC), tying Givance for the game’s top scoring tally with 21.  Kevion Taylor added 16 while Ben Krikke and Sheldon Edwards scored 12 and 11, respectively.

“Today was frustrating more than anything.  We got some pretty good looks but did not have enough consistency.  We want to win and there is no question but there are things that we encounter that make that hard,” head coach Todd Lickliter said.  “We got some good production from some of our guys while we have been shorthanded.  Blaise (Beauchamp) has stepped up over the last few games and Emmette (Page) played some good minutes today.”

Valparaiso started the game 3-for-3 from the field to take the early edge.  The Beacons opened the game with four in a row before Evan Kuhlman took a feed from Shamar Givance and connected from downtown.  Valpo extended the lead to 8-5 before the Aces took their first lead at 9-8 on a pair of Blake Sisley free throws at the 13:08 mark.

On the ensuing Valpo possession, a triple put the lead right back in their hands and they would lead by as many as 19 in the first half.  After a Preston Ruedinger triple gave the Beacons a 21-14 lead, the second 3-point play of the day by Givance made it a 21-17 game.  That is when the tides turned with Valparaiso going on an 18-3 run to take their largest lead at 39-20 with 2:34 left in the opening half.  Emmette Page came in to hit a triple and cut the deficit to 39-23 at the break.

Evansville chipped away at the Valparaiso lead in the second half.  With 11:08 left in the contest, Noah Frederking hit his first triple to get the game back within 10 points at 47-37.  Two minutes later, the Aces got even closer when a basket from Givance cut the VU lead to single figures (50-41) for the first time in the final half.  While UE would get back within nine on another occasion, Valpo kept the lead between ten and 15 points for the remainder of the game to finish with the 72-56 win.

Hitting 13 out of 19 second-half attempts, Valpo finished the game shooting 60.0% with UE completing the day at 42.0%.  The Beacons also finished with a 34-19 edge on the boards.  The teams will meet again on Monday for a 7 p.m. game in Valparaiso.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming & Diving Championships wrapped up on Saturday night with four members of the University of Evansville earning honorable mention all-MVC honors, as seniors Jessie Steele (Houston, Texas/Klein), Fae Keighley (Johannesburg, South Africa), and Maggie Franz (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and junior Sage Moore (Lexington, Ohio/Lexington) all garnered all-Valley laurels.

Steele earned honorable mention all-MVC honors by placing fourth overall in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal-best time of 50.39, cutting over six-tenths of a second off of her career-best time and moving her into the third-fastest position in UE history.  Franz placed sixth and Keighley placed eighth in the three-meter diving competition with scores of 236.00 and 225.95, respectively, to earn honorable mention all-MVC honors.  While Moore finished eighth in the conference in the 200-yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:20.59 to earn honorable mention all-MVC honors.

“This was a great way to close out the Valley Championships, with the highlight of the night being Jessie finishing fourth in the 100 free with a big drop in time,” said UE head swimming coach Stuart Wilson.  “Overall, the team has been great all season, and it is a fitting way to end the year by going out with a bang!

“I want to thank our seniors for representing UE with heart and pride!  You made a mark on the program, and I know that every one of them will be successful in their next step in life.”

Overall, Evansville produced one first team all-MVC performer in junior Maya Cunningham (Yakima, Wash./Eisenhower) and eight honorable mention all-MVC competitors at the 2022 Valley Championships.  Evansville also had success in the Valley’s “B Finals” for a majority of the week, and that continued on Saturday, as both Cunningham and junior Sarah Jahns (Lilburn, Ga./Parkview) won the “B Finals” races in the 200-yard Butterfly and 200-yard Backstroke events, respectively.

While the main portion of the 2022 swimming and diving season concluded Saturday night with the MVC Championships, a select few Purple Aces have qualified to compete in the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, which will take place in March in Elkhart, Indiana.  A full list of competitors for the NIC will be announced at a later date.