EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball renews an old Division II, Great Lakes Valley Conference rivalry Saturday when the Screaming Eagles host Northern Kentucky University for a 3 p.m. tipoff at Liberty Arena, home the Screaming Eagles.
 
Saturday's matchup can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and WREF 97.7. FM. It is also USI Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day at Liberty Arena on Saturday.
 
Southern Indiana (4-1) and Northern Kentucky (2-3) have a long-standing history that goes back to the 1981-82 season, but they have not faced off since 2011-12. Saturday will be the 58^th meeting between the two programs and the first meeting as Division I foes. The previous 57 games were when both schools were in Division II and the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse lead the all-time series, 38-19, and have won the last four meetings.
 
A heightened point in the series history between USI and Northern Kentucky was in the early 2000s. In January 2001, USI defended its home court with a 72-62 victory over the No. 1-ranked Norse, who was coming off a D-II National Championship the season before. Later in 2001, USI defeated NKU again in the GLVC Tournament Championship game, 95-73, for another top-10 victory, The Screaming Eagles went on to an NCAA II Elite Eight appearance and finished the season ranked No. 6 in Division II. The next season in 2001-02 was just as competitive with the two squads meeting four times that season. Both teams split the regular-season slate with home-court wins. The third meeting during the 2001-02 season was a rematch in the GLVC Tournament Championship game, where USI came out victorious, 89-79. USI and NKU met a week later in the NCAA II Tournament and Great Lakes Region Tournament Championship game with Northern Kentucky edging USI, 69-66, to advance. The Eagles finished the year with another top-10 Division II ranking.
 
Southern Indiana enters Saturday's tilt on a three-game winning streak, including back-to-back home wins last weekend against Indiana University Southeast and Saint Louis University. Last Sunday, USI defeated Saint Louis, 71-59, in a battle of 2023-24 WNIT teams. After coming back from a five-point deficit to lead through the first quarter, USI created some separation by outscoring the Billikens 23-13 in the second quarter. The two sides tied each other in a tightly contested second half. The Eagles' defense played a pivotal role by holding Saint Louis to 33 percent shooting overall and 18 percent from three in addition to forcing 19 turnovers.
 
Four Screaming Eagles reached double figures in the scoring column against Saint Louis. Graduate forward Meredith Raley led the way with 19 points. Junior guard Ali Saunders had a strong game with 11 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Sophomore guard Sophia Loden posted 12 points and eight boards.
 
With three consecutive wins last week, including the road win at Murray State University, USI moved up to No. 20 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top-25 poll, the highest ranking so far for USI in the D-I era.
 
Additionally, Southern Indiana received its first Ohio Valley Conference weekly award of the season earlier this week. Raley was named OVC co-Player of the Week after averaging over 14 points and five rebounds per game in last week's three outings. The forward also shot 44 percent from the floor, including four three-pointers.
 
Raley paces USI so far this season with 14 points per game. Raley has scored 10-plus in each game this season. Saunders is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 points per contest and leads the team with 4.6 assists, 3.6 steals, and over 31 minutes played per game. Saunders' 4.6 assists and 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio is third in the OVC through five games this year, picking up where she left off from conference play in 2023-24.
 
Northern Kentucky had a tough start to the season with losses against Middle Tennessee State University, which is second in the latest mid-major rankings, and against a ranked University of Kentucky team. Since then, NKU has had two wins in its last three games. However, the Norse are coming off a close 76-73 setback at the University of Toledo last Sunday. The Rockets came back from down 10 at halftime to overcome Northern Kentucky.
 
Northern Kentucky is led in scoring by graduate forward Halle Idowu at 16 points per game. Idowu had 18 points last time out against Toledo. Senior guard Macey Blevins is NKU's second top scorer with 13 points per contest. Blevins is coming off back-to-back 20-point performances.
 
Tickets for all home games at Liberty Arena can be purchased online at usiscreamingeagles.com or the USI Ticket Office.