EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following a 2-0 start, University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball will look to conclude a three-game homestand with a sweep on Thursday at 7 p.m. when the Screaming Eagles take on Northern Illinois University from Screaming Eagles Arena.
Thursday's game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on 95.7 FM The Spin.
USI is off to a 2-0 start for the second consecutive season. Plus, USI was the only team in the Ohio Valley Conference to start 2-0 this year. Southern Indiana will seek its first 3-0 start since the 2020-21 season on Thursday against the visiting Huskies (0-2).
The Eagles have taken care of business so far to begin the 2023-24 season. USI opened the season with a 67-63 victory in the opener against Wright State University on November 6 before earning an 86-38 win last Sunday against Oakland City University.
In Sunday's win against the Mighty Oaks, the Eagles were in control from the opening tip. USI started out 4-for-4 from outside the arc and stretched out a 14-0 run to take an early 16-3 lead in the first quarter. During the contest, USI's defense was also strong, holding Oakland City to sizable scoring droughts on multiple occasions. Southern Indiana put the finishing touches on the win in the fourth quarter with a 16-0 run toward building its biggest lead of 48 points.
As a team, USI shot over 50 percent at 54.8 percent on Sunday, including nine three-pointers at a 47 percent clip from deep. Once again, USI grabbed 45 rebounds with 20 on the offensive glass. Senior forward
Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) and redshirt senior guard
Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) led the way with a game-high 13 points each. Freshman forward
Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee) added 10 points and eight rebounds in the contest.
Northern Illinois, out of the Mid-American Conference, is playing its third straight road game to begin the season. The Huskies fell at Arkansas State University, 75-62, on November 9 to open the season before most recently dropping a road matchup at Western Illinois University on Sunday, 95-62. On Sunday, senior guard Jayden Marable led the Huskies with 16 points.
Between the two games, Northern Illinois has shot 35 percent overall and below 25 percent from three. The Huskies have taken a combined 67 attempts from outside. Marable leads NIU in scoring at 13 points per game, while shooting 48 percent with nine assists. Junior guard Laura Nickel is averaging 10 points per contest, and senior forward Brooke Stonebraker has posted 9.5 points and eight rebounds per game. Stonebraker had a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds in the loss at Arkansas State.
Southern Indiana and Northern Illinois met for the first time in DeKalb, Illinois last year, which also happened to be the third game of the season for USI. The Huskies came out ahead of the Eagles, 61-53, in that matchup. Raley was one of three Eagles to score 10 or more in the game, as she led USI with 15 points. USI went 1-2 against MAC schools last season.
Thursday's tilt with Northern Illinois precedes a two-game road swing for Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles will hit the road next week against two Power-5 schools, facing the University of Missouri next Monday and Purdue University the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
