EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball welcomes Western Illinois University to Screaming Eagles Arena Friday at 6 p.m., as the Screaming Eagles open the portion of their schedule against Division I competition (
ticket information). The contest can be seen live with a subscription to ESPN+.
The game can also be heard on 95.7FM The Spin (
http://957thespin.com).
USI continues their season-opening two-game homestand against the Leathernecks, the first Division I opponent for USI this season. Southern Indiana is coming off an 87-39 home win on Monday against Oakland City University to tip off the 2022-23 season, winning their fourth straight season-opening contest and eighth straight home opener.
The Screaming Eagles' post presence and defensive havoc against the Mighty Oaks led to several scoring opportunities for USI. Southern Indiana tallied 42 points in the paint and forced 33 Oakland City turnovers, which converted to 35 points off turnovers for USI. USI also collected 53 rebounds with 20 on the offensive glass as a team. The Screaming Eagles shot 49.3 percent (33-67) overall and 50 percent (7-14) from three.
USI was led in scoring by senior forward
Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) with 16 points. The preseason All-OVC selection found herself on the receiving end on numerous deep passes down low under the basket. Junior forward
Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) also finished in double-figures, scoring 14 points, including 10 in the third quarter Monday. Sophomore guard
Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) had a solid game on both ends of the court, scoring 12 points but also grabbing nine rebounds with five takeaways.
For Haithcock, Monday was her 49
th career double-figure scoring performance after having 20 such games last season. USI is 37-12 when Haithcock scores 10 or more. Raley scored double-digits for the 25
th time in her career Monday, as she also scored double-digits 20 times last season. USI is 23-2 when Raley has scored 10 or more. Southern Indiana is 8-0 when Shafford scores 10-plus points, picking up her eighth career double-figure game on Monday.
Western Illinois began its 2022-23 season Monday with a 75-45 road loss at the University of Minnesota. Redshirt Jada Thorpe led Western Illinois with eight points. Senior center Alissa Dins grabbed 12 rebounds in the contest. As a team, Western Illinois shot 15-60 (25%) overall and 7-31 (22.6%) from three. The Leathernecks were outrebounded by the Gophers 54-37. Western Illinois also had 19 turnovers to 10 assists.
Graduate guard Elizabeth Lutz is the top returning player for the Leathernecks this season. Lutz averaged 11.6 points per game last season while also leading the squad with 114 assists and 64 steals. Western Illinois finished the 2021-22 season with a 14-15 record.
Friday is the first meeting of all time between the two schools.
Friday's game is part of a buy one, get one fandom deal where fans can buy a ticket to Friday's game or Sunday's USI Men's Basketball home game and get the other game free. Fans can buy tickets online at usiscreamingeagles.com.
Additionally, other exciting events and activities are planned throughout the weekend for the Women's Basketball game on Friday and the Men's Basketball game Sunday afternoon.
The USI Men's Basketball team will meet fans from 5-6 p.m. preceding the USI Women's Basketball game Friday, and the Women's Basketball team will meet fans 2-3 p.m. before the USI Men's Basketball game on Sunday.
There will also be spirit and photo stations, Boom Squad Inc. drum line performances on both gamedays at halftime, and USI students will have a chance to win a 2022 Jeep Wrangler from Mt. Vernon Expressway Jeep at both games.
Following Friday's game, the Screaming Eagles will make their first road trip of the season next Tuesday to Northern Illinois University for an 11 a.m. contest.
