USI basketball teams sweep OVC debuts: How the women hope to build on the momentum
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Five Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball teams celebrated their first league wins of the season Thursday night.
The University of Southern Indiana was among that bunch after defeating Southeast Missouri State 68-54 at Screaming Eagles Arena for its first OVC win ever. Contributions were made across the board for the Screaming Eagles. Vanessa Shafford (16), Hannah Haithcock (15) and Meredith Raley (13) were the three starters in double-digit scoring, and Soffia Rieckers and Lexie Green were effective from the bench with a combined 12 assists.
The Eagles (7-5, 1-0 OVC) are finding their groove at home as winners of three straight on their own court despite some inconsistencies throughout the non-conference slate. They want to keep building moving forward as they anticipate another tough road test with Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
"We're going to have to take care of business and find some road wins, too," coach Rick Stein said. "If you can find (that consistency) at home and away, then you've got a chance to compete for the league championship. And we want to try and put ourselves in that position. We feel like we can compete with any team in this league every night."
USI stresses the importance of team chemistry and has thrived with its depth considering 14 players returned this season. The nucleus that played in last season's NCAA Division II tournament is now making an impact at the next level.
And while the Eagles cannot qualify for the Division I tournament for the next four years, they are still more than motivated to play their best basketball in their new conference. What would be better than winning a conference title in their first D-I season?
Shafford neared her career high in scoring against the Redhawks and Haithcock was within striking distance of joining the 1,000-point club. But this team doesn't care about individual accolades, such as who scores the most points. They want the best for their program and for each other.
All they care about is winning and finding consistency.
"It's always a team effort, and I think that's what we appreciate the most about our team," Shafford said. "It's a cool experience having everybody make an impact. It makes things better."
"We all get along really well on and off the court," Raley added. "We understand how to communicate and have great trust in each other. We know what Coach Stein wants from us and we know what we want from each other."
USI leads the OVC in scoring offense. It's also first in 3-point shooting percentage, free-throw shooting and rebounding, and second in overall shooting. Still, it has struggled to string together a winning streak. The Eagles hope to change that having notched back-to-back victories for the third time.
The Eagles had their share of thrilling victories, such as a six-point road win against a quality Eastern Michigan team. But they've also endured their share of tough losses, like the 42-point loss to Cincinnati on Dec. 18. Given the experience of this group, they are striving to put all of the pieces together against their new conference foes.
Raley has shown appreciation for Stein for the way that he set up the schedule to prepare them.
"We played really tough teams and played a lot of them close," she said. "It was a great experience, and I think it definitely prepared us really well for the OVC."
There are still areas USI knows need improvement. It has fared well inside and out, often letting the defense dictate the tempo. Now, the Eagles aim to cut down on their turnovers. They also want to apply the same intensity they showed Thursday to the rest of the OVC.
"The turnovers and the mistakes, we've got to bring those numbers down just a little bit," Stein said. "(That) will help play better as we move forward going into January and February."
USI men also notch first Ohio Valley Conference win behind Jacob Polakovich's big game
Polakovich, a senior forward, exited the floor Thursday night to thunderous applause after a monumental performance.
His 27-point and career-high, 26-rebound outing lifted the Eagles to a 86-81 victory. It marked the most rebounds in a game this season across Division I and was the most by an OVC player since at least 2002-03. He added five assists while playing all but the final 13 seconds.
"He always works hard and has a no-quit mentality," coach Stan Gouard said. "Nothing's too hard for him. He's just an easy guy to coach."
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Polakovich, who now ranks among the top 10 nationally in rebounds per game at 11.2, finished one shy of the single-game program record set by Aaron Nelson in December 2013.
Still, outside of that monstrous double-double, the Eagles nearly saw what was a 23-point advantage slip away because of second-half mental mistakes as SEMO rallied back late. Isaiah Swope added 18 points and nine assists while Trevor Lakes was also in double figures at 11.
Next up is a 3:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday against Eastern Illinois on the road. The Eagles plan to communicate better on defense and spread the ball more, but the first OVC victory is out of the way as they've now won five of their last six games.
USI is going to be tough to beat on its home court and is steadily improving when it matters the most. Especially when its big man plays the way he did on Thursday.
Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: USI basketball: Women's team looks to build off of first OVC win
