USI’s OVC tournament run ends in semifinal round Friday
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball dug deep and battled to the wire in Friday’s Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament semifinal against Tennessee Tech University, but the Screaming Eagles’ OVC tournament run came to an end in an 88-78 final against the Golden Eagles from Ford Center in downtown Evansville.
The fifth-seeded Screaming Eagles finished their tournament run with a record of 22-12 (12-8 OVC). Top-seeded Tennessee Tech won its 16th straight game on Friday to improve to 25-5 overall (18-2 OVC). The Golden Eagles advanced to the tournament championship game on Saturday where they will face the winner of the other semifinal game between no. 7 seed Western Illinois University and no. 2 seed Lindenwood University.
In Friday’s contest, Southern Indiana continued its offensive attack from the first two rounds, pounding the ball inside to graduate forward Meredith Raley on a pair of occasions to take an early 6-4 lead three minutes into the game. It remained a two-point lead past the halfway point of the first quarter. Despite a couple of made jumpers by senior guard Vanessa Shafford, Tennessee Tech made the final surge of the first to take a 16-14 lead to the second period.
After a Raley layup seconds into the second quarter knotted the game up at 16, Southern Indiana went cold over the next three-plus minutes into a timeout and the Golden Eagles went ahead 23-16. Key production by USI’s bench in the middle of the second kept USI within striking distance. After Tennessee Tech built its lead to nine, the attacking combination of Raley and sophomore forward Chloe Gannon whittled the deficit down to five, 36-31, in the final minutes of the first half. However, a three in the final seconds put Tennessee Tech up 39-31 going into halftime.
Tennessee Tech increased its lead to 12 early in the second half, but USI also came out of the halftime locker room fighting. After missing the first field-goal attempt of the half, USI made five straight shots to shrink the gap to five, 47-42, with 6:32 left in the third. Raley continued to lead the USI charge, connecting for four of USI’s field goals in the middle of the period. After 10 first-half points, Raley tallied 13 in the third quarter. Trailing by only three, 49-46, at the 4:31 mark, the Screaming Eagles trimmed the rest of the difference to tie the game 52-52 and then took the lead on a layup by sophomore guard Sophia Loden with a minute to go in the third. The Golden Eagles hit three free throws in the closing seconds to take a 57-54 advantage to the fourth quarter.
Junior guard Ali Saunders opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play and a following huge corner triple from Loden catapulted the Screaming Eagles back ahead, 60-57, seconds into the frame. Tennessee Tech later proceeded to regain a four-point lead off back-to-back threes. USI answered out of a timeout to tie the game again at 67. The two sides went back and forth on chances at the free-throw line. After another Raley basket made it a one-point game, 75-74, with three minutes to go, Tennessee Tech went on a 7-0 run into the final two minutes and sealed the win at the free-throw line.
Southern Indiana shot 51 percent (28-55) from the floor and 3-10 from beyond the arc. USI went for 61 percent (19-31) at the free-throw line. USI registered less than 10 turnovers for the second time this season. USI outscored Tennessee Tech 48-30 in the paint.
Raley matched a career-high 29 points on 12-18 shooting and 5-5 at the foul line. Raley previously set her career mark earlier this season on January 9 at Southeast Missouri State University. Raley also pulled down nine rebounds on Friday. Saunders posted 12 points and dished out seven or more assists for the third straight game.
During the tournament, Raley shot a blistering 78.1 percent from the floor (25-32) across the three games played. Raley’s field goal percentage is an OVC tournament-best since 1999-2000. The previous best since the turn of the century was Rachel Galligan of Eastern Illinois, who was 28-39 for 71.8 percent in three games in 2008-09.
For Tennessee Tech, the Golden Eagles also shot 51 percent (26-51) overall and were 8-18 for 44 percent from three. Tennessee Tech drained 93 percent (28-30) from the charity stripe and won the rebounding battle, 34-27. Tennessee Tech had six players finish in double figures, led by senior forward Taris Thornton’s 20 points.
Following a second consecutive OVC tournament berth and appearance in the semifinal round, USI Women’s Basketball will wait and see if further postseason competition is in the cards for the Screaming Eagles.
