EVANSVILLE, Ind.—After three road games to start its conference schedule, the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team finally gets a chance to play a GLVC contest in the friendly confines of the Physical Activities Center.
The Screaming Eagles (6-5, 1-2 GLVC) open their GLVC home slate Thursday when they host the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 5:15 p.m. They host defending GLVC champion Lewis University Saturday at 1 p.m.
USI is coming off a two-game road trip in which it defeated the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 77-72, and lost to the Missouri University of Science and Technology, 78-63.
Senior forward
Jasmine Baines (Jeffersonville, Indiana) led the Eagles with 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds during the two-game stretch. She had a season-best 27 points against Missouri-St. Louis.
Fellow classmate
Marshay Jolly (Merrillville, Indiana) added 12 points, in USI's victory over the Tritons.
Sophomore guard
VaNita Smart (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman guard
Amie Newhart (Mulberry, Indiana) led USI with 14 and 12 points, respectively, in USI's loss to Missouri S&T. Smart had six points and a career-high nine rebounds in USI's win over Missouri-St. Louis.
For the season, Baines leads USI and is fourth in the GLVC with 18.5 points per game. She also is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per contest, behind junior forward/center
Brittany Neuman (Huntingburg, Indiana), who ranks fifth in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per outing.
Newhart, who leads USI and ranks 13th in the league with 3.2 assists per outing, is second on the team with 9.6 points per game. She has averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 assists in USI's last five games.
USI leads the all-time series with UW-Parkside, 19-3, and is 13-3 against the Rangers since 2000 after posting a 75-58 victory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last season.
UW-Parkside (8-4, 2-2 GLVC) has won five of its last six games and is coming off a 70-43 victory over Saint Joseph's College last Saturday. The Rangers were 1-1 last week, including a 78-55 setback to the University of Indianapolis.
Senior guard Kayla Ming leads the Rangers with 17.8 points per game, while senior guard/forward MacKenzie Heise is chipping in 11.0 points and a team-best 5.5 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Amanda Gibson is averaging 9.8 points and a team-high 4.5 assists per game.
On Saturday, the Eagles will try to snap a six-game losing streak to Lewis, which visits Kentucky Wesleyan College Thursday evening. The Flyers defeated USI, 92-72, in Romeoville, Illinois, before posting a 63-48 victory over the Eagles in the GLVC Tournament last season. The all-time series between the two programs is tied, 25-25, but the Flyers are 10-8 against the Eagles since 2000.
Lewis (6-4, 3-1 GLVC), which posted an 80-46 victory over Saint Joseph's before falling to Indianapolis, 61-51, last week, has won five of its last seven games. Freshman guard/forward Jenny Turpel and junior guard/forward Kelly Dianis lead the Flyers with 10.6 and 10.4 points per game, respectively, while junior forward Lauren Martens is averaging 10.3 points and a team-best 7.1 rebounds per contest.
