EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Following a two-game road swing, University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball returns home to Screaming Eagles Arena Friday at 7 p.m. for a battle against Murray State University.
Friday's game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on 95.7 FM The Spin.
Southern Indiana (3-2) is coming off two road games against major conference opponents, including a 95-57 loss at Purdue University last Sunday. The road swing was not kind to USI, giving the Screaming Eagles their first setbacks of the season after a 3-0 start to the campaign at home.
Sunday's contest at Purdue featured a competitive start for the Screaming Eagles through the first media timeout of the first quarter, staying in stride with the Boilermakers. All five USI starters had scored by the first timeout. However, Purdue's defense clamped down while their offense clicked from there. Purdue shot nearly 58 percent for the game. USI was led in scoring on Sunday by junior guard
Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) with 14 points and senior forward
Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) with 13 points.
After being held to single digits in the season's first two games, Shafford has scored 10 or more in the Eagles' last three games. She has also shot over 50 percent in the last three contests. Shafford paces USI at 13.2 points and 7.2 boards per outing while also leading in assists and steals. Raley is second in scoring with 10.6 points per game.
Through five games, USI is averaging 67.6 points per game on 43 percent shooting. The Eagles are hitting from three at 34.4 percent and grab 37.8 rebounds per game. One area of improvement early on this season for USI has been ball security. After registering over 20 turnovers per game last year and in the first three games this season, USI is averaging nearly seven fewer giveaways in the last two outings.
Murray State (3-2) has won two straight games, both at home, heading into Friday's visit to USI. The Racers have had a similar start to the season like the Screaming Eagles. Murray State is 3-0 at home but has gone 0-2 on the road against major conference opponents. The Racers fell by only three at the University of Arkansas on November 10 and suffered a 112-79 defeat at Indiana University on November 17.
More recently, Murray State's two-game winning streak has come with a 108-78 win against Bellarmine University on November 21 and an 88-75 victory against the University of Tennessee at Martin this past Tuesday. The Racers had seven players tally 10 or more points in Tuesday's win.
On the season, Murray State is posting 95 points per game while shooting 46 percent overall and 32 percent from beyond the arc. The Racers are also recording 18.4 assists on the offensive end and average 42.2 rebounds per contest. Senior forward Katelyn Young, who led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring and was named All-MVC First Team in 2022-23, tops the Racers this year with 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per outing. Young had a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards on Tuesday against UT Martin. Murray State has three other players averaging double figures in scoring.
Entering Friday's matchup, Murray State leads the all-time series against USI, 4-1. The Racers defeated the Eagles in Murray, Kentucky last year, 77-59. In that game, Raley was Southern Indiana's top scorer with 15 points, while Young had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Murray State. USI's only win in the series came in 1986 with a 78-71 road win.
With Friday's meeting against the Racers, the Screaming Eagles will look to get back on track, as four of the next five games for USI will be at Screaming Eagles Arena to conclude the non-conference slate.
