Overview

Preseason ruminations indicated that the OVC would run through Tennessee Tech once again, after the Golden Eagles won the tournament in 2023 and garnered 16 of the 22 first place votes in the preseason poll. However, the conference has run through the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles to this point. As of this writing, USI sits atop the conference at 14-1, winners of 15 of their last 17 games. The Screaming Eagles are led by junior guard Vanessa Shafford (13.5 PPG, 8.1 RPG in conference play). What makes this conference particularly interesting is that while the preseason player of the year, Maaliya Owens, played for the preseason No. 1 team, Tennessee Tech, the presumptive conference player of the year does not play for the No. 1 team in the conference. While Owens has performed admirably this year, sitting at fourth in the conference in scoring at 15.4 PPG, no one has been better than six-time OVC player of the week Macy McGlone. The forward from Eastern Illinois has been dominant this year, scoring 17.9 points per game, second in the conference, while leading the OVC and sitting tied for third in D-I with 11.9 rebounds per game. She is also second in the country with 21 double-doubles, 13 of them coming across 14 conference games.

Favorite: Southern Indiana

All this team has done since the schedule turned to conference play is win. USI started out with nine straight wins before stumbling on the road at Tennessee State. They then picked right back up where they left off, winning their last five contests. As long as they take care of the ball, the Screaming Eagles should be fine. They are 14-0 in conference play when committing less than 20 turnovers, and have the depth, experience and balance to win the tournament.

Dark Horse: Eastern Illinois

Despite the stellar season that McGlone has put up so far, the Panthers are a distant second from USI, and if things break the wrong way over their last three games, they could end up as far down as seventh in the conference. This team has been incredibly streaky the entire season, particularly on the losing side at times. Their 15 losses have come in streaks of two games twice, three games once, and four games twice. If this group catches fire at the right time though, they could find themselves cutting down the nets in Evansville.

Prediction: Southern Indiana over UT Martin

Southern Indiana has been the best team in the league to this point, and despite a narrow road loss, has beaten every team in the second pack of the OVC pretty handily. UT Martin was the exception, with the Skyhawks falling by six in Martin. UT Martin has one of the best guard-forward combos in the OVC between Kenley McCarn and Anaya Brown, a duo that could carry them deep into the tournament, but not past the Screaming Eagles.

Charlie Creme Bracketology:

Eastern Illinois: Automatic qualifier, Play-in No. 16 seed in the South Carolina (Columbia) pod