DISCIPLINE, FAMILY AND HEART USI Women's Basketball complete a historic season with two Ohio Valley Conference Championship trophies

It started on June 4, 2023—members of the USI Women's Basketball Team gathered for the first time, beginning what would be a historic 2023-24 season, its second year in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and Division I play. On Saturday, March 9, the No. 1 seed USI earned a resounding victory over No. 3 University of Tennessee at Martin, securing the very first OVC tournament team championship in the Division I era for the University. But their journey doesn't end there. While the team, staff and campus community awaits the draw for the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) on Sunday, March 17, the University and Evansville community came together to celebrate the Screaming Eagles!

Take a look at the Women's tournament run and community pep rally on campus!

USI students, employees and fans showed up in force on Friday, March 8 for the Women's first match-up of the tournament against No. 5 Eastern Illinois University. Around 200 employees and students filled the Ford Center to show their pride. USI dominated the matchup, earning a 69-54 victory and a spot in the Championship game.

On Saturday, March 9, USI took to the court for the highly anticipated OVC Championship game against UT-Martin. The home crowd packed seats for the exciting game, cheering on the players to victory, 81-53, over the No. 3 seed, making the team the 2024 OVC Tournament Champion!

After the final whistle, the Screaming Eagles celebrated with family, friends and USI fans as they were presented the 2024 OVC Championship trophy!

The Screaming Eagles Arena opened to the campus community and public for a pep rally on Monday, March 11 to celebrate the achievements of the USI Women's Basketball team. The event included performances from the Cheer and Dance teams, as well as remarks from Athletic Director Jon Mark Hall, President Rochon and Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry. Head Coach Rick Stein—named the OVC Coach of the Year—took to the podium to laud his team's accomplishments and commend players and staff for their hard work. Team captains Addy Blackwell, Meredith Raley, Vanessa Shafford and Tori Handley also spoke, thanking not only their teammates and coaches, but the campus and Evansville communities for their continued support.

"Nothing has ever been given to USI. When Dr. Rice and everyone involved in the community started this institution, it was hard work. And it's been a grind to get this institution here. These young women embody that grind; they embody what all of you across campus and the community have done to get here—the hard work, the determination. Nobody has ever given USI anything, we've had to earn it, we've had to work for it. And that's what these young women have done. They've worked hard from day one." - Jon Mark Hall, Athletic Director

"Ladies, I want to thank you all for showing us on campus what camaraderie looks like, what discipline looks like, what teamwork looks like, what joy looks like. You all are teaching us how to get this done. I'm proud of you all, we love you all and we celebrate you all." - USI President Ronald Rochon

"What you have accomplished is nothing short of incredible. You have made your school proud, you have made this city proud and you have put the NCAA on notice. Watch out for the USI Screaming Eagles because they are coming!" - City of Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry

"One of the things this team never did this year was worry about what they could not get. All they worried about was what they could achieve. And that is why this team is so awesome—winning the conference championship with a 17-1 conference record, the second best overall record in 45 years of women's basketball in the OVC!" - Rick Stein, USI Women's Basketball Head Coach

"The culture of this team is absolutely amazing. It's something that has been instilled in us since we came here June 4, 2023. It's something that these coaches have led on for many, many years, and it's something they take a lot of pride in as well. It's amazing what they do for us. The culture here is unreal. We all knew when we came in, we were going to win something, and here we are. We've won the OVC Regular Season Championship and the OVC Tournament Championship. Now we are headed to the WNIT!" - Meredith Raley, senior forward and team captain

"This is just a group of winners, and I know we are not done yet. We know we can't compete for a NCAA championship but the special thing about this group is that we didn't care what tournament we got to compete in, we just wanted to play more basketball." - Tori Handley, graduate student guard and team captain

The draw for USI's placement in the postseason WNIT will be held on Sunday, March 17, with a full tournament bracket release on Monday, March 18. Round one will begin on March 20. The field will consist of a 48-team bracket which includes teams that received automatic berths and at-large selections. The WNIT is a women's national college basketball tournament independent of the NCAA and operates a preseason and postseason version played annually.