The USI women’s basketball team faced Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday, Jan. 31, at Liberty Arena, aiming to stay in contention for the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title. A loss against SIUE would have been the team’s third straight and would have dropped USI two games behind first-place Western Illinois University, with only one head-to-head matchup remaining. The Screaming Eagles entered the game coming off a close loss to Lindenwood University Thursday, Jan. 29, which saw the USI women’s basketball team’s aspirations to win the OVC regular season title take a hit. To say that the Screaming Eagles desired a victory in this matchup would be an understatement.
The women’s basketball team opened with a close first quarter against the Cougars, as Amiyah Buchanan, junior forward, opened with a layup with 8:35 to go, scoring for USI. Buchanan continued with momentum early, scoring a fastbreak layup after ripping the ball away from SIUE, which gave the Screaming Eagles a six-point advantage.
However, the Cougars answered with a 3-pointer on the other end to cut the deficit to three. Senior guard Ali Saunders, coming off a 30-point performance in Thursday’s loss to Lindenwood University, looked to score early in the matchup. She scored her first basket midway through the first quarter, giving Southern Indiana a 6-point advantage. Two minutes later, she scored a 3-point basket to maintain the Screaming Eagles’ advantage. The Cougars responded with a trey of their own, cutting the deficit to two.
After that basket, both sides made platoon substitutions, leading Southern Indiana Head Coach Rick Stein to sub in Lily Graves, freshman guard/forward, Lexi Sepulveda, sophomore guard and Maddy Fay, junior forward, to give the starters a rest.
The Cougars took advantage of this opportunity and scored two baskets between 1:32 and 0:50, which swung the lead over to SIUE. However, Saunders would have the last say, drawing two free throws on a fastbreak attempt. Saunders, an impeccable free-throw shooter, knocked down both attempts. The game was tied up at 15-15, which would stand going into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Chloe Gannon, junior forward/center, was subbed on after a brief rest and made an immediate impact. She scored the opening basket at 9:24 and added two free throws to give the Screaming Eagles a 4-point cushion. Then, her teammate, Sophia Loden, junior guard/forward, scored her first basket of the game, a three-pointer, off an assist from Gannon, which gave the Screaming Eagles a 7-point advantage, prompting a SIUE timeout.
The timeout ultimately produced negligible results, as Gannon scored another basket in the paint and split two free throws, which grew the lead to double digits. Loden added another three-pointer with 5:36 left, which the Cougars failed to counter on the other end. On the following possession, Buchanan scored another basket, giving her six for the game so far, off another Gannon assist.
The Screaming Eagles’ 15-0 run would eventually be snapped. SIUE hit a three-pointer, with 3:58 to go. The Cougars would cut the deficit to 11 after splitting two free throws. However, Kylee Dennis, redshirt sophomore guard, would cut SIUE’s mini-scoring run with a quick steal and fastbreak bucket on the other end. Saunders added to the lead with a two-point jumper and a fastbreak layup with 44 seconds to go in the half.
The SIUE Cougars would have the final scoring effort in the second quarter, off two free throws. However, the Screaming Eagles entered halftime with a 36-21 lead. The result of their staunch defensive performance was holding the Cougars to just six points in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, SIUE fought back a bit, scoring five of the first eight points, which cut the deficit to 13. To make matters worse, Buchanan committed her third foul of the game, which forced Coach Stein to sub her out. Stein brought Dennis on to go with a smaller, but more pacy lineup. Dennis made a quick impact, scoring a fastbreak layup eight seconds after, and hit a big three-pointer to bring the lead back up to 15 with 6:17 left in the quarter.
The Screaming Eagles continued with a consistent scoring performance in the third quarter, as Shannon Blacher, junior guard, scored an and-one layup and converted the 3-point play from the free-throw line. The Cougars would not be daunted, scoring on the other end twice in the next minute. However, Dennis continued to shoot with confidence, hitting another three-pointer to bring the lead back up to 17. The Screaming Eagles continued the barrage two possessions later, as Saunders hit a three-pointer of her own, off an assist from Dennis.
In the final quarter of play, Southern Indiana conquered the Cougars, locking down their scoring threat. In the quarter, Gannon blocked two shots, while Blacher and Buchanan stole the ball twice. The Screaming Eagles once again gave up single digits, allowing nine points to close out a strong victory by a score of 67-46, and more importantly, a key victory in their chase for a trophy.
The Screaming Eagles once again played a strong defensive game, allowing under 50 points to a conference opponent, their third time doing so this season. As a team, Southern Indiana stole the ball 11 times. Blacher and Buchanan were ball hawks all night, grabbing three steals. As the team’s anchor, Gannon blocked three shots, grabbed two steals and allowed only 16 points in the paint. Another strong performance from Gannon. The Screaming Eagles were out-rebounded 45-37, but I would attribute that to Buchanan being in foul trouble for much of the game, so not a particular concern.
Offensively, Southern Indiana gets no complaints from me. They shot efficiently for the most part, shooting 40.7% from the field and 37.5% from deep. Six players scored in double figures: Saunders (11) Gannon (12), Loden (10), Blacher (10), Buchanan (10), and Dennis (10).
For the minutes distribution, ten players were in the game for Southern Indiana. No player played more than 33 minutes, which is a nod to how well the Screaming Eagles played in the first three quarters.
At this point of the season, every game is crucial, as the Screaming Eagles will hope for a slip-up from Western Illinois University to regain possession of first place.
