USI women set to close the regular season with four road games

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Despite having to finish the season on the road for four straight games, this stretch might be on of the most helpful for the University of Southern Indiana women’s basketball team.

As the race for the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference intensifies, the Screaming Eagles enter the final weeks of regular season played tied with Lindenwood for second with a conference record of (12-4). Now to finish the season all in enemy territory, USI can still land anywhere from first to sixth place in the OVC. The slate isn’t an ideal situation for any team to be in, but while Southern Indiana is (12-3) within the confines of Liberty Arena they’re also (6-4) on the road. So they’re not exactly bad away from home either.

Looking at the schedule from a positive sense, it will be good preparation for next month’s OVC tournament and for what lies ahead beyond that. Even though the OVC tournament is held in Evansville, the Ford Center isn’t exactly the home of the Screaming Eagles. And when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, a team can play one game in one city and be in another city the very next day.

“It can be wearing mentally already knowing that hey not only because you got the games and it’s tough and you’re on the road, you don’t sleep in your own bed but there’s missed class time,” said head coach Rick Stein. “These young women are students, I mean they go to class, they take care of business… But it doesn’t make it easier when you’re gone for two straight weeks, so this one kind of adds to that one a little bit as we go into postseason. But again we try to prep and prepare our team as much as possible and help them time manage to make sure they’re in a good place.”

USI’s final stretch gets underway Thursday, February 19 at the number one team in the conference, Western Illinois at 5 p.m. The game is set to stream on ESPN plus.

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