EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball used a strong second half Thursday night at Screaming Eagles Arena to pull away and win its ninth consecutive game with an 81-61 victory against Western Illinois University, keeping the Screaming Eagles undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 8-0 conference record.
Southern Indiana, who remains in first place in the OVC by 2.5 games, already surpassed its OVC win total from the 2022-23 season last week. Thursday’s win against the Leathernecks put the Screaming Eagles at 13-5 this season, surpassing last year’s overall mark.
Thursday’s matchup featured two top-three scoring offenses in the Ohio Valley Conference and the Screaming Eagles’ top-scoring defense in league play. After a couple of minutes of settling into the game, Southern Indiana grabbed an early 10-3 advantage three minutes into the contest following a pair of three-pointers and a layup. Then Western Illinois went to work on the offensive end for an 8-0 run to take a one-point lead in the middle of the first quarter. By the end of the first 10 minutes of action, the Leathernecks led 18-15.
The back-and-forth struggle from the first period lingered into the second quarter. After Western Illinois started the second by pushing its lead to five, USI’s freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) put consecutive baskets through the bottom of the net to bring the Screaming Eagles within one, 22-21. Halfway into the frame, the Leathernecks led 26-22 before USI senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) went on an individual spurt with a mid-range jumper and a triple to push Southern Indiana in front, 27-26. Raley ended up with 10 second-quarter points. Down the stretch of the first half, sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana) helped expand the Eagles’ lead on her second trey of the game and a dazzling layup. Southern Indiana carried a 35-28 lead into the halftime locker room.
After a bit of a slow start from the floor to start the second half, Southern Indiana scored back-to-back layups from senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) and junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) to maintain its halftime margin. Then the Eagles started to find a consistent balance between their inside and outside game. Under the six-minute mark in the third period, Saunders canned another three to cross into double figures for the game, as USI led 42-35. About two minutes later, Shafford started to heat up from beyond the arc, splashing home a three from the wing to extend the Eagles’ advantage to 10, 47-37. Late in the third, USI went on a 12-0 run, which was sparked by a three-point play from Raley and a made three from Shafford. Southern Indiana went into the fourth stanza ahead 61-43.
Right away in the fourth quarter, Shafford cashed in another three-pointer. Later in the fourth, Southern Indiana went on an 11-2 run, which was highlighted by Gannon making a basket and drawing the foul twice within a minute of action. With six minutes left on the clock, Raley and Saunders swished back-to-back triples to increase the Screaming Eagles’ lead to 25, 75-50. In the two minutes that followed, Gannon scored twice more to set a new career mark. Southern Indiana closed out the victory from there.
Southern Indiana ended the game shooting 47.5 percent from the field (29-61) with 11 makes from long range, nearly double USI’s total three-point makes in the previous two games. USI was 12-23 for 52.2 percent at the foul line. The Screaming Eagles racked up 18 assists after 12 second-half helpers. Individually, Raley led all scorers with 21 points, while Gannon posted a career-high 18 points on 8-13 shooting. Shafford recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Saunders tallied a season-high 14 points with five rebounds and seven assists, which matched a season best.
Western Illinois, who dropped to 12-6 this season and 3-4 in league action, was held to 30 percent shooting (19-63) and only 19 percent (6-31) from outside the perimeter. The Leathernecks went 17-21 for 81 percent at the free-throw stripe. Freshman combo guard Raegan McCowan paced Western Illinois with 18 points.
The current run by the Screaming Eagles, overall and in conference play, is a team best since 2017-18 when USI rattled off 13 straight victories in the middle of the Great Lakes Valley Conference season. The Screaming Eagles also continue to ride their best start to a conference schedule since 1996-97. The current streak has featured six double-digit margins of victory and two single-digit wins in conference play, flipping some of the close defeats from last season. In addition to completing the three-game homestand sweep, Southern Indiana also picked up its fifth weekly sweep in the OVC schedule after having none in 2022-23.
The Screaming Eagles will return to game action for a pair of road contests next week. USI will head to Tennessee Tech University next Thursday, February 1, for a 5:30 p.m. start before visiting Tennessee State University next Saturday, February 3, for a 1 p.m. tip. Both road games can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on 95.7 FM The Spin.
