Game Notes | Ticket Information
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—When the University of Southern Indiana women’s basketball team last met up with Drury University, the Screaming Eagles’ left the court on the wrong end of a 70-51 decision that put their backs against the wall.
USI Head Coach Rick Stein had a six hour bus ride back to Evansville to think about what his team would have to do and it started with then No. 2-ranked and undefeated University of Indianapolis.
While anyone outside the program might have looked at the five games USI had remaining on its regular season schedule and questioned USI’s ability to advance to its first NCAA II Tournament since 2004, it was the Eagles’ “one game at a time” mentality that has them preparing for their first round game against Drury Friday at 11 a.m. (CST) in Houghton, Michigan.
Stein said in an interview with Dan Egierski on the Rodney Watson on Basketball show Monday night that his team has taken that approach the whole season and that it would not be any different when USI squares off with the third-seeded Panthers in the three-six matchup.
Following their loss to Drury earlier in the season, the Eagles bounced back with an 82-76 win over Indianapolis, then came back two days later to defeat arch-rival Kentucky Wesleyan College, 74-66. The Eagles went on to knock off Northern Kentucky University and Bellarmine University on the road, before closing the regular season and a five-game in nine days stretch by defeating Quincy University in overtime.
Despite their slip up in the GLVC quarterfinals against Lewis University, the Eagles are confident they can pull off the upset over the Panthers Friday.
USI, which enters the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament having won seven of its last nine games, played Drury tough throughout much of their first matchup. The Eagles had a 21-16 advantage late in the first half, but a 16-4 Drury run to end the half swung momentum into the host team’s favor heading into the intermission.
The Eagles rallied from an early 14-point deficit in the second half to get to within four points with eight minutes to play, but another Drury run staved off the Eagles’ charge.
Sophomore guard Rinesha Soaper led the Eagles with 18 points, while junior guard Amie Newhart had 11 points. Senior guard Lindsay Ballweg had 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Panthers, while senior forward Melanie Oliver chipped in 20 points and 11 rebounds.
For the season, junior guard Ellen Young leads the Eagles with 15.1 points per game, while Newhart is chipping in 12.0 points per appearance.
Ballweg, a first-team All-GLVC selection and the GLVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, leads the Panthers with 18.5 points per appearance. Oliver is chipping in 12.6 points and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per contest.
Other first-round matchups Friday include the second seed, Indianapolis, and the seventh seed, Northern Michigan University; the top seed and tournament host, Michigan Tech University, and the eighth seed, Northern Kentucky; and the fourth seed, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and the fifth seed, The University of Findlay.
If USI wins Friday, it would face the winner of the Indianapolis-Northern Michigan game Saturday at 4 p.m. The championship game is Monday at 6 p.m.
Tickets for this weekend’s games are $10 for reserved seats, $8 for general admission, and $5 for students (ages 3-and-up). Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the Michigan Tech ticket office at 906/487-2073. Game coverage, including video, audio, and live stats, can be accessed at www.gousieagles.com.