Nine games ago, the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team was coming off its third loss of the season and its second in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. That was just 10 games into the season.
To put that in perspective, the Screaming Eagles lost just three games during all of last year's regular season.
What a difference 41 days and eight games can make. The Eagles are now 15-3 overall, 8-2 in the GLVC, are ranked seventh in the nation, and are riding an eight-game win streak as they head to Rensselaer, Indiana to take on Saint Joseph's College.
If the Eagles can get past SJC on Saturday, it will set up a highly-anticipated rematch between them and third-ranked Northern Kentucky University next Thursday, January 24, at the Physical Activities Center. Ironically, NKU was the last team to defeat USI.
But that is nothing more than an "if." First the Eagles will have to take care of a business against a Lady Puma squad that has posted GLVC wins against the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy University, and a squad that is due for a win. SJC, 4-12 overall and 3-7 in the GLVC, enters the game in the midst of an eight-game loosing streak.
If the Eagles are to continue their winning streak, must turn to sophomore forward
Jessica Stuckman (Quincy, Illinois) and junior forward/center
Africa Sherrod (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida).
Stuckman had a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday and leads the GLVC with 20.2 points per game. Sherrod, who is coming off a 19-point performance at UWP, leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game and is third on the squad with 12.8 points per contest.
The Eagles also will need good play from their guards so they can take pressure off Stuckman and Sherrod underneath. Look for senior guard
Jasmine Moore (Chicago, Illinois) and sophomore guard
Erin Wall (New Albany, Indiana) to provide the perimeter game for the Eagles.
Moore is coming off a 12-point performance at UWP and is second among Eagle scorers with 13.3 points per outing while Wall has been red-hot from behind the arc, connecting on nine of her last 11 shots from three-point land.
Leading the way for SJC is sophomore forward Heather Allen. Allen is averaging a team-high 17.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Historically, these two teams are knotted at 20 wins apiece. However, the Eagles have won three straight and nine of their last 10 meetings with the Lady Pumas.
Saturday's game is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and can be heard on WSWI AM 820 or via the web by going to www.usi.edu/sports/ and clicking on the WSWI logo.
