EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball is back on the road this weekend when the Screaming Eagles travel for a first-time matchup at East Tennessee State University on Saturday. Tipoff from Johnson City, Tennessee, is set for 3 p.m. CT.
Saturday's game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM.
USI (4-2) is concluding a brief two-game road set on Saturday. The Eagles have split their previous two road contests this season, winning at Saint Louis University, 68-52, on November 12 and falling last time out in overtime at Northern Kentucky University, 77-71, last Sunday.
In the last game at Northern Kentucky, USI got off to a fast start, but the Norse hung tough to make the game a back-and-forth battle and eventually send the game into overtime. The Norse went on to win the game by outscoring USI, 11-5, in the extra session. The game was USI's first overtime contest since last January, when the Eagles fell in overtime at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Individually, against Northern Kentucky, junior forward
Chloe Gannon led the Screaming Eagles with her first double-double of the season, dropping a career-high 21 points and matching a career-best 12 rebounds. Junior guard
Sophia Loden logged her second consecutive double-double and third of the season with 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Junior forward
Amiyah Buchanan and senior guard
Ali Saunders added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Earlier this week, Loden was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week after averaging a double-double in USI's two games last week against Fisk University and Northern Kentucky. Loden averaged 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds to earn her first career OVC award.
Through the first month of the season, Loden paces the Screaming Eagles at 15 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Saunders, who is one point away from 1,000 career points, is second in scoring with 13.8 points per outing. Gannon is third on the team at 13.5 points per contest. As a team, USI is averaging 80.5 points while limiting the opposition to 50.5 points per game.
East Tennessee State (3-6), out of the Southern Conference, is playing its first home game since November 15 after five straight games away from home. The Buccaneers had a solid showing last weekend with a pair of wins in three games in a multi-team event at the University of Louisville. East Tennessee claimed a 55-49 win over Bellarmine University and a 60-54 victory last time out against Eastern Illinois University, while the Bucs' only loss in the MTE was an 88-50 decision against top-25 Louisville.
East Tennessee State is led offensively by graduate guard Anala Nelson, who is averaging 10.1 points per outing as the Bucs' only double-digit scorer. Nelson tallied 12 points in the last game against Eastern Illinois. Junior guard Daniela Lopez, who is averaging 7.8 points in five games played, dropped a game-high 22 points against the Panthers last Sunday. Overall, East Tennessee averages 56.2 points and has allowed 63.2 points per contest.
Following Saturday's road game, USI Women's Basketball will return home to Liberty Arena for the start of a three-game homestand next Sunday, December 14, when the Screaming Eagles host Middle Tennessee State University for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
