GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE vs. WILLIAM JEWELL -- Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
WILLIAM JEWELL SEASON STATISTICS

McKENDREE vs. SOUTHERN INDIANA -- Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018, 1 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
SOUTHERN INDIANA SEASON STATISTICS

(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 24)--The McKendree University women's basketball team will welcome a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents to the Harry M. Statham Sports Center for league games this week. The Bearcats will host William Jewell College on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before wrapping up the week against the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games will be carried live on the Bearcat Sports Network at www.glvcsn.com/mckendree.

McKendree is currently tied for the lead in the GLVC Central Division at 4-4. The Bearcats climbed above the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 11 thanks to a 55-44 home win last Thursday over Quincy University. The Bearcats clamped down defensively on the Hawks, holding the visitors to just 29.2 percent shooting and 15 total points in the first half. The 44 points allowed by McKendree to Quincy was the lowest since the Bearcats' 88-44 season-opening win over Blackburn College on Nov. 11. The win over Quincy helped McKendree improve to 8-7 on the season. 

The Bearcats had one of their best free-throw shooting nights of the 2017-18 season in the Quincy victory. McKendree was 15-of-17 from the stripe, hitting 88.2 percent of their tries from the line. In the fourth quarter alone, McKendree made 11-of-13 from the foul line. 

Along with holding a share of the GLVC Central Division lead at 4-4, McKendree is currently sitting in seventh place in the league's new GLVC Point Rating System, which will help determine the eight teams that will qualify for the 2018 GLVC Tournament March 1-4 in Edwardsville, Ill. Thursday's contest against William Jewell will mark the ninth game of the conference season for the Bearcats, which is the halfway point in league play. 

Jordan Heberg, who leads McKendree in scoring average at 12.3 points per game, has moved into eighth place in the GLVC in free throw percent. Heberg was 7-of-7 against Quincy and has jumped up to 83.9 percent for the season. At 7.6 rebounds per outing, Jordan Morton is sixth in the conference in total rebounding. 

Following the two games this weekend, McKendree will hit the road for a pair of GLVC contests. The Bearcats will begin the month of February with a match-up next Thursday at the University of Indianapolis. McKendree will then head north for a game next Saturday at Lewis University. 

ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE
The Cardinals enter Thursday's game with an overall record of 8-8 and a 5-4 mark against GLVC opponents. William Jewell has dropped three of its last four contests, including a 65-51 setback on Saturday at Lewis University. Kayla Harrell leads a balanced offensive attack for the Cardinals at 12.8 PPG. Sydney Offield is next at 10.6 PPG, while she leads the team in rebounding at 5.3 RPG. Offield also has produced a team-leading 27 steals. Katie Finn has dished out 47 assists for William Jewell. 

Allowing just 58.9 points per game, William Jewell is second in the GLVC in scoring defense. The Cardinals have also allowed their opponents just 32 rebounds per game, which is tops in the 15-team GLVC. 

McKendree and William Jewell were originally scheduled to play their one 2016-17 meeting in early January, but was postponed to Feb. 13, 2017 because of a snow and ice storm in the greater Kansas City area. The host Cardinals battled their way to a 55-38 win over the Bearcats at the Mabee Center in Liberty, Mo. Megan Jensen posted a double-double for McKendree with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds against William Jewell. 

ABOUT SOUTHERN INDIANA
The Screaming Eagles, ranked No. 20 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, brings a 15-2 overall record and a 7-1 GLVC mark into its Thursday game at home against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. USI has won each of its last four outings, including a 70-50 triumph on Saturday in Evansville, Ind., over Truman State University.

USI boasts one of the top all-around players in the GLVC in Kaydie Grooms. She is fourth in the conference in scoring at 18.2 PPG, and sits seventh in the league in field goal percentage at 53.9 percent. Grooms is also second on the Screaming Eagles' roster in both assists (42) and steals (35). Morgan Dahlstrom is averaging nearly a double-double for USI at 15.6 PPG and 9.8 RPG. Dahlstrom leads the GLVC in rebounding while she holds down the No. 4 spot in field goal percentage at 56 percent.

The Screaming Eagles swept both meetings with the Bearcats in 2016-17. USI registered a 66-40 win at the Statham Center on Dec. 1, 2016 before completing the sweep with a 70-48 triumph in Evansville on Feb. 18, 2017.