EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Little Rock Women's Basketball team begins its journey into the Ohio Valley Conference tournament Thursday with a 12:30 p.m. tipoff against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. The teams will showdown for the third time this season in the Ford Center in downtown Evansville, Ind.
Trey Schaap has the call on The Sports Animal 920 AM. The matchup will also be live streamed on ESPN+ with Dorian Craft and Lexi Ayala on the call.
The Trojans (14-15, 12-8) claimed the No. 4 seed after a loss against SIU-Edwardsville last Saturday. Little Rock will face No. 5 seed Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles defeated No. 8 seed Tennessee State on Wednesday afternoon, with a final score of 90-66.
The Screaming Eagles were led by Meredith Raley with 22 points on 9-of-9 from the floor, 1-of-1 from the three, and 3-of-3 from the charity line. Raley also grabbed seven rebounds. Vanessa Shafford followed closely behind with 20 points on 7-of-13 shots with seven rebounds and two assists.
Tickets are available for just $10 for Thursday's matchup. Tickets can be purchased at will-call at the Ford Center.
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The Trojans being in the No. 4 seed puts them with a one-game bye. To take the championship, Little Rock would need to win three games in three days. The winner of the Trojans and Screaming Eagles would go on to face No. 1 seeded Tennessee Tech. That matchup is set for Friday at 1 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 6 UT Martin and No. 7 Western Illinois face off at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The winner of that game will face No. 3 Eastern Illinois on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Both Tennessee Tech and No. 2 seed Lindenwood received a two-game bye.
LAST TIME OUT VS SOUTHERN INDIANA
The Trojans came out with a 75-61 win at Southern Indiana, thanks to an outstanding shooting performance by graduate guard
Sug Williams. Williams set a career high with 21 points, shooting 8-of-10 from the floor with five made free throws. Little Rock ended the night with a 75-61 win.
Jordan Holman contributed 20 points with eight rebounds
. Jayla Brooks shot 6-of-9 from the field, 4-of-5 from the three, ending the night with 16 points.
Little Rock held USI leader Meredith Raley to just 10 points and four rebounds. Getting Raley in foul trouble was key for the Trojans to take the victory. USI center Chloe Gannon had a career-high 16 points against the Trojans, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor and making 6-of-7 free throws. Gannon also grabbed five rebounds.
The Trojans swept the Screaming Eagles in the regular season with the win on Feb. 6 and an overtime win at home back in January.
OVC HONORS
Earlier this week, the OVC announced its postseason awards and all-conference selections.
Faith Lee was named as part of the All-OVC First team. Senior
Jordan Holman was selected to the All-OVC Second Team.
Lee averages 14.4 points per game, 2.6 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game. She scored a career-high 31 points in the win over SIUE in December, while also hitting the 1,000 career-points mark this season.
Holman averages 13.4 points per game and 2.1 steals per game. Holman broke the single-game steals record with nine steals against Western Illinois earlier this season. She had a career-high 27 points against Lindenwood and 12 rebounds against Arkansas State this season.
