The 14th-ranked University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team concludes the 2016-17 home slate this week when it hosts the University of Illinois Springfield Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and McKendree University Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The USI-McKendree match-up is Senior Day for the Screaming Eagles.

Game coverage for this week’s games, including live stats, video streams, and audio broadcasts, is available at GoUSIEagles.com. The games also can be heard on WEOA 98.5FM/1400AM and 95.7FM The Spin.

The Screaming Eagles (23-2, 13-2 GLVC) start the week in sole possession of second in the GLVC East Division, one game behind seventh-ranked and first place Bellarmine University (22-3, 14-1 GLVC) and two games ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (19-5, 11-4 GLVC), Lewis University (16-9, 11-4 GLVC), and the University of Indianapolis (14-9, 11-4 GLVC). Illinois Springfield (8-16, 3-12 GLVC) and McKendree (9-14, 3-12 GLVC) begin the week tied for sixth in the GLVC East.
Following this week’s homestand, USI will conclude regular season action with a visit to Bellarmine on February 23.

USI Men’s Basketball vs. Week 16 Quick Notes:

• USI in national rankings.The University of Southern Indiana jumped in the NCAA Division II rankings this week, rising one spot to 14th in the NABC Division II Top 25 and three spots to 11th in the D2SIDA Media Top 25. USI also is ranked ninth in the HeroSports.com  and 10th in the NCAA Division II power rankings.
• Eagles cruised to two road wins.USI cruised to a 71-58 victory over the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday and an 82-66 victory over Maryville University Saturday. Sophomore guard Alex Stein led the Eagles with 14.0 points per game, while senior guard/forward Jeril Taylor and senior guard Bobo Drummond rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.0 and 10.0 points per contest.
• Victory earns USI GLVC Tournament bye.USI can wrap up a GLVC-Tournament first round bye with a victory this week. The Eagles leads the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Lewis University and the University of Indianapolis by two games each and Truman State University by three games in the race to secure a first round bye.
• Rajala returned to action.Junior forward Julius Rajala returned to action after missing the last two weeks with a broken finger. Rajala averaged 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds on the road trip in 18 minutes of action.
• 20-Win Season.USI surpassed the 20-win mark in February and has reached 23 victories for the first time since the 25-win season of 2013-14. USI has won 20-or-more games 26 times in the history of the program, advancing to the NCAA Division II Tournament 23 times in the previous 20-win seasons.
• USI at home in 2016-17.USI is 10-1 at home this year, averaging 90.6 points per home game.  Senior guard Jeril Taylor is averaging 19.9 points per game, while sophomore guard Alex Stein is posting 17.7 points per outing.
• Taylor closing on 1,000 points.Senior guard/forward Jeril Taylor needs 12 points to reach 1,000 career points and become the 19th Eagle all-time to reach the milestone. He also would be the first since Geoff Van Winkle in 2007.
• USI vs. Illinois Springfield.The Eagles lead the all-time series with the University of Illinois Springfield, 9-3, and at home, 6-1. USI, which has won four of the last five meetings with Illinois Springfield, won the first meeting of the year, 86-75, and was led by sophomore guard Alex Stein‘s 26 points.
• USI vs. McKendree.USI leads the all-time series with McKendreee University, 8-7, and holds the advantage at the PAC, 5-3. The Eagles, who have won eight of the last nine match-ups with the Bearcats, won the GLVC season-opener, 104-58, in Lebanon, Illinois, and was led by junior guard Marcellous Washington‘s season-high 20-point performance.

University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball is set to take part in the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association’s Play4Kay initiative when it hosts the University of Illinois Springfield Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Physical Activities Center.

USI will wear its pink uniforms and are encouraging fans to wear pink as the Screaming Eagles help raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer.

Following the Eagles’ bout with Illinois Springfield, USI hosts McKendree University for Senior Day Saturday at 1 p.m. The Eagles will honors their five seniors—forward Tasia Brewer (Terre Haute, Indiana), guard Kendyl Dearing (Huntingburg, Indiana), guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana), center Ruta Savickaite (Vilnius, Lithuania) and forward Hannah Wascher (Rantoul, Illinois) following the game.

The Eagles, who slipped to No. 22 in the Division II Media Poll and No. 24 in the WBCA Division II Coaches’ Poll, can secure a first-round bye in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a win this week and could clinch the GLVC East Division title with two wins and a Lewis University loss.

Both games can be heard on WSWI 95.7 FM, while live stats, audio and GLVC Sports Network video can be accessed on GoUSIEagles.com.

USI Women’s Basketball Notes

• Eagles split road weekend.USI Women’s Basketball suffered its first road loss of the year last Thursday as Missouri-St. Louis dealt the Eagles a 65-59 loss. The Eagles, however, bounced back with a dominating 74-50 win over Maryville. Senior forward Hannah Wascheraveraged 20.0 points and 11.5 rebounds to lead the Eagles, while junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom chipped in 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest.

• GLVC Tournament positioning.Entering their final three games of the regular-season, the Eagles need just one win to secure a first-round bye in the GLVC Tournament. USI can clinch the GLVC East Division by winning the final three games and can secure the No. 1 overall seed in the GLVC Tournament with three wins and a Drury loss. USI can clinch the GLVC East Division this week with two wins and a Lewis loss.

• Midwest Region rankings.The Eagles will have their eyes on NCAA.comWednesday as the first NCAA II Midwest Region rankings are slated to be released.

• Back to Pod play.The Eagles finish the regular-season against their four-team GLVC East Division pod. USI is 2-1 against its pod this year and is 17-4 since pod-play began in 2013-14.

• USI notches 20th-win.The Eagles reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time in program history with their win over Drury. Each of the previous nine times USI has won 20 or more games, the Eagles have advanced to the NCAA II Tournament.

• USI slips in Top 25.The Eagles fell in this week’s WBCA Coaches’ Poll and Division II Media Poll. USI is ranked No. 22 in the Media Poll and No. 24 in the Coaches’ Poll. USI also is No. 19 in the latest Herosports.comDivision II rankings.

• Time for another streak?The Eagles saw their season-best six-game winning streak come to an end with their loss at Missouri-St. Louis last week. USI, however, bounced back with a win at Maryville to end the week on a winning note. USI has followed each of its previous three losses with winning streaks of at least four games.

• 80-point plateau.USI saw its GLVC-best scoring average dip below the 80-point plateau following last week’s games. The Eagles, who are currently averaging 79.4 points per game, have not finished a season averaging more than 80.0 points per game since they averaged 82.3 points per outing in 2001-02.

• Marcum reaches 1,000-point plateau, Grooms next?Senior guard Tanner Marcumbecame the 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in USI’s win over Indianapolis. Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms is the next closest USI player to 1,000 points as she needs just 46 to become the 17th player in program history to eclipse the mark.

• Wascher puts up big numbers.Senior forward Hannah Wascher has put up big numbers in her collegiate career. Including two seasons at Parkland, Wascher has racked up 1,867 career points and 1,109 career rebounds.

• Scouting the opposition (UIS).Junior forward Destiny Ramsey averages 12.8 points per game to lead the Prairie Stars, who have lost eight straight games. Senior forward Syerra Cunningham leads the GLVC in rebounding at 10.7 rebounds per game.

• Scouting the opposition (McKendree).Senior forward Ellie Pusheck averages 7.7 points per game to lead the Bearcats, who have lost seven straight games. McKendree averages just 57.7 points per game, but leads the GLVC in scoring defense by allowing just 58.8 points per contest.

• Marcum leads GLVC in three statistical categories.Senior guard Tanner Marcum leads the GLVC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4), three-point field goal percentage (.483) and total steals (73).

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

–Tanner Marcum is ninth in steals (156), 10th in assists (221), and 13th in scoring (1,070);

–Kaydie Grooms is 19th in scoring (954), is 18th in blocks (45), and 29th in rebounds (370).

–Randa Harshbarger is ninth in assists (243);

–Hannah Wascher is eighth in b

No. 14 University of Southern Indiana Men’s Track & Field senior Chase Broughton (Marengo, Indiana) was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week for the second-consecutive week after earning two NCAA Division II Provisional marks at the GVSU Big Meet.
Competing in the 3,000-meter run, Broughton earned a provisional time en route to earning a win over a loaded field. His time of eight minutes, 7.70 seconds is currently the sixth-best time in NCAA II this season.

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

A part of the distance medley relay team, Broughton along with junior Bastian Grau (Höchstadt, Germany), sophomore Tyler Kruse (Indianapolis, Indiana), and freshman Javan Winders (Mansfield, Tennessee) earned the third fastest provisional time in NCAA II with a school record time of 9:47.61. The mark is the second fastest in NCAA II history on an oversized track.

The Screaming Eagles earn the weekly conference honor in back-to-back weeks for the second time this season with Grau having accomplished the feat earlier in the year.

With one more tune-up before the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships, the Eagles will head to Greencastle, Indiana, Saturday for the Depauw Classic.

University of Southern Indiana Softball scored six unanswered runs to complete a double-header sweep of defending NCAA Division II champion and No. 1-ranked University of North Alabama in its 2017 season-opener Tuesday afternoon.

USI (2-0) earned a 3-0 victory in the game one before taking the nightcap, 6-1.

Game 1: USI 3, UNA 0

Freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout in her collegiate debut as the Screaming Eagles opened the season with a 3-0 win over North Alabama.

Junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) had an RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning to give USI a 1-0 lead; then junior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana) hit a two-run home run in the seventh frame to put the Eagles up 3-0.

Leonhardt (1-0) fanned six batters and retired the side three times to earn the victory. She issued just one walk and one hit batter. Both Fossett and Fulton went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Eagles’ offense.

Game 2: USI 6, UNA 1

USI rallied from a one-run deficit to complete the two-game sweep with a 6-1 victory over the Lions. Fulton tied the game with an RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning, while senior shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) had an RBI-single to open up a four-run fifth inning for the Eagles.

Senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana), who was 3-of-4 at the plate in game two, followed Reese’s hit with a two-out, two-run single to put USI up 4-1. Fossett finished the scoring in the next at-bat with a single to drive in Hodges.

The Eagles took advantage of a North Alabama error to add their final tally in the sixth inning.

Sophomore hurler Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) picked up the complete-game victory as she surrendered just one run off four hits in seven innings of work. Atkisson (1-0) had a strikeout and issued just one walk in her season debut.

North Alabama saw its six-game winning streak come to a close as it fell to 8-4 on the year.

USI returns to action February 24 when it takes on Trevecca Nazarene University and Ferris State University in the Midwest Region Crossover at Deaconess Sports Park in Evansville.

Southern Indiana 3, North Alabama 0 (Feb 14, 2017 at Florence, AL) (Game 1)

Southern Indiana…. 000 100 2 -  3  6  0      (0-1)

North Alabama……. 000 000 0 -  0  3  2      (8-3)

———————————————————————-

Pitchers:

Southern Indiana – Leonhardt, Jennifer and Hodges, Haley.

North Alabama – Hillary Carpenter and M. Roberts.

Win-Leonhardt, Jennifer(1-0)  Loss-Hillary Carpenter(3-2)  T-1:27  A-333

HR USI – Fulton, Mena (1).

Southern Indiana 6, North Alabama 1 (Feb 14, 2017 at Florence, AL) (Game 2)

———————————————————————-

Southern Indiana…. 000 141 0 -  6  9  0      (2-0)

North Alabama……. 001 000 0 -  1  4  2      (8-4)

———————————————————————-

Pitchers:

Southern Indiana – Atkisson,Courtney and Hodges, Haley.

North Alabama – Marissa Honeycutt; Raven Cole(5) and Sydney Sanders.

Win-Atkisson,Courtney(1-0)  Loss-Marissa Honeycutt(1-1)  T-1:26  A-310