University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball surrendered 22 first-quarter points and 20 fourth-quarter points as it suffered a 62-55 Great Lakes Valley Conference setback to host University of Indianapolis Sunday afternoon at Nicoson Hall.
UIndy (3-3, 3-3 GLVC) scored the final eight points of the contest to hand the Screaming Eagles their first loss of the 2020-21 campaign.
USI (5-1, 5-1 GLVC), which rallied from a 22-14 first-quarter deficit to take its first lead of the contest early in the third period, got a three-pointer from sophomore guard Soffia Rieckers (Evansville, Indiana) with less than 90 seconds to play in the game to take a 55-54 lead.
The Greyhounds, however, answered with a three-pointer from junior guard Mya Scheidt in their next possession to retake the lead with 53 seconds to play in the contest.
USI failed to get a shot off in its next two possessions as sophomore forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) was whistled for an illegal screen with 38 seconds to play while senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) lost the ball on a tie-up with 10 seconds to play.
UIndy senior guard Mickey Sasson connected on 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 14 seconds to give the Greyhounds a 60-55 lead. Senior guard Taylor Drury, who had a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, added a pair of free throws with a second on the clock to finish off the 8-0 run.
Haithcock, who scored 13 of her team-high 14 points in the second half, scored five quick points after the intermission as USI, which had trailed throughout the entire first half, took its first lead at 34-32 less than a minute into the third period.
The two teams swapped leads 14 times during the second half, including six times in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. UIndy, however, used a 6-0 run to take a 54-49 lead with 2:36 to play in the contest.
DeHart, who had 12 points, drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two points with 2:22 to play. Rieckers’ three-pointer a minute later gave USI the short-lived one-point advantage.
After allowing the Greyhounds to shoot 7-of-10 from the field in the opening period, USI held UIndy to just 6-of-28 (.214) from the field in the second and third quarters. The Eagles held the Greyhounds to just 5-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter, but UIndy was 3-of-4 (.750) from downtown and 7-of-8 (.875) from the charity stripe to secure the win.
In addition to Haithcock and DeHart, the Eagles got nine points, five rebounds and a career-high six assists from senior guard Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois). Junior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) came off the bench to score seven points and pull down four rebounds.
USI went 21-of-54 (.389) from the field, while holding the Greyhounds to just 36.7 percent (18-49) shooting. UIndy, however, out-rebounded USI, 35-30, and was 17-of-23 (.739) from the free throw line compared to USI’s 8-of-13 (.615).
