LEBANON, Ill. - The women's basketball team will return home after being on the road for the past two weeks as they will host No.22 Lewis University on Thursday, February 13th and the University of Indianapolis on Saturday, February 15th at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon, Illinois.
HISTORY SHOWCASE
Against Lewis, this will be the 22nd all-time meeting between the two in-state programs, dating back to 2011. The Flyers won the last two matchups in the series, including earlier this season where they won narrowly 84-80 on their home floor in Romeoville, Illinois. McKendree's last win against Lewis came in a 71-69 overtime win at the Neil Carey Arena as they trail in the series 3-18.
A couple of days later, against UIndy, it will be the 19th meeting between the two. The Bearcats won this matchup earlier this season as well in Indianapolis, Indiana 84-75 as they came victorious in five of the last six meetings. The all-time series still remains in the Greyhounds' favor, 10-8.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
After losing three straight and five out of the last six, McKendree pulled off one of their best comeback wins in recent program history when they faced the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday.
In Springfield Illinois, the game started out tightly contested with a tied score of 12 after the first period of play. The gap then blew wide open with UIS going on a 20-5 run to begin the second quarter to which they would lead by a large margin of 38-21 at halftime. After a few minutes of trading buckets on both sides coming out of the break, the Bearcats caught fire in scoring 22 straight points to take a 52-46 lead to end the third period. With the game still close in the midst of the final quarter of regulation, the two sides would take hits at each other, as the McKendree freshmen in Kyra Taylor (Davenport, Iowa) and Taylor Fohey (Quincy, Ill.) were able to get inside for a handful of contested layups to ultimately erase the 17-point deficit and win 77-70. Kyra Taylor gave McKendree 21 points on the evening on an effective 8-12 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the line as she also pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore forward Baylie Parks scored her 20th straight double-figure game, finishing with 16 points along with an abundant 13 rebounds (five offensive), plus three assists, four steals, and a block. Sophomore guard Emma Slings rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Bearcats with a dozen points, a trio of assists and a pair of steals.
Parks remains a perfect 20-for-20 in double-digit scoring outputs with 11+ points in all games this season and has grabbed 6+ rebounds in all as many contests. Her 18.2 points per game leads the team and is good for second in the GLVC (26th in the nation) as her field goal percentage of 53.5% (29th in the nation) places first in the conference, while her eight double-doubles are a second-GLVC-best (37th in the nation). The sophomore's rebounding numbers are top-five in the conference and include total rebounds per game (1st – 9.8), total rebounds (3rd – 196), defensive rebounds per game (2nd – 6.8), and offensive rebounds per game (4th – 3.0).
Slings continues to be one of the team's and the GLVC's best facilitators. She is assisting the ball 3.1 times a game on 62 total for the season, which are good for eighth and ninth in the conference respectively. The sophomore is also number nine in the GLVC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.09.
As a team, their 45.7% field goal percentage leads the entire conference and is 12th in the nation. They also are placed in the top-three in the GLVC in free throw percentage (2nd – 74.9), three-point percentage defense (3rd – 28.4%), free throws made per game (3rd – 15.2), scoring offense (3rd – 74.0 ppg), and fewest turnovers per game (16.8).
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
No.22 Lewis University | Thursday, February 13th, 5:30 PM CT
Last Matchup: L, 80-84 on 1/5/2025 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Lewis is having a very strong season as they just recently entered the WBCA NCAA Division II WBB Coaches Poll for 22nd in the country. They are currently 19-2 on the year while posting a 13-1 record in conference play. The Flyers are on a six-game win streak after dismantling Lincoln University (Mo.) 77-41 on Saturday.
The Flyers' leading scorer, graduate guard Taylor Gugliuzza, puts in 14.7 points a contest, which is good for 10th in the GLVC. Her playmaking is also a top-10 attribute within the conference, as she assists 3.1 times a game on 61 total on a fifth-best 1.56 assist-to-turnover ratio. Another facilitator to look out for is junior guard Jenna Badali, who records 3.6 assists per game on 71 total and is fourth in the GLVC with a 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio. Badali is also first in the conference in her free throw percentage of 86.2%.
The team as a whole is a strong unit together, as they place in the top-three in free throw percentage (1st – 76.3%), turnover margin (1st – 2.3), field goal percentage defense (2nd – 36.6%), scoring defense (2nd – 56.3 ppg), scoring margin (2nd – 11.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (3rd – 1.03), three-point percentage (3rd – 33.6%), and fewest turnovers per game (13.4).
University of Indianapolis | Saturday, February 15th, 12:00 PM CT
Last Matchup: W, 84-75 on 1/3/2025 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
UIndy is coming off a pair of losses at home last week after winning three straight prior. They sit at 7-16 overall and 5-10 in GLVC action. They will go up against the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday before taking on McKendree on Saturday.
The Greyhounds leading scorer at 16.8 points per game is junior guard Patricia Chikamba, who is fourth in the entire conference in scoring output. Her shooting percentage is also up their amongst the rankings at 6th with 42.3%.
A couple of defenders to take note of are senior guard Amyrah Sapenter and junior forward Kylah Lawson. Lawson is sixth in the conference in blocks per game at 1.09 (24 total) as Sapenter is fifth in the GLVC in steals per game at 2.0 (46 total).
The UIndy team does not stand out in a superior way as some of their fellow GLVC-foes, but they are top-five in the conference in steals per game (3rd – 8.8), three-point percentage defense (4th – 29.9%), turnovers forced per game (4th – 16.7), blocks per game (5th – 3.3), and scoring defense (5th – 65.8 ppg).
TUNE IN-FO
vs No.22 Lewis University
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Lewis]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Lewis]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Lewis]
vs University of Indianapolis
WATCH: Click HERE ($ – GLVC Sports Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [UIndy]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [UIndy]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [UIndy]
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