EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball concludes the 2016-17 regular-season Thursday at 5 p.m. (CST) when it visits No. 20 Bellarmine University in a clash between Top 25 teams at Knights Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

The game can be heard on WSWI 95.7 FM, while live stats, audio and video can be accessed at GoUSIEagles.com. Thursday’s game will be aired live on NCAA.com and tape-delayed on American Sports Network.

While Thursday’s game has little bearing on the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament—USI is locked into the No. 2 seed, while Bellarmine will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed—Thursday’s contest carries plenty of weight in the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament picture.

USI (23-4, 15-2 GLVC), which jumped three spots to No. 19 in the latest Division II Media Poll and one spot to No. 23 in the latest WBCA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, trailed Bellarmine in the NCAA II Midwest Region rankings last week. The Screaming Eagles were No. 8, while the Knights were No. 7. Updated regional rankings will be released Wednesday.

The Eagles are looking to avenge the 88-83 loss they suffered to Bellarmine last month at the Physical Activities Center. Despite leading by as much as eight points and holding the lead for 24 minutes, a 9-0 Bellarmine run late in the fourth quarter sank the Eagles’ chances of an upset.

Since then, however, the Eagles have gone on to win nine of their last 10 games to capture the GLVC East Division title, while Bellarmine has lost four of its last 10 games.

A win Thursday would give the Eagles their fourth straight victory and their first 16-win season in GLVC play since the 2001-02 campaign. It also would give USI a three-game lead in the final GLVC East Division standings.

Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) and senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana) lead the Eagles, offensively. Grooms is averaged 15.3 points per game, while Marcum is chipping in 13.9 points and 3.3 assists per contest.

USI Women’s Basketball Notes

• Eagles win GLVC East Division title.USI Women’s Basketball won the GLVC East Division title outright after defeating McKendree, 70-48, Saturday. It is USI’s first Division title since the Eagles claimed the East Division championship with a 12-6 mark in 2010-11.

• Last week’s leaders.The Eagles went 2-0 to close out their 2016-17 home schedule last week. Led by junior guard/forward Kaydie Groomsand senior guard Tanner Marcum, USI had six players average at least 7.0 points per game and eight players with at least 5.0 points per game. Grooms and Marcum each averaged 13.5 points per contest, while junior guard Randa Harshbarger dished out 5.0 assists per outing.

• GLVC Tournament positioning.USI enters its regular-season finale locked into the No. 2 seed in the GLVC Tournament, while Bellarmine could slip to the No. 4 seed with a loss and a Lewis win. Even if USI and Drury finish in a tie, Drury would have the tie-breaker over USI after defeating Missouri-St. Louis on the road—USI lost to UMSL in St. Louis.

• Fifteen GLVC wins.USI reached the 15-win plateau in GLVC play for the second time in three years and the first time since 2014-15. The last time the Eagles won 16 games in GLVC play was 2001-02, when they went 16-4.

• Midwest Region rankings.The Eagles are ranked No. 8 in the first NCAA II Midwest Region rankings. The next ranking comes out Wednesday.

• Back to Pod play.The Eagles finish the regular-season against their four-team GLVC East Division pod. USI is 4-1 against its pod this year and is 19-4 since pod-play began in 2013-14.

• Eagles two wins shy of 25-win plateau.The Eagles are just two wins shy of reaching the 25-win plateau for the second time in three years and the sixth time in program history. USI has reached the 25-win plateau three times under Head Coach Rick Stein.

• USI moves up in Top 25.The Eagles moved up three spots in this week’s Division II Media Poll and one spot in the latest WBCA Coaches’ Poll. USI is ranked No. 19 in the Media Poll and No. 23 in the Coaches’ Poll. USI also is No. 16 in the latest Herosports.comDivision II rankings.

• Groom closing in on 1,000-point plateau.Junior guard/forward Kaydie Groomsneeds just 19 points to become the 17th player in program history to eclipse the 1,000-career point plateau.

• Stein vs. Dugan.Head Coach Rick Steinsquares off against his former boss, Chancellor Dugan, for the 10th time when USI plays Bellarmine Thursday. Stein was an assistant coach under the USI Hall of Famer during her eight-year career with the Eagles. Dugan led the Eagles to the 1997 NCAA II Championship game. Dugan took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series between the two after Bellarmine’s win last month.

• Scouting the opposition (Bellarmine).Senior forward Sarah Galvin averages 15.7 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game to lead the Knights, who have won two straight games and four of the last five.

• Record book watch.Several players are in USI’s record books:

–Tanner Marcum is ninth in steals (163), 10th in assists (225), and 12th in scoring (1,097);

–Kaydie Grooms is 19th in scoring (981), is 18th in blocks (46), and 29th in rebounds (379).

–Randa Harshbarger is eighth in assists (253);

–Hannah Wascher is eighth in blocks (67), 22nd in rebounds (421) and 36th in scoring (683);

–Morgan Dahlstrom is 20th in blocks (41) and 20th in rebounds (431).

• USI in statistical rankings.USI begins the weekend leading the GLVC in 10 statistical rankings and is in the top six of 17 GLVC statistical categories. The Eagles are ranked in the top 25 of 10 NCAA Division II statistical rankings.

Senior Day set for Saturday at noon against Indiana State

 WICHITA, Kan. – Freshman Dru Smith had the top game of his young career as the Evansville native finished with 19 points as Wichita State earned a 109-83 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Tuesday night at Charles Koch Arena.

Smith connected on five triples in the game, also a career mark.  Leading the squad in scoring was Jaylon Brown, who notched 25 points and added 10 more free throws to his season tally.  Duane Gibson was the third double figure scorer for UE (14-16, 5-12 MVC) as he totaled 10.

“They executed a lot better than we did and we played well for portions of the game, but could not sustain it,” head coach Marty Simmons said.  “Our guys did a nice job of battling through some adversity.”

Leading the Shockers (26-4, 16-1 MVC) was Shaquille Morris, who finished with 18.  He was one of six double figure scorers for WSU.

Evansville took a 4-2 lead in the early-going as Duane Gibson went coast-to-coast before Jaylon Brown hit a triple to give the Aces a 7-5 lead with 17:10 left in the half.

A 14-2 run by the Shockers saw them take the first double-figure lead of the game at 19-9.  Darral Willis Jr. capped off the run with back-to-back field goals.  The Aces battled back as an and-one from Ryan Taylor at the midway point of the period got UE within six at 24-18, but Wichita State made another big push.

This time, WSU outscored UE by a 22-8 margin to open up a 46-26 lead with 2:16 on the clock.  Three triples by Conner Frankamp made the difference as the Shockers went up by 20.  Over the final three minutes of the half, the Aces defense held WSU without a field goal while cutting into the lead.  Dru Smith’s third triple of the day helped UE head to the break trailing by 16 points at 48-32.

Out of the locker room, Wichita State was at it again as they quickly pushed the lead to 25 points at 62-37 with 16:43 remaining.  Just over three minutes later, a pair of Smith free throws got cut the gap to 18 points at 66-48, but the Shockers quickly pushed it back above 20 before cruising to the win.

WSU shot 53.8% on the game while UE finished at 49.1%.  The Shockers also finished with a 35-26 edge on the boards.  Evansville had its highest scoring output versus the Shockers since notching 84 in an 89-84 road loss in 2003.

Senior Day is set for Saturday at the Ford Center at noon as Christian Benzon, Jaylon Brown, David Howard, Sergej Vucetic and Willie Wiley will be honored.  Evansville looks to earn the season split against Indiana State in the regular season finale.

 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team will head to Columbus, Ohio this week looking to win the program’s 25^th conference title at the 2017 Big Ten Championships.

The four-day meet will begin with on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday through Saturday, the teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 11 a.m. with the championship session to follow at 6:30 p.m.

 

Live results for the swimming events can be found at IUHoosiers.com. Live results for the diving events this week can be found atDiveMeets.com. For more information on the Men’s Big Ten Championship, including a schedule of events, fans can click HERE.

The Big Ten Championships will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. The Big Ten Network will also televise Saturday’s finals Sunday, Feb 26 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.

Scouting the Hoosiers

Indiana enters this week’s Big Ten Championships as the top-ranked B1G school in the latest CSCAA/TYR Top 25 poll at No. 4 in the nation. Joining IU in the top-25 are Michigan (No. 9), Minnesota (No. 16), Ohio State (No. 17) and Wisconsin (RV).

During the dual-meet season, the Hoosiers posted a record of 11-0 – the undefeated year for the Hoosiers is the first for the men’s squad since 1981. Once again, IU swam against some of the best teams in the country, posting four wins over teams that expect to finish in the to-5 at the NCAA Championships and seven victories over squads expecting to place in the top-20.

“Our coaching staff is excited to begin the men’s swimming and diving Big Ten Championships,” IU head coach Ray Looze said. “We have a solid well-balanced team and are hopeful for a successful competition.”

Indiana head diving coach will take a quartet of divers to the league championships – Joshua Arndt, Cody Coldren, James Connor and Michael Hixon. Connor, the 2015 Big Ten champion in the 3-meter and platform dive, and Hixon, the 2015 champion in the 1-meter at Big Ten’s, return to the conference championships after taking Olympic redshirt seasons in 2016.

“We are looking forward to Big Ten’s this week,” IU head diving coach Drew Johansen remarked. “We have four great divers competing in what might be one of the better Big Ten Championships of all-time. There are going to be multiple Olympians and multiple medalists from several teams. We are looking forward to a great week.”

Big Ten Championship History
The Indiana men’s swimming and diving team has won 24 conference championships in program history. The Hoosiers 24 team titles are the second-most in in the Big Ten, ranking only behind Michigan’s 39. Indiana has finished in the top-3 at the Big Ten Championships for six-straight seasons and the second-place finish is the fourth for the Hoosiers in the last six years.

2016 Big Ten Championships

At the 2016 Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers finished second overall with 1,306 points, with Michigan winning the conference title with a total of 1,475.5. Ian Finnerty was named Big Ten Rookie of the Year after winning gold in the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay for IU.

Joining Finnerty on the First-Team All-Big Ten Team was Bob Glover, Ali Khalafalla, Tanner Kurz, Vini Lanza, Blake Pieroni, Oliver Patrouch and Anze Tavcar. Max Irwin, Jackson Miller and Cody Taylor were named Second-Team All-Big Ten, while John Winck was Indiana’s Sportsmanship Award honoree.

IU won six gold, seven silver and four bronze medals in total last year. IU’s 17 medals were second only to Michigan’s 23 and were eight more than Ohio State, who had the third-most with nine.

Over the course of the conference championships, the Hoosiers racked up 14 school record swims, seven Boilermaker Aquatic Center records, 13 NCAA A cuts, 78 NCAA B cuts and 52 personal-best times.

IU Racks up Medals at FINA Short Course World Championships
Lilly King led a group of five IU swimmers that won medals at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships in Windsor, Ontario in December. Over the course of the six-day competition, current, former and postgrad Indiana swimmers combined for 12 medals – six gold, five silver and one bronze. King took home five medals, including four golds, while Blake Pieroni won two silver medals and one bronze. IU alum Cody Miller won a gold medal to go with a silver.

Also winning medals on the week were Kennedy Goss and IU postgrad Zane Grothe. Goss won gold with Team Canada in the 800 freestyle relay, while Zane Grothe won silver with Team USA in the 800 freestyle relay.

IU Sends 11 to Rio Olympics, Winning Seven Medals
The Indiana Swimming and Diving program sent 13 swimmers, divers and coaches to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics – James Connor, alumna Amy Cozad, Marwan Elkamash, Kennedy Goss, Michael Hixon, Ali Khalafalla, Lilly King, alum Cody Miller, Jessica Parratto, Blake Pieroni and Anze Tavcar. Drew Johansen served as the head coach of USA diving, while Ray Looze was an assistant coach for USA Swimming.

At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the IU swimmers and divers won a total of seven medals – four golds, one silver and two bronze. Lilly King headlined the group with two gold medals, while Cody Miller won gold and bronze. Blake Pieroni earned a gold medal as a member of Team USA’s 4×100 freestyle relay team, junior Kennedy Goss earned a bronze medal as a member of Team Canada’s 4×200 freestyle relay team and junior diver Michael Hixon won silver in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard.

@IUSwimAndDive
Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field dropped to No. 21 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association Top 25 Computer Rankings. The Screaming Eagles are ranked for the second-consecutive week after entering the poll at 14^th for the first time in 2017 a week ago.
Over the weekend, USI earned three individual wins and five more top-10 finishes at the Depauw Classic in Greencastle, Indiana. Senior Jalen Madison (Washington, Indiana) earned his second win of the season in the weight throw, while sophomore Almustapha Silvester (Indianapolis, Indiana) and freshman Justin Greathouse (Indianapolis, Indiana) picked up their first collegiate wins in the 800-meter and 3,000-meter runs.

Other highlights of USI’s season include senior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) and junior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany) having both earned three NCAA II provisional times. Broughton’s time of eight minutes, 7.07 seconds in the 3,000-meters is the sixth-best time in NCAA II this season, while Grau’s finish of 8:09.76 is good enough for ninth.

Broughton’s time marks the 15th-fastest 3,000-meter time in NCAA II history on an oversized track.

The duo also earned provisional times in the mile at the Don DeNoon Invitational. Broughton ranks sixth in NCAA II with a time of 4:03.86, while Grau is ninth with a 4:04.55.

Also included in the distance medley relay team, Broughton and Grau teamed with sophomore Tyler Kruse (Indianapolis, Indiana) and freshman Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) to break the USI school-record by nearly eight seconds. The provisional time they earned marks the fourth fastest in NCAA II in 2017, while their finish of 9:47.61 is the second fastest in NCAA II history on an oversized track.

The women, ranked 95^th in the USTFCCCA Computer Rankings, have earned three NCAA II provisionals this winter. Junior Jessica Lincoln (Palatine, Illinois) and sophomore Hope Jones (Cumberland, Indiana) earned their provisional in the 3,000-meters and 5,000-meters, while sophomore Hilary Paxson (Liberty Center, Indiana) earned the first throwing provisional in USI women’s history over this past weekend in the weight throw, breaking her own USI school-record in the process.

With the indoor regular season complete, USI turns their attention to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships to be held this weekend, February 25-26, in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the University of Indianapolis.