Saunders, Gannon secure OVC WBB weekly honors

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball had a pair of Screaming Eagles earn Ohio Valley Conference weekly accolades. It was announced Tuesday that the league’s communications directors voted sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana) as OVC Player and Newcomer of the Week and freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) as OVC Freshman of the Week.
 
This is Saunders’ second weekly award after earning OVC Newcomer of the Week on January 30 and Gannon’s first-ever conference honor in her first collegiate season at USI.
 
Saunders, a Valparaiso University transfer, earned back-to-back double-digit scoring nights, putting up 20 points against the University of Tennessee at Martin on Thursday before adding 18 points at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Saturday. Saunders was the leading scorer and passer in both contests. Saunders totaled 10 made triples and 14 assists during the week.
 
In the game against the Skyhawks, Saunders went 7-11 from the field and a whopping 6-8 from downtown while matching a season-high five rebounds and six assists. She also hit the game-sealing three with 30 seconds left. Against the Trojans, Saunders was on fire early, going 7-10 from the floor, including a stellar 4-6 from three. Saunders set a new career best with eight assists.
 
Gannon, a true freshman from Coffee County Central High School, posted double-digit scoring performances last week. Gannon averaged 16.5 points while shooting 62 percent with eight rebounds per game.
 
On Thursday against UT Martin, Gannon dropped her first career double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in her second start of the season. Against Little Rock on Saturday, Gannon put up 16 points and four rebounds while going 7-9 from the field.
 
Saunders, Gannon, and the Screaming Eagles (18-6, 13-1 OVC) head to Morehead, Kentucky on Tuesday for a battle against Morehead State University (13-12, 8-6 OVC) with a 4 p.m. (CT) tip-off. USI took care of Morehead State in their matchup on January 20 with a 70-55 home victory.