EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball made its first-ever debut in the CollegeInsider.com Women’s Mid-Major Top 25® rankings Tuesday evening, checking in at No. 22 in the latest poll.
Now in its’ 14th season, the Women’s Mid-Major Top 25® is voted on by 31 Division I coaches. The poll is announced every Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Southern Indiana (24-6) had been receiving votes for the mid-major rankings since January 30, but the Screaming Eagles cracked the top 25 following a sweep of the 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship and most recently the 2024 OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament championship. USI was the only OVC school to be ranked or receive votes in the latest release of the rankings.
The Screaming Eagles captured the first two OVC team championships for USI Athletics this season, capturing the regular-season title by six games before winning back-to-back games against Eastern Illinois University and the University of Tennessee at Martin in last week’s OVC Championship Tournament. USI defeated the Panthers by a score of 69-54 in the semifinals and by a score of 81-53 over UT Martin in the championship game.
USI’s 28-point margin of victory in Saturday’s championship game also ranked among the largest margins of victory in the OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game history, just short of the championship game’s top-two point differentials of 32 and 30 points.
Compared to recent history, Saturday’s championship win put Southern Indiana with the likes of the University of North Dakota’s 2011-12 team (Great West Conference) and California Baptist University’s 2020-21 team (Western Athletic Conference) to win a regular season and conference tournament championship in the same season during a transition period.
Plus, Southern Indiana is currently enjoying a 10-game winning streak for the second time this season, matching a team best since the 2017-18 season. The 2017-18 season was also the last time USI had won at least 24 games overall as the Screaming Eagles have done so far this season.
