LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball secured the No. 3 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament and its third straight 20-win season on Saturday after battling past the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on the road, 68-63, in the regular-season finale.
 
USI Women's Basketball (20-9, 14-6 OVC) needed a win on Saturday to lock up the third seed in the OVC Tournament over Morehead State University and got the job done on the road at Little Rock (15-15, 11-9 OVC). USI will be making its third consecutive appearance in the OVC's postseason tournament and is a top-three seed for the second time out of the three tournament berths.
 
Saturday's road victory also gave USI its sixth OVC regular-season series sweep of the year, taking both games of the OVC campaign against Little Rock.
 
On Saturday, senior guard Ali Saunders led all scorers with 25 points, her 12^th 20-point performance of the season, and hauled in six rebounds. Junior forward Chloe Gannon posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Shannon Blacher was the third Screaming Eagle in double figures with 12 points.
 
Overall, USI shot for 38 percent (24-63) from the floor, 37 percent from three (7-19), and 68 percent (13-19) at the free-throw line. The Screaming Eagles also had 23 points off 15 Little Rock turnovers.
 
The Trojans also had three players score in double digits. Collectively, Little Rock went for 37 percent (22-60) shooting overall, 22 percent (6-27) from beyond the arc, and 72 percent (13-18) at the foul line.
 
USI got off to a fast start in the contest, scoring on its first three possessions to take a quick 7-3 lead. Blacher scored five of USI's first seven points. It took four minutes for the next made basket in the game, but the Screaming Eagles built an 11-3 advantage by the four-minute mark of the opening quarter. Following a strong defensive first quarter, the Eagles led 14-6 through the first 10 minutes of action.
 
Early in the second period, junior guard Sophia Loden scored a layup and drained a triple to help USI push its lead to 11, 19-8. The Screaming Eagles maintained their double-digit margin through the midway point of the second quarter, but the Trojans then scored seven straight points to pull within three, 26-23, with a minute to go in the first half. USI answered with four consecutive points to head into halftime in front by seven, 30-23.
 
Two and a half minutes into the second half, USI pushed its lead to a dozen, 39-27, after back-to-back jumpers by Blacher and junior forward Amiyah Buchanan. After a small run by Little Rock to cut the deficit back down to single digits, the combination of Saunders and Gannon helped the Eagles increase their lead to 15 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. USI ended taking a 55-43 lead into the fourth quarter following a last-second steal and layup by Blacher to end the third frame.
 
The Trojans battled back with a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter and cut the difference down to five nearly two minutes into the fourth. Once again, Gannon and Saunders stepped up with made shots to help extend the USI lead back up to 10, 62-52, with six minutes to go. Little Rock then went on an 11-1 run over the next five minutes to tie the game at 63 with one minute left in the fourth quarter. Inside the final minute, Saunders took control with a go-ahead layup and three made free throws for added insurance to seal the game for the Screaming Eagles.
 
After Saturday's exciting finish and road victory, the Screaming Eagles next set their sights on the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament later this week. USI Women's Basketball earned a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed and will take the court in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 3 p.m. from Ford Center in downtown Evansville. USI will face the winner of the first-round matchup between the seventh seed Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the sixth seed University of Tennessee at Martin.
 
All games of the OVC Championship Tournament can be seen with an ESPN+ subscription and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and on WREF 97.7 FM. Fans can get their tickets now for next week's OVC Tournament through usiscreamingeagles.com or the USI Ticket Office.