Eagles struggle against Tigers, become no. 5 seed for OVC tournament

NASHVILLE – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball struggled to find its shooting rhythm on Saturday in a 73-64 road loss against Tennessee State University to conclude the Ohio Valley Conference regular season.

As a result of Saturday’s game, Southern Indiana (20-11, 12-8 OVC) will be the no. 5 seed in this week’s upcoming OVC Championship Tournament despite being tied with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, who also lost on Saturday, in the conference standings. Little Rock owned the tiebreaker for the no. 4 seed and a first-round bye over USI after winning both regular-season meetings against the Screaming Eagles.

Saturday’s game started tight with each side looking to find an early groove. At the 3:58 mark, Tennessee State (10-20, 6-14 OVC) grabbed a two-possession difference, 13-8, with its second made three of the game. The triple sparked an 8-0 run by the Tigers. Meanwhile, USI was still searching for its rhythm offensively, going 0-7 from deep in the first quarter. Tennessee State led 18-10 after the first 10 minutes.

Tennessee State’s lead grew to 14, 24-10, after two quick made threes to begin the second quarter. USI answered when senior guard Vanessa Shafford scored her third basket of the game. Following a two-minute dry spell, sophomore guard Triniti Ralston knocked down back-to-back shots, and graduate forward Meredith Raley converted a three-point play to get USI back within 10, 29-19, in the middle of the second quarter. Southern Indiana continued to chip away, taking advantage of opportunities at the free-throw line late in the first half to pull within three, 33-30, going into halftime.

Southern Indiana scored five straight out of the intermission, including a three-pointer by junior guard Ali Saunders, to take the lead, but Tennessee State responded with seven straight points to go up 40-35. After another stretch without a made field goal in the middle of the third quarter, the Tigers went on an 11-0 run to surge ahead 55-40 while USI continued to try and find consistency shooting the ball. Raley helped cut into the deficit in the last minute with a three and a layup, as the Tigers led 57-45 going to the fourth quarter.

After a couple of early shots went down for both sides to start the fourth period, Saunders drained a triple with 7:18 on the clock to get Southern Indiana back within single digits, 61-52. Once again, Tennessee State had an answer with the game turning into a defensive struggle down the stretch. The Tigers’ advantage remained around 13 with USI seeking to organize one big run. Inside the last 90 seconds, Saunders and Ralston canned a pair of three-pointers, but Tennessee State cashed in at the free-throw line late as time ran out.

Southern Indiana wound up shooting just over 37 percent (26-69) in the game and 28 percent (7-25) from beyond the arc. USI was 5-10 at the foul line and edged Tennessee State on the glass, 43-42. Saunders led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in six rebounds. Raley tallied 14 points with five boards.

Tennessee State shot above 40 percent (24-59) overall and 32 percent (9-28) from long range. The Tigers shot nearly 70 percent (16-23) at the charity stripe. Junior guard Aaniya Webb led three Tigers in double figures with 17 points.

With Tennessee State sweeping its games this week against Morehead State University and USI, the Tigers claimed the final spot in the OVC tournament as the no. 8 seed. Therefore, the Screaming Eagles and Tigers will have a rematch on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. to open the conference tournament in the five versus eight matchup. The winner will get to face Little Rock in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Wednesday’s game at Ford Center in downtown Evansville between Tennessee State and Southern Indiana can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and WREF 97.7 FM. Ticket information can be found online at usiscreamingeagles.com and ovcsports.com.

Regular season finale on tap for UE men’s basketball

Aces travel to Illinois State on Sunday afternoon 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 2024-25 regular season comes to a close on Sunday as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team travels to Normal, Ill. to face Illinois State at 2 p.m.  ESPN+ and the Purple Aces Radio Network will have the broadcast.

Last Time Out  

– Facing Drake in the home finale, the Purple Aces put up a fight before coming up just short in a 65-61 contest on Wednesday

– The teams swapped the lead 13 times in a competitive contest that saw Tayshawn Comer lead the way with 20 points while Tanner Cuff added 14

Looking Ahead

– Entering Sunday’s action, the Aces have a chance to be seeded anywhere between 5th and 10th for next week’s Arch Madness

– Standings may not be finalized until Monday morning when the latest NET rankings are released

Full 40

– For the fourth game in a row and ninth time this season, Gabriel Pozzato played all 40 minutes against Drake

– Pozzato is 6th in the MVC with 34.94 minutes per game

– He has averaged 18.0 PPG over the last three contests

– The 3-time MVC Freshman of the Week is the #7 scorer in the league with 15.45 PPG

– He earned his third MVC freshman accolade on Feb. 3 as he averaged 25.5 PPG in wins over Murray State and Belmont

– After missing eight games, he returned on Jan. 18 against Belmont

– Pozzato has posted double figures in 18 of his 22 games this year

Reaching 1K

– Tayshawn Comer scored 22 points at UIC to surpass the 1,000-point mark in his career

– After scoring 539 points in two seasons at Eastern Kentucky, Comer has 487 this season at UE to stand at 1,026 points

– Comer recorded his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 assists against Valparaiso

– His 11 assists tied his career mark

– Over the last 17 games, Comer is averaging 20.0 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game over that time and leads UE with his season scoring average of 16.2 PPG

– Included in that tally is a career-high 27 points in the win over Murray State, besting his mark of 26 in the road win at SIU

Scouting the Opponent                                                                                                   

– Illinois State has won two of its last three games to enter the regular season finale with a record of 17-13 and 9-10 in the Valley

– The Redbirds hold an 11-4 mark at home this season

– Chase Walker is the top threat for the Redbirds, pacing the team with 15.4 PPG and 6.0 RPG

– Johnny Kinziger is averaging 15.2 points and 3.8 rebounds

– Dalton Banks has chipped in 9.8 PPG and paces the team with 112 assists and 50 steals on the season

-www.GoPurpleAces.com-

VU Baseball continues to roll after Friday night doubleheader sweep

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University baseball team is picking up steam as they roll through the early part of their 2025 season, opening a big weekend invitational at Jerry Blemker Field Friday night.

The Blazers faced some tough competition Friday in front of the home fans and were able to extend their winning streak to five games after defeating North Iowa Area Community College 11-8 and picking up a big win over No. 15 Kellogg Community College 1-0.

Vincennes opened the weekend slate against North Iowa Area Community College and wasted little time getting the offense going in game one of the day.

After the Trojans opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the first, Vincennes responded in the bottom half of the first with a monster seven run inning.

VU sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning and opened the game offensively with a leadoff single by sophomore Bradyn Douglas (Frankton, Ind.).

Freshman Jevan Andrews (Hobart, Ind.) followed this by reaching on an error and the pair moved into scoring position on a double steal, with Douglas coming around to score on another NIACC error.

Andrews would score on a groundout put in play by sophomore Cobrin Napier (Indianapolis, Ind.) to even the score at 2-2.

Vincennes then continued the inning with a big two-out rally started by walks by freshman Kaden McKinney (Vincennes, Ind.) and sophomore Yancey Edlin (Pekin, Ind.) and sophomore Noble Johnson (Terre Haute, Ind.) being hit by pitch to load the bases.

Sophomore Brody Fessel (DePauw, Ind.) drove in a run on a bases loaded walk, which was then followed by a big two RBI single by sophomore Bryce Gross (Bridgeport, Ind.).

Vincennes capped off the big inning with Fessel scoring on another NIACC error and Gross scoring on a passed ball to put the Blazers up 7-2.

North Iowa Area would cut into this big lead with three runs in the second, which Vincennes again responded with four runs in the third inning.

Vincennes opened the third inning with a single by Yancey Edlin and a walk by Noble Johnson. Bryce Gross would load the bases with a walk and Bradyn Douglas would drive in a run on a sacrifice fly.

Jevan Andrews kept the inning going with an RBI infield single, followed by an RBI single by sophomore Nate Montgomery (Lexington, Ind.).

Vincennes would get the final run of the inning on a perfectly executed double steal attempt with Andrews scoring while Montgomery was caught in a run down, to give Vincennes the 11-5 lead.

The scoring would slow through the middle innings, with NIACC again cutting into the Vincennes lead with three runs in the fifth and looking to add more with the bases loaded in the sixth, but were unable to push another run across as Vincennes closed out the game strong to pick up the 11-8 victory.

Sophomore Carson Allen (Louisville, Ky.) got the start on the mound in game one for the Trailblazers, throwing six strong innings, allowing eight runs, five earned on nine hits and striking out eight.

Freshman Jacob Allen took over in the seventh and was able to retire the Trojans in order, including a game ending strikeout, to pick up his first collegiate save.

“We took advantage of their mistakes,” VU Head Baseball Coach Chris Barney said. “They gave us some opportunities early and we put up a seven run inning and a four run inning. Then we were able to hold on and play solid defense behind Carson Allen. Carson’s always going to give us a chance to win and then Jacob Allen came in and did a great job of cleaning it up and getting out of there with his first collegiate save.”

The Trailblazers would then have to immediately turn around and face another tough test against No. 15-ranked Kellogg Community College from Battle Creek, Mich.

This game was a big contrast between game one of the day for the Trailblazers with both teams pitching staffs dealing throughout the game.

Scoring opportunities were hard to come by in game two of the day, with Vincennes only getting one base runner through the first three innings.

VU would break the tie in the fourth however after a lead off single by Bradyn Douglas, followed by a double by Nate Montgomery giving the Blazers runners at second and third with only one out.

Corbin Napier was able to get the job done at the plate and allow Douglas to score on a sacrifice fly to give the Trailblazers the 1-0 lead.

The VU pitchers equally held the Kellogg batters at bay, coming through in key situations to hold the Bruins off the scoreboard and maintain the narrow one-run advantage.

Vincennes was able to silence any Kellogg scoring opportunities late as the Trailblazers closed out their fifth straight victory by the final score of 1-0.

Freshman Eastin Whaley (Kokomo, Ind.) continues to deal on the mound early this season, throwing four innings Friday night, allowing just one hit and striking out five.

Whaley then turned the game over to freshman Ty Stultz (Terre Haute, Ind.) who closed out the final three innings of work, only allowing two base runners without allowing a hit and striking out three in the game to pick up the save.

Whaley and Stultz combined to throw a one-hit shutout for the Trailblazers Friday night, VU’s first shutout since May 2023.

“Game two was a battle,” Barney added. “Really good job out there by their pitchers and our guys too. One inning was the difference in this one with leadoff single, a double and a sacrifice fly and that ends up being the difference in a 1-0 game.”

The Trailblazers will look to keep this hot start going as they close out the weekend invitational tomorrow, Saturday, March 1 against North Iowa Area Community College.

Game time for tomorrow will be decided in the morning, with NIACC either playing VU in a single nine-inning game at 1 p.m. eastern, or NIACC playing Kellogg in a seven-inning game at 1 p.m., followed by VU facing NIACC in a seven-inning game immediately after.

“We’ve got to just continue to compete,” Barney said. “We’ve got to find different ways to win ball games and compete. Play good defense, we got a little sloppy in game two and we were fortunate that they didn’t take advantage of our errors. We’ve just got to continue to compete. JD Bowser (Mt. Carmel, Ill.) will start on the bump for us and we’ve still got a fair amount of guys in the bullpen. So we feel good about where we are at.”

BOX SCORE

GAME ONE

North Iowa Area C.C. – 230   030   0 – 8

VU (6-3) – 704   000   x – 11

VINCENNES HITTING

RBI – Gross 2, Douglas, Andrews, Montgomery, Napier, Fessel. HBP – Napier, Johnson. Sac Fly – Douglas. SB – Andrews 3, Miller 2, Douglas, Gross, McKinney, Edlin.

GAME TWO

Kellogg – 000   000   0 – 0

VU (7-3) – 000   100   x – 1

VINCENNES HITTING

2B – Montgomery. RBI – Napier. Sac Fly – Napier.

-30-

The Vincennes University baseball team improves to 7-3 on the season.