EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball will play in and host its first-ever Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) Postseason game Thursday at 7 p.m. when the Screaming Eagles welcome the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to Screaming Eagles Arena for a first-round matchup.
Tickets to Thursday's game are on sale at usiscreamingeagles.com and through the USI Ticket Office. Tickets are only $10 for Thursday's first-round game.
Thursday's game can be seen live with a subscription to ESPN+. 95.7 FM The Spin and 97.7 FM WREF will have radio coverage.
The 2024 Postseason WNIT features a 48-team field. This marks the 26th edition of the Postseason WNIT, powered by Triple Crown Sports and first held in 1998. The tournament field is made up of 11 automatic qualifiers and 37 at-large programs, flexing a mix of Power 4 conferences as well as ascending mid-major programs. All games are played at individual schools; the 2024 Postseason WNIT has 24 teams that won at least 20 games this season.
Southern Indiana (24-6, 17-1 OVC) will play Thursday for the first time since winning the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament on March 9. OVC Coach of the Year
Rick Stein led USI to a sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference 2023-24 regular season and 2024 tournament championships. However, with USI in year two of the four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, Southern Indiana was not eligible for the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament due to NCAA reclassification rules. The OVC regular season championship led to an automatic bid to the WNIT for the Screaming Eagles. The two OVC championships this season were not only the first-ever OVC titles for USI Women's Basketball but also the first-ever OVC team championships in USI Athletics history.
Compared to recent history, Saturday's championship win put Southern Indiana with the likes of the University of North Dakota's 2011-12 team (Great West Conference) and California Baptist University's 2020-21 team (Western Athletic Conference) to win a regular season and conference tournament championship in the same season during a transition period.
Southern Indiana earned the No. 1 seed in the OVC Championship Tournament after winning the 2023-24 regular season title by six games, leading to a double-bye. USI then defeated the No. 4 seed Eastern Illinois University, 69-54, in the semifinal round before downing No. 3 seed University of Tennessee at Martin, 81-53, in the championship game. USI had four players named to the OVC All-Tournament Team, including sophomore guard
Ali Saunders (Depauw, Indiana), freshman forward
Chloe Gannon (Manchester, Tennessee), senior forward
Madi Webb (Bedford, Indiana), and senior forward
Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana). Raley was named Tournament MVP after leading USI with 30 points and 15 rebounds in the two games played.
The Screaming Eagles enter Thursday having won 10 games in a row for the second time this season and 21 of their last 23 contests. USI won 10 straight between December 22 to February 1. The current streak has run from February 8 through March 9 at the OVC Tournament. The 10 consecutive victories are a team best since 2017-18 when USI won 13 in a row. The current winning streak is top 15 in the nation among active winning streaks. USI's 24 overall wins so far this season are a team high since the 2017-18 season when USI went 26-5 overall.
On March 12, USI received its first-ever ranking in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, checking in at No. 22. USI had been receiving votes since January 30. In the most recent poll on Tuesday, USI remained in the 22
nd spot.
First-team All-OVC junior guard
Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) paces USI this season in points (14.2), rebounding (7.6), steals (1.5), and minutes played (29.9). Raley, who was also a first-team All-OVC selection, is second on the team in scoring at just over 12 points per game. Webb and Gannon check in third and fourth, respectively, with more than 10 points per contest. Webb was named All-OVC Second Team, while Saunders was selected to the OVC All-Newcomer Team at the end of the regular season.
As a team, Southern Indiana has averaged 72.5 points per game while holding opponents to 62.2 points per outing. USI ranked first in the OVC in field goal percentage (45.4) and field goal percentage defense (35.9).
UIC (18-15, 10-10 MVC) played its last game in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament last Friday in the quarterfinal round against Belmont University, falling 70-65 in the closing seconds.
Junior combo guard Makiyah Williams leads UIC with 12.7 points per contest. Graduate forward Keimari Rimmer and senior guard Danyel Middleton also averaged double figures at just over 10.5 points per game. Middleton led UIC in the MVC Tournament game against Belmont with 19 points.
UIC has posted 69.3 points on 43.1 percent shooting this season. The Flames have held their opposition to 66.2 points and 41.2 shooting from the floor.
The Flames are making their first appearance in the WNIT in 17 years but their second consecutive postseason appearance after competing in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) last season.
Thursday will be the first-ever meeting between Southern Indiana and UIC.
The winner of Thursday's game between USI and UIC will face the University of Wisconsin (13-16, 6-12 Big Ten) in the second round at a location and time to be announced.
The tournament schedule is as follows:
Round 1 - March 20-22, 2024
Round 2 - March 23-26, 2024
Round 3 - March 27-29, 2024
Quarterfinals - March 30-April 1, 2024
Semifinals - April 2-3, 2024
Fans can follow the 2024 Postseason WNIT through X/Twitter (@WomensNIT), Facebook (womensNIT), and the hashtag #WNIT.
Stay tuned to usiscreamingeagles.com and @USIAthletics on social media for more information.
