EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball visits The Circle City Wednesday for the second game of a season-long five-game road stretch when the Screaming Eagles take on Butler University at 6 p.m. CT from historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The game can be seen live on FloHoops with a subscription and heard on 95.7FM The Spin (
http://957thespin.com).
Wednesday's meeting will be the first matchup between the two programs since the 1983-84 season when USI claimed a 66-58 win. Butler leads the all-time series 6-1.
Last time out on Saturday, Southern Indiana began its lengthy road swing with a 77-59 loss at Murray State University. The Racers started out hot, taking an early 13-2 lead against USI. Southern Indiana narrowed the deficit in the second quarter to eight points after a 9-0 run, but Murray State managed to widen the margin for the win.
Junior forward
Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) led USI against the Racers with 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Raley has scored in double digits in each of USI's games this season. The junior forward leads the Screaming Eagles at 15.8 points per game while shooting over 49 percent from the field. She has also done well from outside, shooting above 43 percent from three. Raley's aggressiveness inside has led to a free-throw percentage of over 85 percent on a team-high 28 attempts at the charity stripe.
Southern Indiana has two other players averaging double figures in scoring: senior forward
Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) is averaging 14.0 points per contest and sophomore guard
Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) is averaging 13.5 points per outing. Shafford has been a sharpshooter this season for the Screaming Eagles, knocking down shots at a percentage above 53 percent overall, and is 15-for-24 and 62.5 percent from deep. Additionally, the guard has been stout elsewhere on the floor, grabbing a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game and posting 15 steals this season.
The Screaming Eagles' offense has been one of the best when it comes to offensive conversion and the efficiency of putting the ball in the basket. USI is averaging 74.3 points per game, which is second in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southern Indiana's scoring output has been achieved by shooting 45.2 percent from the floor (second in the OVC), 40.6 percent from behind the arc (first in the OVC), and 77.8 percent at the free-throw line (second in the OVC). USI has not been a high-volume three-point shooting squad, but the team's efficiency in three-pointers made stands among the best in the nation. Meanwhile, USI's offensive effort has led to an OVC-best 18.2 assists per game, which also sits among the best in the nation. The Screaming Eagles have recorded an assist on over 66 percent of their total made baskets this season.
Butler is 4-4 this season, which includes a 72-55 win against OVC member Tennessee State University. The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back losses to start their Big East conference season against St. John's University and DePaul University. Last time out, DePaul captured a 78-72 win against Butler. The Bulldogs were led by graduate guard Rachel McLimore who scored 17 points. Sophomore forward Sydney Jaynes and junior forward Anna Mortag also finished in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
McLimore paces the Bulldogs at 12.9 points per game, shooting over 47 percent on the season overall and 44 percent from three. Mortag averages 10.6 points per contest and 6.3 rebounds a game.
Following the midweek showdown at Butler, the Screaming Eagles will continue their northward journey to Ypsilanti, Michigan on Saturday for a 12 p.m. CT start at Eastern Michigan University.
