October 29, 2008
Eagles set to tip-off preseason Saturday,
Facing Indiana for first time
Game Notes (pdf.)
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team tips off its preseason when it travels to Bloomington, Indiana, and Assembly Hall to take on NCAA Division I Indiana University Saturday at 3 p.m. (CDT). The exhibition game can be listened to on WSWI AM 820, WSPR FM 90.7, and via the web at www.820theedge.com.
Saturday's exhibition game marks the first-ever meeting between the Screaming Eagles and the Hoosiers in women's basketball.
USI, which was 10-17 overall and 5-14 in the GLVC last year, is 9-8 since 1992 in exhibition games after falling to the University of Notre Dame, 90-38, in its only preseason tune-up last season. The Eagles are 1-3 against NCAA I opponents in exhibition contests since 1992, with their win coming at Morehead State University two years ago.
The Eagles, who were one of the most competitive groups in what was arguably the toughest conference in Division II last season, get to show off a revamped roster that includes six newcomers and six returning players.
Sophomore guard Amie Newhart (Mulberry, Indiana) and senior forward/centers Ninette Evans (Memphis, Tennessee) and Brittany Neuman (Huntingburg, Indiana) are USI's leading returning scorers and rebounders from last year's squad.
Newhart averaged 9.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as the Eagles' starting point guard last season, while Evans averaged 5.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest during her junior year. Neuman, who finished 2007-08 with back-to-back double-doubles, brought down 5.6 rebounds per game.
USI's newcomers are headlined by junior guard/forward Abby Williams (St. Joseph, Illinois) and sophomore guard Ellen Young (Salem, Illinois). Williams was a two-time All-American at Kankakee Community College where she averaged 15.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season. Young was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Freshman team after tallying 11.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest for Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2007-08.
Indiana is coming off a 2007-08 campaign that saw them post an 18-15 overall record and a 10-8 mark in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers, who return four starters from last year's squad, advanced to the second round of the Women's NIT last season before falling to James Madison University, 86-81, in overtime.
Following the Eagles' only exhibition game of the preseason, USI opens the regular-season at the St. Edwards University Shootout in Austin, Texas, November 15-16.
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
