EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball added on to a historic 2023-24 championship season by winning the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament crown, 81-53, over the University of Tennessee at Martin on Saturday afternoon at Ford Center in downtown Evansville to deliver the first OVC team tournament championship in USI history.
USI Women’s Basketball (24-6) already claimed the first OVC team regular-season championship in the last two weeks of the 2023-24 season, securing the No. 1 seed for the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship. USI defeated Eastern Illinois University, 69-54, in Friday’s semifinal to get to Saturday’s championship game against UT Martin (16-16).
The Screaming Eagles’ championship game victory marked USI’s 10th consecutive win, matching the longest winning streak of the season for USI. The Screaming Eagles also won 10 in a row between December 22 to February 1.
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.
On Saturday, UT Martin scored the game’s first points at the free-throw line, but then Southern Indiana went on a 12-2 run over five minutes. The run included a pair of jumpers by junior guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) to give USI a 12-4 advantage halfway into the opening quarter. Each side experienced a two-minute scoreless drought in the back half of the first quarter, but the Screaming Eagles finished the period with a couple of field-goal makes in the last two minutes to take a 17-8 lead to the second quarter.
In the first two minutes of the second period, UT Martin came out with a barrage of three-point attempts, swishing three in a row through the bottom of the net. Southern Indiana answered with back-to-back layups before senior forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) dropped in a triple of her own to make the score 24-17 USI with 7:30 left in the first half. Then freshman guard Triniti Ralston (Louisville, Kentucky) sparked another big run for the Screaming Eagles with a dribble-drive layup and a three-pointer. USI’s lead grew to 33-19 past the five-minute mark of the second frame. The final minutes of the first half featured a defensive struggle before Shafford stroked a buzzer-beating three, giving the Screaming Eagles a 36-23 halftime lead.
Southern Indiana came out of halftime with 10 unanswered points, and by the 6:30 mark in the third quarter, USI doubled up UT Martin, 50-25. Senior forward Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana) tallied a pair of layups, while redshirt senior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) scored seven points during USI’s big run. Near the midway point of the second half, Ralston continued to make a huge impact with consecutive three-point makes. Southern Indiana’s advantage continued to climb, as a last-second transition layup by Raley capped off a 64-36 USI lead through three periods of play.
The fourth quarter had a slow start for both teams. For Southern Indiana, freshman forward Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) had a solid second half with a pair of makes in the fourth stanza. Gannon joined Raley and Ralston in double figures scoring, as Ralston added to her career game in the scoring column and three-point shooting. Leading 70-48 near the middle of the fourth quarter, Southern Indiana put the cherry on top of the 81-53 championship victory with multiple baskets by Gannon and Shafford in the waning minutes before storming the court in celebration as the final buzzer sounded.
With Southern Indiana not eligible for the NCAA Tournament due to NCAA program reclassification rules, UT Martin received the OVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the runner-up.
For the game, Southern Indiana was 32-68 for 47 percent shooting, hitting 10 three-pointers and also going 7-7 at the free-throw line. USI outrebounded the Skyhawks, 41-27, and outscored UT Martin in the paint, 36-14. Individually, Shafford led USI with 15 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Ralston poured in a career-high 14 points and a career-best four three-pointers made. Gannon also chipped in 14 points. Raley recorded 13 points. Blackwell and Webb had nine and eight points, respectively.
UT Martin shot the ball at nearly 39 percent (19-49), connecting eight times from outside the perimeter. The Skyhawks were 7-12 at the foul stripe. UT Martin was led in scoring by freshman Amari Bonds’ 26 points.
Following Saturday’s game and the postgame celebration, the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference All-Tournament Team was announced, which included four USI players. Raley was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team and was selected for the Most Valuable Player Award of the OVC Championship Tournament. Between the two games played, Raley posted 30 total points and 15 rebounds while shooting 55 percent overall. Joining Raley on the OVC All-Tournament Team was Gannon, Webb, and sophomore guard Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana). Gannon dropped 29 points, 10 boards, and shot for nearly 57 percent in the two games. Webb totaled 26 points, and Saunders tallied 16 points, 15 assists, and 12 rebounds in the tournament. Saunders flirted with a triple-double on Friday, coming up a rebound shy.
Southern Indiana’s first-ever appearance in the OVC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament also brought the top-two largest crowds in OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament history since the postseason championship moved to Evansville, Indiana, and Ford Center in 2018. Friday’s semifinal session brought 1,157 spectators, which was outdone by Saturday’s championship game attendance of 1,715.
Next up, USI Women’s Basketball will turn its attention to further postseason competition after securing its spot in the WNIT with its regular season title. The WNIT is a postseason tournament not sanctioned by the NCAA. The Screaming Eagles will wait and see to find out the field as well as dates and times in a little over a week. Stay tuned to usiscreamingeagles.com and @USIAthletics on social media for more information.
