EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball returns home to Liberty Arena and begins a three-game homestand on Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Screaming Eagles host Middle Tennessee State University.
Sunday's game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and WREF 97.7 FM.
USI (5-2) returns to Liberty Arena on Sunday for the first time since November 25. The Screaming Eagles currently own a 3-1 home record this season.
Sunday's game against Middle Tennessee (4-5) is USI's final tune-up contest before the start of Ohio Valley Conference play next week. The Eagles will open their OVC schedule on Thursday, December 18, against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock before hosting Morehead State University on Saturday, December 20. Both OVC games are at Liberty Arena.
The Screaming Eagles are coming off a solid road win at East Tennessee State University last Saturday, winning 56-41. Following a low-scoring first half, the Eagles came from behind at halftime and pulled away with a strong second half by outscoring the Buccaneers 35-15 after the intermission. The 41 points allowed were the fourth fewest that USI's defense has surrendered against a D-I opponent since USI moved up to Division I in 2022.
Individually, against East Tennessee State, junior forward
Chloe Gannon led USI with a career-high 22 points, setting a new career mark for the second consecutive game. Junior guard
Sophia Loden logged her third double-double in a row, posting 10 points with 13 rebounds. The last time a USI player posted at least three consecutive double-doubles was the 2017-18 season, when Morgan Dahlstrom registered four double-doubles in a row. Also noteworthy from last Saturday's road game at East Tennessee State, senior guard
Ali Saunders, who notched eight points in the contest, surpassed 1,000 career points.
Through seven games, Gannon leads USI in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Loden is right behind with 14.3 points per outing while topping the squad with nine rebounds per contest. Saunders is third on the team in scoring with 12.8 points per game. As a team, USI is averaging 77 points while holding the opposition to 49.1 points per game, ranking as one of the top-five scoring defenses in the nation.
Middle Tennessee heads into Sunday's game against USI coming off a 60-51 home win against the University of Memphis last Sunday. The Blue Raiders have already played four common opponents to the Screaming Eagles, including two OVC teams. Middle Tennessee opened its season with a 59-53 win against Tennessee State University and fell 63-54 against Tennessee Tech University on November 11. The other common opponents came in a 73-55 win at Saint Louis University on November 6 and an 85-41 loss against ranked University of Tennessee on November 20. The Screaming Eagles travel to face Tennessee on December 22 after the opening week of OVC play.
The Blue Raiders are led by freshman guard Blair Baugus, who leads the team in points (13.4), rebounds (9.3), assists (1.8), steals (2.4), blocks (1.1), and minutes (35.9). Baugus recorded her fourth double-double of the season against Memphis, tallying 19 points and 14 rebounds. Senior guard Alayna Contreras is second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.7 points per outing.
Middle Tennessee leads the all-time series, 2-0, as the two programs meet for the first time since the 1993 season.
Tickets for Sunday and all home games at Liberty Arena can be purchased online at usiscreamingeagles.com or the USI Ticket Office.
