Little Rock women's basketball heads to Indiana for shot at OVC lead

Little Rock will have a chance to grab at least a share of the OVC lead on Thursday when the second-place Trojans face conference leader Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind. The game is scheduled for a 5 pm tip from the Screaming Eagles Arena and can be streamed on ESPN+ and head locally on Sports Animal 920 AM.
 
The Trojans (5-11, 4-1 OVC) bring a three-game win streak on the road to Indiana and almost week of preparation since their last outing – a 57-48 road win at UT Martin on Jan. 13. Little Rock allowed its lowest point total of the season against the Skyhawks and held UT Martin to just six points in the fourth quarter while forcing a season-high 26 turnovers – marking the third consecutive game in which the defense has forced 20+ turnovers.
 
Faith Lee scored a team-high 16 points, Leilani Wimbish-Gay added 13 points and four steals, Jayla Brooks had 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and a career-high three blocks, while Sug Williams came off the bench to score eight points, grab a team-high eight rebounds and swipe three steals.
 
Southern Indiana (10-5, 5-0 OVC) is riding a six-game win streak and 7-2 record at home. During their current win streak, USI has wins of 49, 38, 23, 21, 3, and 3 points. Most recently they dropped SIUE by an 87-64 margin. USI is led by Vanessa Shafford (15.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg), Meredith Raley (11.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Madi Webb (10.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg). During conference play, Southern Indiana ranks at the top of the OVC in both scoring offense (76.0) and scoring defense (58.4).
 
Thursday's game will be just the third meeting between the schools, with the first two coming last season during conference play. Little Rock took both meetings during the 2022-23 season, including a 47-44 victory in Evansville. The Trojans also won 58-50 at the Jack Stephens Center.