UIndy Greyhounds (8-10, 2-6 GLVC) vs. McKendree Bearcats (10-8, 4-5 GLVC)
Thursday, Jan. 31, 6:30 p.m. ET
 
UIndy Greyhounds (8-10, 2-6 GLVC)* vs. Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars (6-11, 3-6 GLVC)
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2 p.m. ET
 
 ON TAP
After picking up their first two conference wins of the year last weekend at home, the UIndy women's basketball team is on the road this week in Illinois looking to extend their winning streak in the GLVC. The Greyhounds will first travel to Lebanon, Ill., Thursday to face McKendree before heading up to Springfield to face the Prairie Stars of Illinois Springfield in the state capitol.
 
HOUNDS vs. BEARCATS
McKendree came to Nicoson Hall last season and beat the Greyhounds 63-53. UIndy had a tough time getting their offense going that game as the Bearcats held UIndy to 27% shooting from the field. Former Greyhound Martha Burse led UIndy in the game, scoring 31 of UIndy's 53 points and going a perfect 11-of-11 from the line. McKendree had four players in double digits in last season's matchup with their leading scorer coming off the bench for 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting.
 
ABOUT McKENDREE
The Bearcats come into this week's game having lost two of their last seven conference games with their wins coming against Missouri S&T and Quincy over the last week and a half. In their last time out, McKendree fell on the road to Truman by a score of 77-57 with none of their players reaching double figures in the contest. The Hounds and Bearcats share a pair of non-conference opponents in common in Purdue Northwest and Tiffin. McKendree topped Purdue Northwest in overtime and lost to Tiffin back in November. UIndy beat both Purdue Northwest and Tiffin earlier this season.
 
McKendree is led in scoring by sophomore guard Sydney Diekhoff, who currently ranks seventh in the GLVC in scoring at almost 15 points per night. Diekhoff is shooting the ball at a 35.6% clip from the field, while only making just under 29% of her shots from distance. Senior guard/forward Jordan Morton currently leads the Bearcats in rebounding at eight boards a night, ranking sixth in the league in that category. McKendree has trotted out the same starting lineup this season, the lineup has consisted of three juniors, one senior, and one sophomore. Their starting lineup averages over 46 of their 67 points per game on the year.
 
HOUNDS vs. PRAIRIE STARS
UIndy and Springfield only met once last season, their lone meeting came in Springfield and the Hounds came away with a road win that afternoon. UIndy shot 35% from the field, holding Springfield to 27% from the field. The long ball was not falling for either team that day, UIndy shot just over 17% from beyond the arc while the Prairie Stars shot 22%, but took 40 shots from deep in the game. UIndy was led by Martha Burse that game with 26 points who almost outscored Springfield's two top scorers in UIndy's 56-53 win.
 
ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
In their last time out, the Prairie Stars snapped a four-game losing skid by defeating Quincy 77-65 on the road. Before taking down the Hawks, Springfield lost to three teams UIndy had lost to just weeks before them in Drury, Missouri S&T, and Truman. Like McKendree and UIndy, Springfield has played both Purdue Northwest and Tiffin this season in non-conference play. The Prairie Stars took down Tiffin their first game of the season, but lost their two meetings with Purdue Northwest after that.
 
The Prairie Stars are led by junior guard Jasmine Sangster in scoring, right behind her is freshman Lauren Ladowski. Sangster and Ladowski rank 11th and 12th in the conference in scoring at 13.1 and 13.0 points per game respectively. Springfield is led in rebounding by sophomore forward Brianna Mefford 5.3 boards a night. The sophomore had a 20 rebound performance back in December against Robert Morris-Springfield.
THREE HEADED SCORING MONSTER
Taylor Drury, Laura Thomas, and Emma Benoit all rank top 15 in the GLVC in points per game this season. Drury ranks fifth in the conference at 15.4 points per game, Thomas checks in at 9th with 13.8 PPG, and Benoit's 12.9 PPG is good for 14th in the league.
 
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Emma Benoit has been a force down low for the Hounds this year. The Northern Michigan transfer has recorded four double-doubles this season for UIndy. Her most recent came last week in a dominating performance against Rockhurst. The junior from Illinois pulled down 13 rebounds, 10 on the offensive side of the court, for her second most this season. Benoit also put up a career-high 25 points against the Hawks in the team's first GLVC win of the season.
 
DILLY, DILLY!
Freshman Taylor Dillard provided a spark off the bench for the Greyhounds in their win over William Jewell. The Indianapolis native posted her third game in double-figures this season, her first since November when she scored 10 points in 21 minutes against Tiffin. Dillard's 13 points topped her previous career-high of 12 that she set back in November in the team's double-overtime loss to #13Grand Valley State.
 
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
After four of their first five conference games were against ranked teams, the Greyhounds can breathe a sigh of relief that the toughest portion of their conference schedule is over. Of their remaining conference games, only three games are against teams who currently have a winning record in GLVC play. With the exception of Southern Indiana, four of UIndy's next five games are against teams that only have a win or two more in the conference than UIndy.
 
MAKING IT RAIN
The Greyhounds as a whole are shooting from beyond the arc much better than they did a year ago. Last season, UIndy was shooting 27.5% from deep, they were shooting over 40% from deep for much of this season, but still sit at over 35% from three-point range this season. Two Hounds are near the top in two three-point shooting categories in the GLVC. Taylor Drury ranks second in the league in almost three made triples a game, shooting 43.7% from deep (4th in GLVC). Freshman Katie Sowa is sixth in the GLVC in three-point percentage shooting over 42% from beyond the arc.
 
RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
During her double-double last week against Rockhurst, junior Emma Benoit broke a 10-year old program record by going 15-of-15 from the free throw line. Benoit broke the previous record held by Samantha Meissel when she went 13-for-13 from the line in February of 2008. Benoit's 100% performance from the line also raised her free throw average by over 7%, putting her at 65.5% on the season.
 
GETTING BACK ON TRACK
The Hounds were once second in the country in three-point field goal percentage at 43.4%. During their seven-game losing skid, UIndy only shot above 30% from beyond the arc once (33.3% at Drury). Last week against Rockhurst and William Jewell, the Greyhounds went back to their old ways, shooting 46.7% and 44.4% in those games, respectively.
 
CATCH THE ACTION LIVE
Every home event and GLVC game will be streamed live for free on the GLVC Sports Network. You can also catch all the action live on 88.7 FM WICR, who will be broadcasting every game in 2018-19. Links to all broadcasts and live stats pages can be found on UIndyAthletics.com.