EVANSVILLE — Only one of the four Division I college basketball programs in Evansville has a winning record entering the middle of January. Could said team win a conference championship?
That’s a possibility based on where University of Southern Indiana women’s basketball currently stands.
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The Screaming Eagles are tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference entering the heart of their conference schedule. Rick Stein’s program is not only an annual contender in Division I, but there is a potential path to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Baby steps, of course. But USI is squarely in the conversation around the midway point of the 2025-26 season.
More: Where does Southern Indiana basketball stand entering OVC play in January?
“We’ve come leaps and bounds since the beginning,” Stein said. “Even the returning group where roles had to change, and they had to grow. We’re finding our rhythm a little bit. We’ve defended. We’ve rebounded. If we’re going to keep winning, we’ve got to keep doing that.”
Southern Indiana basketball coach Rick Stein during the NCAA college basketball game against on Dec. 22, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
How has Southern Indiana (10-4) stayed among the OVC leaders despite reloading the roster?
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The Screaming Eagles have largely gone about their business. Their losses in the non-conference were to defending MVC champion Murray State (79-77 at home), at Northern Kentucky in overtime and at No. 22 Tennessee. Only the latter was a struggle with USI committing 29 turnovers in Knoxville. What it lacks in a true signature win, there were zero bad losses.
Southern Indiana is second in the OVC per Bart Torvik’s ratings at 121st in the country, only behind preseason favorite Lindenwood ― who beat the Screaming Eagles on Jan. 3. Their defense ranks first in the conference in field goal percentage allowed, first in rebounding and second in turnover margin. USI has allowed fewer than 60 points in every victory.
“We’ve adapted well to what we do,” senior Ali Saunders said. “We’ve learned standards that we have to play and practice with every single day in order to be playing our best basketball come March. And I think with this team, we have so much potential.”
Stein can point to where that starts. Prior to a home game on Thursday, Saunders ranked fourth in the OVC in scoring (16.6 points per game), second in assists (4.3) and fifth in steals (2.3). The senior guard, who added 27 points in a win against SEMO, has stepped into a leadership role with authority.
Southern Indiana guard Ali Saunders (11) comes down with the rebound before Tennessee guard Mia Pauldo (13) during an NCAA college basketball game on Dec. 22, 2025, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The North Harrison graduate recently eclipsed 1,000 career points and 400 assists (she played her freshman year at Valparaiso). She’s on pace to not only finish among the best in recent program history but usher in a new standard as full-time Division I members.
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“Her leadership is spot on,” Stein said. “She’s making plays not only for herself but others. That’s when she’s at her best. She can’t just be a pass-first point guard or a scoring point guard. She’s got to be both. We have players who are still finding their spots in our offense. Ali’s helping that cause too.”
The Screaming Eagles do struggle when it becomes Saunders against the world. Sophia Loden (12.5 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Chloe Gannon (12.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) have grown into reliable frontcourt options. It would benefit the lineup to find another consistent perimeter scorer as the conference grind pushes into February.
More: Why Evansville-area schools rescheduled basketball games because of IU football
The OVC had seven teams within one game of first place heading into the weekend. The Screaming Eagles will be favored in the interim with big matchups at Liberty Arena looming against Western Illinois (Jan. 24) and Lindenwood (Jan. 29). USI still finds itself with a solid base to compete for a conference championship.
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“We haven’t hit our stride yet,” Saunders said. “Which is a good thing. You learn a lot from losses. You have no other option but to change, learn and grow from those mistakes. We have to value possessions more. (Lindenwood) helped us realize it’s the little things that have made us good in the first half of the season. We have to carry that over.”
Is Evansville possibly turning a corner to begin MVC play?
There’s still plenty of ground to cover if the Purple Aces want to make significant strides. The start to Valley play, though, is a positive start.
University of Evansville women’s basketball sits at 4-11 following a 75-70 win at Southern Illinois on Dec. 8. Robyn Scherr’s young team struggled in the non-conference portion, notably in high-profile meetings at No. 14 Iowa and Purdue. Why the glimmer of hope?
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The Aces have nearly matched their MVC win total from last year. Part of that is due to the schedule. There are three conference teams currently ranked 300 or lower on Bart Torvik ― UE plays all three before Jan. 18. Perhaps more importantly: a roster with only one upperclassman has been more competitive. The result at SIU was the Aces’ first conference road victory in two years.
Their two Valley losses came by 10 points to Belmont and Murray State. Both are top-100 teams on Bart Torvik.
“It’s been a while since I felt (in control) in a conference game,” Scherr recently said via the ‘Aces on the Air’ podcast. “We didn’t have any big lulls, and we’ve struggled with that this year with our young group. We’re just seeing our team play consistently for 40 minutes. I think we’re playing really good basketball.”
Evansville’s Camryn Runner (10) takes a shot as the University of Evansville Purple Aces play the University of Illinois Chicago during the 2025 Credit Union 1 MVC Women’s Basketball tournament at Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., Thursday, March 13, 2025.
The main cog remains Camryn Runner. The sophomore guard was eighth in the Valley at 16.1 points and second in assists at 4.5 per game prior to the SIU win. She is also second on the team in rebounding and maintains a positive assist-to-turnover ratio despite a heavy usage. What Evansville requires now is consistency elsewhere.
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Sophomore Logan Luebbers Palmer (12.1 points) has experienced a solid jump. The rest of an eight-player rotation though hasn’t provided much scoring. That is exacerbated with the absence of sophomore Avery Kelley (8.0 points) since Nov. 16 with a knee injury. Scherr is hoping for a late January or early February return for the Memorial grad.
More: Where does Evansville men’s basketball stand entering MVC play in January?
Evansville (2-2 in the MVC) still has a tough climb before competing for the title (Northern Iowa, Belmont, Murray State and Drake were all unbeaten in Valley play entering Thursday). The Aces do have a path to gain confidence and potentially move up the table. The immediate schedule features a trip to Illinois State (Jan. 11), a visit from UIC (Jan. 16) and a trip to Indiana State (Jan. 18) before a gauntlet to end January.
“That belief is starting to show,” Scherr said. “We’re going toe-to-toe with a team picked to be one of the best in the conference. We had our opportunities and let it slip away. I think it’s going to be a positive down the road.”
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Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at kyle.sokeland@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Where does USI and UE women’s basketball stand midway through season?
