• OVC Women’s Basketball Report – January 9 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, January 11
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Eastern Illinois, 5:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at UT Martin, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, January 13
*Southeast Missouri at Tennessee Tech, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Eastern Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Tennessee State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at UT Martin, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at SIUE, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
CO-PLAYER
Macy McGlone, F, Jr., 6-3, Greenville, Wis. – Eastern Illinois
McGlone picked up her 10th and 11th double-double of the season as the Panthers split a pair of road games. On Thursday, the junior pulled down her 10th rebound of the game with three seconds left on an offensive rebound making the put-back basket to lift EIU to the two-point win at UT Martin. On Saturday, she nearly accomplished the feat in the first half at Little Rock with 13 points and nine rebounds in the first half before finishing with 22 points and 16 boards. The forward averaged 22 points/game for the week and 13 rebounds. McGlone shot 63 percent from the floor (17-of-27) adding two assists, five blocks and two steals. This marks the fourth time this season she has been named Player of the Week.
CO-PLAYER
Vanessa Shafford, G, Jr., 5-9, Linton, Ind. – Southern Indiana
Shafford led USI to a pair of wins while averaging a double-double for the week, registering 21 points and 12 rebounds/game, shooting 46 percent overall and 50 percent from long range. The junior posted a career-high 26 points on 60 percent (9-of-15) shooting, matching a career-best six three-pointers made to go along with nine rebounds. She earned her eighth career double-double, third of the season, tallying 16 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
Others Nominated: Faith Lee, Little Rock; Veronica Charles, Morehead State; Halle Smith, SIUE; Alecia Doyle, Southeast Missouri; Kiera Hill, Tennessee Tech; Anaya Brown, UT Martin; Addi Brownfield, Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Leilani Wimbish-Gay, G, Jr., 5-10, Victoria, Texas – Little Rock
Wimbish-Gay earned her third consecutive award by leading the Trojans to a pair of conference wins. The junior set a new career-high with 18 points in a win over SIUE, during which she added four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a career-high three blocked shots. In Saturday’s win over Eastern Illinois, she recorded eight points, five rebounds, one assist, one block and a steal.
Others Nominated: Ellie Buzzelle, Eastern Illinois; Skylar Barnes, Morehead State; Ali Saunders, Southern Indiana; Sanaa’ St. Andre, Tennessee State.
FRESHMAN
Raegan McCowan, G, Fr., 5-11, Lebanon, Mo. – Western Illinois
McCowan notched her second double-double of the season posting 21 points and 13 rebounds against Southeast Missouri. The freshman posted double digits with 12 points despite foul trouble in a win over Lindenwood, guiding the Leathernecks to a split on the week. She also grabbed nine rebounds, falling short of her third double-double. McCowan has claimed seven honors this year, including her sixth Freshman of the Week nod.
Others Nominated: Katie Novik, Morehead State; Indiya Bowen, Southeast Missouri; Chloe Gannon, Southern Indiana.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Alecia Doyle (G, So.), Southeast Missouri. Finished one rebound shy of her first double-double of the season. Dropped 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting and was a near-perfect 3-4 from the charity stripe at Southeast Missouri. Doyle has scored double-digits in three straight games.
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Anaya Brown (F, So.), UT Martin. Scored a game-high 25 points, adding eight rebounds and four steals against Eastern Illinois. Set career-high in scoring while shooting 57 percent from the field and converting all nine of her free throw opportunities.
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Addi Brownfield (G, So.), Western Illinois. Scored over 18 points in both matchups. Led the Leathernecks with 19 points in the win over Lindenwood. Defensively, brought down 14 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
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Katie Novik (G, Fr.), Morehead State. Posted 14 points, three steals, and two blocks in both contests. Tallied six assists and four rebounds versus TSU and four assists with six rebounds against TTU. Has scored in double figures in four straight games.
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Faith Lee (F, So.), Little Rock. Set career-highs in points (25) and steals (4) in the win over EIU. Scored 18 points, including 8-of-10 at the foul line, in just 27 minutes in a win over SIUE to start the week.
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Veronica Charles (G, Sr.), Morehead State. Scored 14 points with three assists and three steals against Tennessee Tech, before a highly efficient 20-point outing versus Tennessee State. Added four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the win. Now has 30 career double-figure scoring games.
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Ali Saunders (G, So.), Southern Indiana. Came off the bench to register four points, three rebounds, and four assists in 22 minutes in win against TSU. Recorded season-high 12 points, connecting on three triples, with five rebounds and a career-high seven assists in first start of the season. Drilled a three-pointer with 30 seconds left to secure a win over TTU.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Highlights: Southern Indiana is on a five-game win streak after collecting two wins… the Screaming Eagles are the lone undefeated team in conference play at 4-0; USI won six games last year in OVC play… USI’s Vanessa Shafford had 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Meredith Raley finished with 12 points and 10 boards in a win over TTU (1/6)… the Screaming Eagles accomplished multiple double-double’s against SIUE (1/7/23) when Shafford (18 points, 12 rebounds) teamed with former USI forward Hannah Haithcock (14 points, 10 rebounds)…
Little Rock notched a pair of wins on the week holding its opponents to 54.0 points/game; last season the Trojans challengers averaged 51.5 points/game…
Western Illinois opened the season going 10-2, matching the programs 2017-18 squad for the third best start in program history at 10-2; the Leathernecks fell to
Southeast Missouri 72-66 to end the run before bouncing back with a 74-58 win over Lindenwood… WIU ranks 17th in the country in defensive rebounds/game (30.4), 32nd in rebounds/game (42.64), 26th in scoring (80.6) and 36th in field goal percentage (46.0)… The Leathernecks are 20th nationally in three-point percentage (37.5) just ahead of
SIUE who are 45th at 35.6 percent… percent clip, and 34th in field goal percentage at 46.6… WIU is 12th in the country averaging 31.8 bench points/game, while
Tennessee Tech is 26th at 28.2 and
Morehead State ranks 48th at 25.0… Western Illinois is also 14th in the nation with 16.43 free throws made/game, ahead of SIUE at 33rd averaging 15.06… the Cougars are 26th in the country completing 77 percent of their free throws, while
UT Martin is 36th at 76.3…
Tennessee State has been aggressive on defense ranking 11th in the NCAA by forcing 22.93 turnovers/game… the Lady Tigers are also 46th with 10.4 steals/game while SEMO ranks 48th with 10.3… MSU has been strong on the offensive boards averaging 14.6 per game, which is the 41st in the country…
Eastern Illinois is committing just 13.9 fouls/game which is 27th best in the nation…
Lindenwood received double-digit scoring from seven different players in its 99-54 win over Harris-Stowe last week (12/11); the outing tops their previous best of four players in a game… SIUE and TSU had six players reach double digits during the final week of non-conference play… five other OVC teams have had five players reach double digits in a contest with MSU doing it twice… USI hosted Big-12 opponent Cincinnati (12/17); the Bearcats are the first-ever major conference opponent to visit Screaming Eagles Arena
Top Performers: EIU’s
Macy McGlone has recorded four straight double-doubles after a seven consecutive game streak was snapped at Northern Illinois (12/18); she now has 11 on the season and ranks 3rd in the nation, three behind BYU’s Lauren Gustin… McGlone ranks in the top 35 of seven other categories, including rebounds (4th), rebounds/game (9th), defensive rebounds (13th), field goals (10th), blocks (23rd), blocks/game (32nd), and points (30th)… WIU’s
Raegan McCowan scored 33 points on the week and is now averaging 17.9 points/game; the total is 62nd in the nation and ranks 6th amongst freshmen… LR’s
Jaiyah Harris-Smith is 6th in the country averaging 6.8 assists/game and is 18th with a 2.93 assist/turnover ratio… Harris-Smith is 15th with 88 assists and is followed by EIU’s
Miah Monahan who dished out 12 assists on the week to increase her total to 79, ranking 28th… TTU’s
Maaliya Owens was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and is shooting 93.0 percent from the line, ranking 4th in the NCAA; Owens is 25th in the country averaging 2.7 three-pointers/game and is 16th with 43 made… EIU’s
Ellie Buzzelle hit eight triples on the week and ranks 28th with 40… MSU’s
Blessing King is 4th in the NCAA averaging 4.5 offensive rebounds/game… SIUE’s
Molly Sheehan made seven three-pointers against Western Illinois (12/31); the mark ranks 31st and is the fifth highest total in country this season…
Mallory McDermott of WIU is shooting at an impressive 43.2 percent from three-point land, which ranks 33rd in the country; EIU’s
Ellie Buzelle hit 8-of-13 from behind the arc last week to improve her percentage from long distance to 43.0, ranking 35th… SEMO’s
Kiyley Flowers had four steals at Western Illinois and now ranks 40th in the country with 2.62 steals/game… three players from the OVC are in the top 20 nationally for minutes/game;
Kenley McCarn of UTM leads the way at 6th with 37.07 and is followed by Monahan (13th, 36.46) and Harris-Smith (16th, 36.39)… SEMO’s
Jaliyah Green has converted on 60 free throws on the season to match SIUE’s
KK Rodriguez; the duo are both ranked 39th in the country… Rodriguez has not played since an early exit at Southern Illinois (12/6)… SIUE’s
Olivia Clayton posted the 13th best performance in the nation this season with six blocked shots versus Harris-Stowe (12/20).