EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer resumes Ohio Valley Conference Tournament play in the semifinals on Thursday at 4 p.m. when the fifth-seeded Screaming Eagles face top-seeded Tennessee Tech from Cookeville, Tennessee.
Thursday's winner advances to face either No. 2 University of Arkansas at Little Rock or No. 3 Lindenwood University in the championship on Sunday at 4 p.m. from Cookeville, Tennessee.
Thursday is the fifth all-time meeting between USI (9-7-4, 4-2-3 OVC) and Tennessee Tech 6-6-7, 6-0-3 OVC). Tennessee Tech leads the all-time series, 4-0. In the regular-season meeting on October 16, the Golden Eagles won at home, 2-0.
In the midst of its fourth consecutive OVC Tournament appearance, the Screaming Eagles are making their first appearance in the semifinals since moving to Division I and joining the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022.
The Screaming Eagles made program history in the first weekend of the OVC Tournament. USI defeated Southeast Missouri State University in the first round, 2-0, to claim the program's first-ever OVC Tournament win. USI followed with its first quarterfinal win after defeating Eastern Illinois University, 3-0.
Last Sunday, USI got the best of fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois. Senior defender
Charli Grafton put USI on the board in the first half with her second goal of the tournament. 26 seconds later, senior forward
Peyton Murphy doubled USI's lead. Murphy scored a second time early in the second half for USI's third goal of the contest.
Grafton has scored in each game of the tournament so far for USI, doubling her career total to four goals. Murphy's two-goal game against the Panthers was the third brace this season by a USI player. It pushed Murphy to five goals this season, matching a career high from her freshman season in 2022.
Murphy is climbing up the USI career record books with 14 goals, 12 assists, and 40 points. All three rank inside the top 15 in program history. However, all three marks for Murphy are first in USI's Division I history.
USI Women's Soccer pushed its season total to 27 goals this season after scoring a trio against the Panthers, adding to a program-best total in USI's Division-I era. The win was USI's ninth overall victory of the season, which also adds to a team best in the D-I era.
On the season, senior forward
Emerson Grafton leads USI in scoring with 15 points on a team-high five goals, which is tied with Murphy, and five assists. Murphy is second in scoring with 14 points on the five goals and four assists. Redshirt junior midfielder
Emma Thurston has a team-best and personal career-best six assists. Three of Thurston's helpers have come in the OVC Tournament.
In goal, redshirt junior goalkeeper
Anna Markland has 1.18 GAA with 54 saves and eight shutouts. Markland has two clean sheets in OVC Tournament play, and the eight shutouts this season are a career best.
Coming off a double-bye as the top seed and OVC regular-season champion, Tennessee Tech will play its first match since the end of the regular season on October 26. The Golden Eagles finished their undefeated conference season with three-straight shutout wins, including a 2-0 victory against Eastern Illinois last time out in the regular-season finale.
Sophomore forward Natalie Howard has led the Golden Eagles' attack this season with 16 points off a team-high seven goals and a pair of assists. Graduate midfielder and OVC Midfielder of the Year Lucia Cuadra has 15 points off five goals and five assists. Senior forward Katie Toney, who leads the team with 35 shots, also has five goals this season. Senior goalkeeper Maggie Conrad has a 1.32 GAA with 75 saves and five shutouts in 19 starts.
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.
