The USI Women’s Basketball team hosted the Franklin College Grizzlies for their home opener on Monday night at Liberty Arena in front of a crowd of 1,469. Franklin College is a Division III opponent, so while they are not on the same level as USI, they provide an opportunity to build chemistry on the court and for the Southern Indiana coaching staff to see how specific lineups might look in action.
For more information about the team, I would recommend reading my women’s basketball preview. It includes information on additions to the team and how the team personnel rotation could look going forward.
Tonight, the Eagles were without Ali Saunders, senior guard, due to an injury. It will be interesting to see how the rotation fluctuates without her. While it is not ideal to start the season without the team’s most versatile scorer on offense, other players will take some of the minutes lost and get significant development.
Screaming Eagles Head Coach Rick Stein uses a traditional two guard, two forward, and one center lineup, which has been a staple for his teams in the past few seasons. In the backcourt stood Shannon Blacher, junior guard, and Lexi Sepulveda, sophomore guard. Sophia Loden, junior forward and Amiyah Buchanan, junior forward, composed the frontcourt forward spots. In the center position, Chloe Gannon, junior forward/center, anchored the paint.
The Grizzlies countered with a four guard, one forward lineup, hoping to take advantage of the spacing that they would get on the perimeter, which was at a detriment for rebounding and paint defense.
To open the first quarter, Southern Indiana and Franklin College traded turnovers, which would be a sign of things to come, as both teams tried to get a feel for the game. On the third possession, Loden missed a three-point jumper, but Gannon cleaned up the miss and scored off a second chance. The Grizzlies were able to score on the next possession and forced Southern Indiana’s Sepulveda to travel. They immediately took advantage of the opportunity and hit a three-point jumper, grabbing an early 5-2 lead. The Grizzlies were ready to go toe to toe with Southern Indiana.
After the turnover, Buchanan picked up an early foul, but remained in the game. The Grizzlies split the free throws, but were able to extend the lead by one point. They immediately began to press the Screaming Eagles as they inbounded, something that Southern Indiana does to other teams. However, Sophia Loden was able to beat the press and drive to the basket, drawing a foul. She split the free throws, missing the latter one, which Blacher rebounded. The ball eventually found its way to Sepulveda, who dribbled along the perimeter into a screen set by Buchanan and scored a running layup, cutting the lead.
Two possessions later, the Grizzlies struck back, scoring a layup on a fastbreak attempt. The next possession, Buchanan picked up an offensive foul, her second of the game, and Stein was forced to pull her from the game. In came Maddy Fay, junior forward, for Buchanan, and Lily Graves, freshman guard/forward for Sepulveda.
Immediately after the substitution, Blacher stole the ball and set up the offense, which led to a layup for Gannon. The Screaming Eagles forced a miss on the other end, which Blacher scooped up. The ball once again went to Gannon, who made a layup in the paint, off an assist from Loden.
For the remainder of the quarter, the score went back and forth, as Franklin College and Southern Indiana fought mightily for the lead. Loden, Blacher, and Gannon were responsible for the Eagles’ final 12 points. True to form, the first quarter ended tied up at 19, as Franklin was able to get a last-second shot with five seconds left to go.
The second quarter opens a bit slow for both teams as neither team scores for the first minute, until Fay scores a layup assisted by Blacher. Then both teams took turns turning the ball over, five turnovers by both teams in the next minute of play. However, the Screaming Eagles were unfazed and scored back-to-back three-pointers by way of Loden and Blacher, both assisted by Sepulveda. The Eagles then scored another bucket at the 5:41 mark, a layup from Blacher, assisted by Loden, after Loden stole the ball. This bucket gave USI a ten-point advantage, the biggest lead up to that point by either team. The Grizzlies weren’t deterred, as they quickly hit a three-point jumper in response.
For the Grizzlies, this strength was short-lived, as Southern Indiana began to get going offensively, scoring 11 unanswered points. Five of the points came from Gannon, while Buchanana, Blacher, and Kylee Dennis, redshirt sophomore guard, who had been subbed into the game halfway through the 2nd quarter.
Franklin College eventually scored a layup with under a minute to go, which was countered quickly by Blacher. The Grizzlies would get the final say in the quarter, scoring a point off a free throw with eight seconds left. However, the Screaming Eagles had created quite a gap at halftime, leading the Grizzlies by a score of 44-17.
At halftime, Southern Indiana had 13 turnovers, which was far too many, but in fairness, the team was still meshing on the court. With that being said, they did force 19 turnovers, scoring 24 points off those. The game was a mud pit, but the Screaming Eagles were willing to drag the other team down to win.
Gannon entered the half with 13 points, two rebounds, and a block. Blacher had 13 points and a remarkable five steals. Sophia Loden scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and stole the ball four times. Buchanan, despite being in foul trouble, scored four points, grabbed three rebounds, and had two steals and two blocks. Defensively, the team was starting to control the game, but turnovers remained a problem.
Into the third quarter, Buchanan picked up her third foul in the first 20 seconds, which forced Stein to pull her from the game for Fay. The Grizzlies opened the scoring in the half, but Gannon quickly countered with a bucket on the other end. Franklin College needed to cut into the deficit early in the third quarter, which they did, as they scored five of the first six points. In fact, by the six-minute mark, they cut the lead to 14, still within striking distance.
Southern Indiana was undaunted, as Loden drew a foul and hit two free throws. Then, three possessions later, Graves hit a three-pointer, her first bucket of her collegiate career. Then Buchanan, who had sat for the early portion of the third quarter, hit a layup, growing the lead past 20. Dennis proceeded to make another jumper, extending the lead further.
After the Grizzlies hit two free throws, the Screaming Eagles went on another run, started by a Buchanan layup. Graves scored a layup on the next possession, and then Sarang West, senior guard, who had been subbed on for Blacher, hit a corner three, assisted by Dennis. Soon after, Graves scored another layup, increasing the lead to 30. At this point, both teams made mass substitutions to get fresh players on the court. The Grizzlies cut the deficit to 67-41, with one quarter left.
The fourth quarter was a defensive masterclass for the Screaming Eagles, only giving up four points in the entire period. Offensively, Southern Indiana had eight different scorers in the quarter, as Blacher, Buchanan, Gannon, Fay, Dennis, West, and Ali Robertson, freshman forward, all scored points to close out the Grizzlies by a score of 85-45.
The game was only close for the first quarter, as Southern Indiana struggled to mesh. However, the team eventually got going, and the talent difference showed. Gannon scored 17 points, leading the team, while grabbing four rebounds and a block. Blacher scored 15, grabbed five boards, and stole the ball seven times. Loden stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 15 points, five assists, six rebounds, five steals, and one block. Buchanan put up 10 points, four blocks, three steals, and four rebounds in a strong defensive performance. Sepulveda rounded out the lineup with three points, four rebounds, and three assists, as well as a steal.
For the bench, Fay had eight points and three boards. Graves scored seven points in her collegiate debut. Dennis scored six points and grabbed three boards, and dished three assists. West also scored six points and three assists, and grabbed two steals. Alli Robertson made her collegiate debut in the fourth quarter, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.
After this game, I would expect the same lineup going forward, although Kylee Dennis and Sarang West played significant minutes and looked solid off the bench, which could affect Sepulveda’s role as a starter. Fay will be a rotational forward/center off the bench and had considerable chemistry with Blacher, which is to be expected as they both transferred from Northern Illinois University. As for Blacher, I think she could play both guard positions, so perhaps she might start alongside Saunders when the latter returns to the lineup. Stein will continue to play Graves off the bench, which provides a versatile scoring threat to the second unit. There was a moment in the second quarter where Graves drove to the basket for a heavily contested layup, and Stein subbed her out and gave her an earful. However, she took the coaching well and had a strong third quarter; it was a good coaching moment, for sure.
The USI Women’s Basketball team plays one more game on Friday at 6 p.m. against Murray State University, which is USI Student Tailgate night, and will feature a beer garden for those who are 21 years old or older. The tailgate starts at 3 p.m. and ends an hour later. The men’s basketball team plays Virginia Military Institute at 7:30 p.m.after the conclusion of that game.
