EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball begins its quest to repeat as Ohio Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament champions this week when the Screaming Eagles tip off first-round action in the 2024-25 OVC tournament at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday against 8-seeded Tennessee State University from Ford Center in downtown Evansville.
 
All games from the OVC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament can be seen live with a subscription to ESPN+. 95.7 FM The Spin and 97.7 FM WREF will have radio coverage of USI contests.
 
Prior to Wednesday's first-round tipoff, USI alumni and fans can join in on a pregame pep rally and celebratory lunch from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at The Rooftop across from Ford Center. Special guests include USI coaching staff and the USI Cheer Team. After lunch, fans can head over to Ford Center for the game. United Fidelity Bank invites Screaming Eagle fans to join them in the Ford Center Corner Club Bar from 11:30 a.m. through halftime for complimentary appetizers, tea, water and a cash bar. 
 
Southern Indiana (20-11, 12-8 OVC) makes its second consecutive appearance in the OVC tournament as the no. 5 seed. To repeat as tournament champions this season, USI will have to win four games in four days. The path to this year's crown would require wins against Tennessee State (10-20, 6-14 OVC), no. 4 University of Arkansas at Little Rock (14-15, 12-8 OVC), no. 1 Tennessee Tech University (24-5, 18-2 OVC), and an opponent TBD.
 
USI won the 2023-24 tournament title in their first appearance and as the no. 1 seed following an OVC regular-season championship last year. Southern Indiana defeated Eastern Illinois University 69-54 in the semifinals before hoisting the trophy after an 81-53 championship win against the University of Tennessee at Martin.
 
USI finished the 2024-25 regular season on a two-game slide, falling on the road at the University of Tennessee at Martin (13-18, 10-10 OVC), 84-69, last Thursday and at Tennessee State, 73-64, in the regular season finale last Saturday. Prior to last week's road trip, USI finished its home schedule with a homestand sweep against Eastern Illinois University (18-11, 15-5 OVC), 66-46, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (6-23, 4-16 OVC), 79-42.
 
The Screaming Eagles will look to avenge Saturday's setback at Tennessee State in their first-round rematch on Wednesday. The loss slotted USI as the no. 5 seed despite being tied in the standings with Little Rock, as the Trojans had the tiebreaker by winning both regular-season meetings against USI. Saturday's game against the Tigers started tight, but Tennessee State found its shot from outside while USI struggled to find its shooting form. After USI closed the gap at halftime, Tennessee State used a couple of big runs in the second half to pull away. Junior guard Ali Saunders led USI with 18 points, and graduate forward Meredith Raley scored 14 points.
 
Earlier this week, the OVC announced its postseason awards and all-conference selections. Raley was named to the All-OVC First Team. Senior guard Vanessa Shafford was selected to the All-OVC Second Team.
 
Raley paced USI this season with 13.6 points per game and shooting 51.3 percent from the floor. Raley's scoring ranked top 10 in the OVC while leading the conference in field goal percentage. Raley was second on the team with five boards per outing and had a team-best 17 blocked shots. In conference play, Raley recorded 13.8 (11^th in OVC) points while shooting over an OVC-best 53 percent.
 
Shafford was top 15 in the OVC in overall scoring and second on the team with 12.3 points per game. Once again, Shafford topped the squad with 6.6 rebounds per game, which ranked fifth in the conference. Shafford shot over 45 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range. Shafford's two made threes per contest ranked fifth in the OVC. The guard was third on USI in assists and steals. During league play, Shafford averaged 12.7 points (13^th in OVC) and 6.9 rebounds (7^th in OVC) per game.
 
Saunders also had a solid season, ranking third on the team with 10.4 points per game. Saunders was top three in the OVC in total assists (122) and assists per game (4.2). Plus, the guard was top two in the conference with 78 steals and 2.7 steals per game.
 
As a team, USI tops the OVC in field goal percentage (43.8) and field-goal percentage defense (38.6). USI has a top three scoring offense (71.0) and scoring defense (62.8) in the OVC.
 
Southern Indiana recorded its 36th winning season in program history. USI also secured its 15th season with at least 20 wins. USI has won 20-plus games for the second consecutive season.
 
Tickets are $80 for all women's tournament session passes and can be purchased through the Ford Center Ticket Office. Individual session tickets are also on sale now through the Ford Center and Ticketmaster. USI students receive free tickets to all USI games at the OVC Tournament at Ford Center by showing their student ID. Student tickets can be picked up at the interior Ford Center box office an hour before game time.