The No. 21-ranked Indiana Hoosiers completed five days of competition at the 2021 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The team finished in third place with 1,066.5 points.

For the second-straight season, Ohio State ran away with the team title. The Buckeyes scored 1,584 points. Michigan finished third with 1,326.5 points.

100 FREESTYLE

Sophomore Ashley Turak finished fifth overall in the 100 Freestyle with a career-best time of 48.60.

Freshman Elizabeth Broshears took 15th out of the Consolation Final with a time of 49.91, while freshman Ella Ristic claimed 16th with a time of 50.01. Out of the C Final, senior Laurel Eiber finished 18th with a time of 49.67.

1,650 FREESTYLE

Junior Maggie Wallace took sixth place out of the fourth heat of the timed finals of the mile. She finished with an NCAA B Cut time of 16:15.19. Senior Josie Grote placed ninth with a time of 16:16.38, nearly topping her career-best mark.

200 BACKSTROKE

Senior Bailey Kovac outpaced her seed to score crucial points for the Hoosiers with a career-best time of 1:54.07. She finished fourth in the Championship Final.

Freshman Anna Freed took fifth place in the Consolation Final with a time of 1:56.62. She finished 13th overall in the event.

200 BREASTSTROKE

Indiana scored massive points in the 200 Breaststroke and it started with a Gold medal from sophomore Emily Weiss. She set a career-best mark in winning her first-career Big Ten title with a time of 2:07.20. Junior Noelle Peplowski finished in the silver slot with a time of 2:07.61, while junior Mackenzie Looze claimed fourth with a career-best time of 2:08.62.

In the Consolation Final, senior Abby Kirkpatrick tied for 10th with a time of 2:12.13 and freshman Catherine Graham finished 22nd overall out of the C Final with a time of 2:15.54.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

The Indiana team consisting of sophomore Ashley Turak, freshman Elizabeth Broshears, freshman Ella Ristic, and Laurel Eiber finished in fifth with a time of 3:15.87. Turak opened the relay with a split of 48.74.

TEAM SCORES

1. Ohio State – 1,584 pts.
2. Michigan – 1,326.5 pts.
3. INDIANA – 1,066.5 pts.
4. Northwestern – 992 pts.
5. Wisconsin – 749.5 pts.
6. Minnesota – 555 pts.
7. Nebraska – 542.5 pts.
8. Iowa – 424 pts.
9. Purdue – 414 pts.
10. Penn State – 410 pts.
11. Michigan State – 217 pts.
12. Illinois – 177 pts.
13. Rutgers – 60 pts.

NOTABLES

• Weiss joins elite company as only the second swimmer in program history to win the 200 Breaststroke at the Big Ten meet. Olympic Gold medalist Lilly King won the event in each of her four collegiate seasons from 2016-19.
• The Muncie, Ind., native ranks as the 13th-fastest swimmer in the event nationally this season.
• Indiana has medaled in a women’s breaststroke event in each of the last six conference meets, dating back to the title won by King in 2016.
• Turak set a career-best of 48.75 in the preliminary rounds of the 100 Freestyle, which marked the seventh-fastest time in program history. In the finals, she lowered her mark to 48.60. The time is the fifth-fastest time ever by a Hoosier and makes Turak the third-quickest performer in program history in the event.
• Kovac clocked a career-best 1:54.07 to make her the eighth-fastest performer in the Hoosier record books in the 200 Backstroke.
• The 400 Freestyle Relay time of 3:15.87 ranked as the fifth-fastest time in school history.

INDIANA POSTSEASON ACCOLDAES

FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN

Anne Fowler

Emily Weiss

SECOND-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN

Josie Grote

Abby Kirkpatrick

Noelle Peplowski

Ella Ristic

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD NOMINEE

Anne Rouleau

FINALS RESULTS

100 FREESTYLE

5. Ashley Turak – Time (NCAA A Cut, Career Best)
6. Elizabeth Broshears – 49.91
7. Ella Ristic – 50.01
8. Laurel Eiber – 49.67

1,650 FREESTYLE

6. Maggie Wallace – 16:15.19 (NCAA B Cut)
7. Josie Grote – 16:16.38 (NCAA B Cut)
8. Christin Rockway – 16:51.77
9. Anne Rouleau – 17:02.60

200 BACKSTROKE

4. Bailey Kovac – 1:54.07 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
5. Anna Freed – 1:56.62 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

 

200 BREASTSTROKE

1. Emily Weiss – 2:07.20 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
2. Noelle Peplowski – 2:07.61 (NCAA B Cut)
3. Mackenzie Looze – 2:08.62 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

t-10. Abby Kirkpatrick – 2:12.13 (NCAA B Cut)

22. Catherine Graham – 2:15.54 (Career Best)

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

5. Ashley Turak, Elizabeth Broshears, Ella Ristic, Laurel Eiber – 3:15.87 (NCAA B Cut)

UP NEXT

The women’s swimming team will be back in the pool for the 2021 NCAA Championships from March 17-20 in Greensboro, N.C.

The men’s team will compete in the 2021 Big Ten Championships next week starting on March 2 in Columbus, Ohio.

UE men finish regular season with 72-63 win

For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team clinched a top five seed in the Missouri Valley Conference, finishing the regular season with a 72-63 victory over Missouri State on Saturday night at the Ford Center.

Evansville (9-15, 7-11) enters Arch Madness as the #5 seed and is set to face the #4 Indiana State on Friday afternoon at 2:08 p.m. in St. Louis. Shamar Givance tied his career scoring high with 22 points on Saturday, knocking down 9 out of 16 attempts and four triples.  He also led UE with seven rebounds.  Jawaun Newton added 20 points while Evan Kuhlman recorded 17.  Missouri State (16-6, 12-6 MVC) was led by a 22-point game from Isiaih Mosley.

“I did not doubt these guys.  We ran into a tough stretch and kept fighting.  If you are a basketball fan, you have to love this team – they are just fun,” UE head men’s basketball coach Todd Lickliter said.  “They are constantly trying to learn, grow and do the right thing.  We just made a few adjustments today and our guys locked into it and made it happen.”

It was the “Evan Kuhlman Show” in the opening minutes of the game.  The senior connected on his first three triples of the game to give his squad a 9-6 advantage.  UE would extend that lead to 18-12 when Shamar Givance connected on a basket at the 12:45 mark.  The Aces would hit one of their next six attempts but the Bears were only able to chop two points off of the lead.

When Jawaun Newton hit his first field goal, it led the Aces on a 7-0 run that pushed the advantage into double figures at 25-14.  Givance recorded the other five points in the run, capping it off with a layup at the 7:51 mark.  With the Aces up 27-16, Missouri State scored six in a row to get back within five tallies, but Evansville was able to counter, going back up by 10 (33-23) before a layup at the buzzer by Newton sent UE to the break with a 38-30 lead.  Givance had 17 points in the opening stanza

Missouri State chopped the lead in half in the opening two minutes of the second half, but a turning point came from Noah Frederking.  With the shot clock nearing the buzzer, the senior drove for a layup that was the start of an 11-0 run that gave the Aces a 49-34 lead.  Kuhlman, Givance and Newton each followed with triples that made it a 49-34 contest with 15:21 remaining.

Evansville’s lead went as high as 18 points when another Kuhlman 3-pointer gave UE a 65-47 advantage with 5:27 on the clock.  The Bears chipped away in the final minutes, getting as close as six points in the final seconds, but the deficit was too much to overcome with Evansville clinching the 72-63 win to wrap up the regular season.  Devan Straub put an exclamation point on the win with a buzzer-beating triple.

The Aces outshot the Bears by a 51.0%-46.3% margin while it was MSU outrebounding the Aces by a final tally of 34-26.

University of Southern Indiana Baseball battled Lake Erie College to a doubleheader split Saturday afternoon at the USI Baseball Field. The Screaming Eagles dropped the opening game, 5-4, and rebounded to win the nightcap, 8-2.

USI ends the first weekend, 2-1, while Lake Erie begins the year 1-2.

Game 1:
USI allowed four runs in in the ninth and saw its ninth inning rally fall short as Lake Erie took the opener, 5-4.

The Eagles got on the board in the second when senior shortstop Kobe Stephens doubled in junior third baseman Michael Conner for the 1-0 lead. Junior designated hitter Aaron Euler extended the lead to 2-0 in the third with a solo blast over the right field fence for his first home run of the season.

After USI loaded the bases on three walks in the sixth, Conner drove in his first run as an Eagle with an infield single to the left side with two outs to push the lead to 3-0. Conner had a USI-best two RBIs in the opener.

The Storm thundered back in the ninth inning, plating five runners on five hits. Three of the five hits in the ninth were infield singles by Lake Erie.

USI tried to rally back in the bottom half of the frame, loading the bases with one out. Conner knocked in USI’s fourth run of the game and his second RBI of the game to cut the lead to 5-4. The Eagles would leave the tying and lead runners on second and third as junior second baseman Ethan Hunter fouled out to end the game.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Garrett Welch gave the Eagles six scoreless frames in earning a no-decision. Welch allowed six hits and struck out four in his first start of the season.

Freshman right-hander Tyler Wheeler and senior left-hander Paul Perez followed Welch to the mound, throwing a scoreless seventh and eighth. Senior right-hander Jacob Bowles (0-1) took the loss for USI, allowing the five runs in the ninth.

Game 2:
USI bounced back in the nightcap with an 8-2 victory to earn the doubleheader split.

For the second-straight game, the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring a trio of runs in the opening frame. Sophomore rightfelder Austin Moody crossed the plate with USI’s first run on an RBI-double by junior third baseman Michel Conner for the 1-0 lead.

Freshman first baseman Adam Wildeman capped off the first inning rally with a two-run single to give the Eagles a three-run cushion.

USI would seal the victory with two more runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. The sixth was highlighted by a RBI-single by sophomore catcher Lucas McNew, while the Eagles scored their three-runs in the seventh on a RBI-single by senior shortstop Kobe Stephens and a two-run single by Moody.

On the mound, freshman left-hander Blake Ciuffetelli picked up a win in his USI debut. Ciuffetelli (1-0) went six inning, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out three.

Junior right-hander Brady Bowling and senior left-hander Paul Perez combined to close out the game on the mound. Bowling allowed a hit and struck out two in one inning, while Perez gave up a hit and struck out four in two innings.