EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team starts its quest for its fourth league tournament title Friday at 6 p.m. when it takes on second-seeded Lewis University in the first round of the GLVC Tournament at Roberts Stadium. The Screaming Eagles enter the post-season as the seventh seed in the conference tournament.
USI (14-13, 7-13 GLVC) had to fight its way into the tournament, winning two of its last three games on the road and on the opposition's Senior Day. The Eagles got to the post-season by defeating the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 82-78, and Kentucky Wesleyan College, 82-68. They nearly pulled off three straight road wins, but lost to Bellarmine University in the season-finale, 95-89, in overtime.
The Eagles have had an offensive explosion in their last three games after averaging just 57.0 points in an 11-game streak that saw them fail to score 70 points in a single contest. USI has averaged 84.3 points in its last three contests.
USI has been on fire from the free throw line during its offensive surge. The Eagles have made 54 of their last 60 attempts from the charity stripe, raising their season percentage from 68.6 percent to 71.2 percent.
Leading the Eagles in their last three games has been senior forward/center
Andrea Engleking (Charlottesville, Indiana) and senior guard
Jamie Truitt (Owensboro, Kentucky). Engleking, who has connected on 42 of her last 45 free throw attempts, is averaging 18.0 ppg, while Truitt is scoring 17.3 ppg during that stretch.
Junior forward
Sabrina Brandon (Danville, Indiana) and junior guard
Tiara Brown (Normal, Illinois) have averaged 14.7 and 11.0 ppg, respectively, in the last three games, while junior forward
Ashley Green (Otterbein, Indiana) and senior center
Megan Nelson (Clarendon Hills, Illinois) have each averaged 8.3 ppg. Green is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game.
For the season, Truitt, who ranks 14th all-time at USI with 841 career points, leads the Eagles with 14.6 ppg, while Brandon and Engleking are chipping in 12.3 and 11.9 ppg, respectively. Green leads the Eagles with 5.7 rpg.
Lewis (18-9, 15-5 GLVC), which defeated the Eagles 85-70 in Romeoville, Illinois, and 72-69 at the Physical Activities Center, has won eight straight games and is led by sophomore forwards Mary Moskal and Darcee Schmidt as well as junior guard Shante Glenn. Moskal and Schmidt lead the Flyers with 16.6 and 14.8 ppg, respectively, while Glenn is chipping in 13.4 ppg.
Glenn and Schmidt scorched the Eagles for 25.0 and 24.5 ppg, respectively, in the two meetings with the Eagles. Engleking and Truitt led the Eagles with 18.0 and 17.5 ppg, respectively, in the two meetings with the Flyers.
USI's bracket consists of the third-seeded University of Wisconsin-Parkside (20-10, 14-6 GLVC) and the sixth-seeded University of Indianapolis (19-8, 12-8 GLVC). The opposite side of the bracket consists of top-seeded Quincy University (19-8, 16-4 GLVC), which will take on the eighth-seeded Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Cougars (12-17, 7-13 GLVC), and the fourth-seeded Bellarmine University Knights (20-7, 14-6 GLVC), who take on the fifth-seeded Northern Kentucky University Norse (16-11, 13-7 GLVC).
The second round of the GLVC Women's Basketball Tournament is slated for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, while the championship is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. If USI wins Friday, it will play the 8:30 game on Saturday.
