CHARLESTON, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer continues Ohio Valley Conference Tournament play in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. when the fifth-seeded Screaming Eagles face fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois University from Charleston, Illinois.
 
Sunday's winner advances to take on the top seed and OVC regular-season champion Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals.
 
Sunday is the fifth all-time meeting between USI (8-7-4, 4-2-3 OVC) and Eastern Illinois (8-7-3, 5-3-1 OVC). The all-time series is tied 1-1-2. In the regular-season meeting on October 9, the two sides battled to a 1-1 draw. Senior forward Peyton Murphy scored in that match for USI.
 
USI is making its fourth consecutive OVC Tournament appearance since moving up to Division I and joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022, including a third straight quarterfinals appearance.
 
The Screaming Eagles made program history in Thursday's first-round match against eighth-seeded Southeast Missouri State University. USI defeated the Redhawks, 2-0, to claim the program's first-ever OVC Tournament win.
 
In Thursday's first-round contest, it took until the 79^th minute to break a scoreless deadlock. Senior defender Charli Grafton scored off a corner kick to put USI in front. Grafton became the 13^th different Screaming Eagle to find the back of the net this season. A few minutes later, sophomore defender and Second-Team All-OVC honoree Emma Schut doubled USI's lead to seal the win with a long-range free-kick goal in the 85^th minute.
 
Thursday's two goals pushed USI's season total to 24 goals this season, adding to a program-best total in USI's Division-I era. The win was USI's eighth overall victory of the season, which also adds to a team best in the D-I era.
 
On the other end of the field, Thursday's 2-0 win was the Eagles' eighth shutout of the season. Redshirt junior Anna Markland returned to action after not playing in last Sunday's regular-season finale by collecting her seventh clean sheet of the season and 15^th career solo shutout. This season, Markland has a 1.25 GAA with 51 saves.
 
USI looks to have senior forward Emerson Grafton back in the fold on Sunday after not playing in the first-round game. Grafton leads USI in scoring with 14 points on a team-high five goals and four assists. Grafton is having a career year in goal scoring for the Screaming Eagles, while also ranking in the top 10 of the OVC in several offensive categories.
 
Murphy is second on the team in scoring with 10 points off three goals and four assists. Murphy's four assists are good for the top five in the OVC alongside Emerson Grafton and redshirt junior midfielder Emma Thurston. Murphy's assist on Thursday moved the senior into the top 15 in USI history with 12 career assists. Murphy is USI's all-time leading scorer in its Division I history.
 
Coming off a first-round bye, Eastern Illinois returns to action for the first time since last Sunday's regular-season finale. The Panthers concluded the regular season with a 2-0 loss at Tennessee Tech. Eastern Illinois has dropped its last three contests, all of which came against the top three seeds in this year's OVC Tournament.
 
Eastern Illinois is led in scoring by All-OVC First-Team selection and junior forward Alex Tetteh. Tetteh has 17 points on eight goals and an assist this season. Tetteh is also the team's top shooter with 37 shot attempts. Tetteh had the Panthers' goal against USI on October 9. In goal, the Panthers have the 2025 OVC Goalkeeper of the Year and junior keeper Ella Kratochvil. Kratochvil has a 0.82 GAA with 74 saves and eight shutouts.
 
All games of the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Additional coverage for USI can be found on usiscreamingeagles.com with full tournament coverage on the OVC website at ovcsports.com.