EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball's 2026 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament run ended in Friday's semifinal round at Ford Center, following a historic classic on the court that saw the Screaming Eagles come up just shy against Lindenwood University, 82-79.
 
In a game filled with high drama and breathtaking moments, USI Women's Basketball (21-10, 14-6 OVC) came up just short of a championship title game appearance after Lindenwood (25-7, 16-4 OVC) made a fourth-quarter charge to seize the semifinal victory. The third-seeded Screaming Eagles led for over 29 minutes, while the second-seeded Lions led for just under eight minutes.
 
Friday's contest was filled with remarkable performances, with an all-time outing posted by USI senior guard Ali Saunders. Saunders poured in 30 points for her third 30-point game this season, and for the second time against Lindenwood, making Saunders the first Screaming Eagle with at least three 30-point games in a season since Jessica Stuckman during the 2001-02 campaign. The senior shot for 50 percent overall on 10-20 shooting and for over 63 percent on 7-11 shooting from three-point range. The seven made triples are the most in a game for USI since Vanessa Shafford made seven at Western Illinois University on February 24, 2004.
 
On top of the scoring effort, Saunders grabbed four rebounds and, more impressively, dished out a career-high 14 assists. The 14 helpers were the most for USI since Saunders recorded 11 assists and nearly had a triple-double in the Screaming Eagles' OVC Tournament semifinal win against Eastern Illinois University en route to eventually winning the 2023-24 OVC Tournament Championship title. Plus, the guard tied the program's single-game assists record on Friday, matching Adrienne Seitz's 14 assists against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on February 9, 1999.
 
Between the 30 points scored and 14 assists in the double-double effort, Saunders ended up being involved and impacting 59 of USI's 79 total points in Friday's semifinal game.
 
Second in scoring on Friday was junior forward Chloe Gannon, who totaled 18 points for her 16^th straight double-figure scoring performance and 26^th of the season. Gannon was 9-11 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds with two assists and two blocks. Not too far behind was freshman forward Channah Gannon with 15 points on 7-10 shooting with five boards. The younger Gannon also scored 10 or more in both games of the OVC Tournament.
 
Collectively, USI shot for a season-best 56.4 percent overall (31-55) and fired a season-best 50 percent from long range (11-22), with the 11 made three-pointers tying a season high. The Screaming Eagles were 6-9 from the foul line. USI notched 23 assists, matching a season high, to only 10 turnovers.
 
Lindenwood shot the ball for over 46 percent overall (28-60), making just above 45 percent from outside the arc (14-31). The Lions were 12-15 for 80 percent at the charity stripe. Lindenwood won the rebounding battle by six, 32-26. Four Lions scored in double digits, with two registering over 20 points.
 
Going into Friday's semifinal, the Screaming Eagles, who were coming off a first-round bye and then a 72-44 win in Thursday's quarterfinals against No. 7 seed SIUE to advance, were looking to knock off the Lions for the first time this season after Lindenwood swept the regular-season series. Lindenwood was making its tournament debut after earning a double-bye as a top-two seed.
 
The game was a shootout right out of the gates. As both teams exchanged blows in the first few minutes, it was junior guard Shannon Blacher and Saunders who caught fire in the early going. Within the first five minutes, Blacher drained a pair of three-pointers, while Saunders knocked down three. After redshirt sophomore guard Kylee Dennis joined the three-point barrage shortly after the five-minute mark of the opening period to give USI a 20-13 advantage, Saunders added a layup and another trey to push the Screaming Eagles' lead to 10, 25-15. With the Lions trying to keep pace, Saunders and Dennis connected again from long range. USI wound up with a 33-23 lead through the first 10 minutes of play. The 33 points were the most the Eagles had scored in a single quarter this season, along with the nine made three-pointers, as USI went 9-11 from three in the first quarter, for 81.8 percent.
 
Saunders scored 17 first-quarter points and went 5-5 from three. Ironically, Saunders was the last Screaming Eagle to start at least 5-5 from outside the arc in a game, doing so against the University of Wisconsin in the 2023-24 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) inside Liberty Arena.
 
Lindenwood started the second quarter once again trying to cut the Eagles' lead down to single digits. However, USI's inside game went to work through Chloe Gannon, who scored the Screaming Eagles' next three made shots through the first four minutes of the second quarter to keep USI's lead at eight, 39-31. Over the next two minutes, the Lions hit a pair of three-pointers to make it a one-possession game. Then three of the next four makes for the Eagles came from Channah Gannon, increasing USI's lead back up to seven, 47-40, with 90 seconds left in the first half. Lindenwood pulled within one inside the final minute of the first half, but Saunders cashed in from downtown once again to send the Screaming Eagles into halftime ahead 50-46.
 
Saunders finished with 22 first-half points on Friday, three shy of the team's season high that she set in December during her career-high 35-point performance against Morehead State University. Additionally, Saunders' six made three-pointers in the first half on Friday tied a program record for three-point field goals made in a half, matching Shajuan Lindsey (2003), Jamie Truitt (2005), and Aubrey Minix (2013).
 
After a quick three by Lindenwood to start the second half, USI answered with an 8-0 run over two and a half minutes to extend the advantage back up to eight, 58-49. The offensive pace slowed down a bit in the middle of the third quarter. Thanks to a few more made shots by Channah Gannon, USI remained ahead by seven going into the final two minutes of the third quarter. The Screaming Eagles ended up carrying a 65-60 lead to the fourth quarter.
 
The Lions began the fourth frame with a 7-0 run two minutes into the period to jump in front, 67-65. A few minutes later, another trey by Saunders put USI back ahead by one, 70-69, with five and a half minutes to go. With the game tied and under four minutes remaining, Lindenwood reclaimed the lead. The two sides went back and forth, as USI fought to keep the game within a possession going down the stretch. Despite late conversions at the free-throw line by Saunders, the Screaming Eagles ran out of time to get past the one-possession difference, as Lindenwood advanced to face top-seeded Western Illinois in Saturday's championship game.
 
Following a third consecutive OVC tournament berth and appearance in the semifinal round, USI Women's Basketball will wait and see if further postseason competition is in the cards for the Screaming Eagles.