When the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team takes the court at 6 p.m. Thursday against Lewis University in the first round of the GLVC Tournament at Roberts Stadium, the Screaming Eagles will be looking to add to their six-game winning streak in conference tournament games.
After a one-year hiatus from the league's post-season tournament, the Eagles enter the 2004 GLVC Tournament as the fifth seed. USI's last tournament appearance produced its second consecutive GLVC Tournament title.
Since the GLVC Tournament was created in 1998, the Eagles have won the championship a record three times and hold a GLVC-best 9-2 record in tournament games.
This season, the Eagles (19-8) are not only looking for their third title in four years, they are attempting to get back into the NCAA II Tournament for the first time since 2002.
The Eagles also will be looking to reach 20 wins for the first time since the 2001-02 season as they face a fourth-seeded Lewis squad that handed USI its only loss in the last six games.
An Eagle win Thursday night would pit the Eagles against the winner of top-seeded Quincy University and eighth-seeded Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday, March 6, at 2:30 p.m.
Leading the Eagles into the tournament is a two-time GLVC "Player of the Week" performer in junior guard
Jamie Truitt (Owensboro, Kentucky). Truitt is coming off a career-high 31 points against the University of Indianapolis in USI's regular-season finale. She led the GLVC in conference-only games with 17.8 points per contest—she averaged 17.1 points per game overall, good enough for second in the league.
Truitt missed USI's last encounter with the Flyers, an 85-74 setback in Romeoville, Illinois. She scored 11 points and had eight rebounds in USI's 86-76 victory over Lewis at the PAC in early January.
In addition to Truitt, USI will rely on senior forwards
Shannon Wells (Merrillville, Indiana) and
Shajuan Lindsey (Midlothian, Illinois), both of whom follow Truitt in the scoring column with 12.0 and 11.2 points per game, respectively. Their play during the regular season led the Eagles to a 12-8 record in the GLVC.
Lewis, which finished the regular season with a 16-11 record and a 13-7 record in the GLVC, is led by freshman forward Darcee Schmidt and sophomore guard Shante Glenn. Schmidt leads the Flyers with 13.6 points per game, while Glenn is averaging 11.6 points per outing. Glenn scored 19 points and Schmidt scored 17 points in Lewis's last meeting with the Eagles.
