Scoreboard

Members of the Women’s Basketball team said they came to USI to win, and win they did, capturing both the 2023-2024 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) regular season title and the 2024 OVC Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship in March, making Women’s History Month that much sweeter. The historic run secured the first USI team championship win in the University’s Division I era. The two OVC championships this season were the first OVC titles for USI Women’s Basketball and the first OVC team championships in USI Athletics history. “To win both championships in one season in such a strong fashion is an outstanding feat,” says Beth DeBauche, OVC Commissioner. “The fact the program is only in year two of the membership transitioning process makes the accomplishment even more remarkable. The future is certainly bright for USI Women’s Basketball.”

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Rick Stein guided the Screaming Eagles to a 25-7 overall record and a 17-1 conference record, improving its OVC wins by 11 games from the 2022-23 campaign. The Screaming Eagles are only the fifth women’s basketball team in OVC history to win at least 17 games in the conference season, and they did it in only their second season of Division I play. “Credit goes to each and every player on our team and each and every one of these young women who’ve put in the time and effort (and) our coaches, [and the] amazing job that they’ve done this year,” Stein says.

Due to restrictions during USI’s DI probationary period, the team was not allowed to advance to the NCAA Tournament, but they did secure a place in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). There, they doused the fire of University of Chicago’s Flames and forged ahead to face University of Wisconsin’s Badgers with a record-setting fan base of 3,283 supporters cheering them on. While they didn’t win that game, they made us all proud.

OTHER OVC WINS
Distance runner Noah Hufnagel ‘24, kinesiology, earned his fifth and sixth career Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) titles this spring during the OVC Indoor Championships. Hufnagel won first place in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter events.

OF NOTE
USI Men's Basketball advanced to the first round of the OVC Championship, marking the team's second consecutive appearance in the tournament during its first two years in Division I.

Read about the journey of USI's Women's Basketball stellar run in their second year of USI's Division I transition here.