Last season, the women’s basketball team accomplished something unprecedented at USI: Winning not one but two Division I trophies in their second season in the top tier of collegiate sports. That team will be remembered as a truly dominant force in the Ohio Valley Conference, winning 17 out of 18 conference games and 25 out of 32 total games. However, repeating as the champion in sports is relentlessly challenging because teams will play with a different energy level than before.
Despite this, most of the title team is still intact, as four out of five starters and 10 championship players have returned. The “Big Three” of Meredith Raley, graduate forward, Madi Webb, graduate forward/center, and Vanessa Shafford, senior guard, return for their “Last Dance.” Sharpshooter Ali Saunders, junior guard, looks to continue to let it fly as she shot a blazing 45% from downtown last season.

Triniti Ralston, sophomore guard, and Chloe Gannon, sophomore forward/center, were significant contributors last season as freshmen and could’ve starred for most other teams in the OVC. They look to continue to develop their already excellent skills and competitive drive and will see expanded roles as the level of competition USI faces grows. Gannon, in particular, brings it from a mentality standpoint, a true grit and grind player who brings an edge to the team.

This mentality is paramount if the Screaming Eagles want to win as much as they did last season. In his book, “The Winner Within,” Pat Riley, legendary NBA champion head coach, describes the actual downfall of winning teams as the “Disease of More,” which is the desire of players to want more accolades and spotlight after they win, rather than to continue working on what made them great in the first place. Complacency is a crucial virus for winning teams. Rick Stein, head coach of women’s basketball, understands this well, having won a Division II title in 1997 as an assistant coach under Chancellor Dugan and being the head coach of the USI women’s basketball team for 25 years now.

Stein explained the summer offseason.

“When we got to June second, that was our first day with this year’s team,” he said. “We lost a couple of really good players and leaders, and the mindset was, how can we build this team and get this journey going?”

Stein continued by describing the things he wants to see continue to develop, one being the team’s excellent defense, which held teams to under 60 points per contest.

“I think one of the things we’re built on is defense,” he said. “We got to keep defending. We got to rebound the basketball.”

Another thing that Stein wanted to see improve is handling the ball, as the team averaged a concerning 16 turnovers per contest.

“I’d say the topper is, how do we take care of the basketball when we get shots?” Stein said. “We got players who can make baskets, so we just don’t want the ball to go to another team, and that’s been a focus here early.”

That said, the team celebrated the title, as every winner should. Taking pride in one’s accomplishments is necessary to build confidence, which pays dividends.

Raley detailed the team’s celebrations.

“As a team, we all decided to take a trip down to Florida and spend time together for one last hurrah with our seniors,” she said. “We really enjoyed that, and I think it brought us closer together as a team as well.”

However, this period was limited, as the team reconvened to get back to work in June. Raley described the training regimen as similar to last year’s: a lot of weight training and cardio.

“Our mentality had to be different because we weren’t coming in as the underdogs anymore,” Raley said. “We had to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.”

Gannon was even more direct in her determination.

“Yeah, we won, but we want to do it again,” she said. “So we want to get back in here and get better.”

Gannon also acknowledged the need to get the two new additions, Amiyah Buchanan, sophomore forward, and Lexi Sepulveda, freshman guard, up to speed on what it takes to be a winner.
Amiyah Buchana, a local talent from Evansville, IN, described the pressure and adjustments of joining a successful team like the Screaming Eagles.

“It is a big adjustment,” she said. “But since we started early in the summer, it’s been straightforward. We have a lot of veterans on the team, and they’re really helpful.”

As a 6-foot forward, Amiyah will likely feature as another big on this team, which is a luxury to have, especially for a team that plays defense like this one. It will be interesting to see how she works into the rotation going forward.

As you all know, I don’t have a crystal ball. Otherwise, I would likely have won the lottery by now and moved to a discrete island in the Caribbean. With that being said, this roster’s experience, continuity and evident talent make it hard to argue that this team is not a serious candidate to go back-to-back this year.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the strength of the opponent that they face, which features the University of Louisville, Indiana University and University of Illinois, all road matchups. To make things even more interesting, they also play in the Puerto Rico Clasico, which will see them fly down to San Juan for matchups against Youngstown State University and Le Moyne College on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30.

This team has the talent and the drive to win, but their mental fortitude will be tested this year.