Little Rock to host first-place Southern Indiana on Saturday as OVC seeding race heats up

With five games remaining in the regular season, every contest is big and Saturday's conference tilt between Little Rock and first-place Southern Indiana is weighs heavy on the scale when the teams tip-off at 1 pm from the Jack Stephens Center. The contest can be streamed on ESPN+ and heard locally on Sports Animal 920 AM.
 
THE MATCHUP
Little Rock (9-15 overall, 8-5 OVC) and Southern Indiana (17-6, 12-1) meet for the second time this season with the Trojans looking to even the score after a 58-48 loss in Evansville, Ind. back on Jan. 18. Little Rock shot just 30 percent (18-of-60) in that meeting, including 6-of-26 from behind the arc. Jayla Brooks led the team with 11 points and Leilani Wimbish-Gay added 10. The win for Southern Indiana was its first in the all-time series, which Little Rock leads 2-1.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Little Rock led by as many as 17 points on Thursday against Morehead State, but with that lead down to a dozen midway through the fourth, the visiting Eagles closed out the game with a 15-0 run to steal a 50-47 win at the Jack Stephens Center. Faith Lee led all scorers with 14 points and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. Trinity Hudson set new career bests with 10 points and 11 boards and Jordan Holman grabbed 10 rebounds – also a career-high. Despite a 49-34 advantage on the glass, Little Rock made just 9-of-20 free throws and went 2-of-9 from the floor in the final period.
 
A LOOK AT THE SCREAMING EAGLES
Southern Indiana ranks first in the conference in offense (72.7), second in defense (59.6) and leads the OVC in scoring margin (+12.9). USI also leads the conference in shooting percentage (45.7) and shooting percentage defense (34.1). Vanessa Shafford ranks 10^th in scoring (14.5) and fifth in rebounding (8.8), and Ali Saunders is third in assists (4.5). Eight of USI's 12 conference wins have come by 10 or more points.
 
OVC OUTLOOK
A win for USI would almost assure the Screaming Eagles of the top seed in the OVC Championships next month, but things are more convoluted for Little Rock, who sits tied for second with Eastern Illinois and Morehead State. The Trojans split the season series with EIU but Morehead State owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Little Rock. Tennessee Tech (8-6) is a half-game behind, while Western Illinois and UT Martin are a game back at 7-6).