University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball used a strong fourth-quarter effort to outlast the University of Indianapolis, 56-51, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest Tuesday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena.
The Screaming Eagles (9-1, 9-1 GLVC), who jumped three spots to No. 11 in the latest D2SIDA Top 25 Media Poll earlier in the day, used a 9-1 run to open the fourth quarter and break a 38-38 stalemate. Senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) had five points in the run, including a three-pointer with just under eight minutes to play that broke a near four-minute long scoreless drought for the Eagles.
DeHart, who led the Eagles with a game-high tying 15 points, scored 13 second-half points, including nine in the final 10 minutes.
Indianapolis (5-7, 5-7 GLVC), which led 25-23 at the break, charged back behind the play of junior guard Mya Scheidt, who led the Greyhounds with 15 points. Scheidt, who drained five shots from behind the arc for the game, connected on a pair of three-pointers in a two-minute span that got UIndy to within three points (49-46) with three minutes to play.
USI answered nearly two minutes later with a DeHart layup to go up by five, but after the two teams swapped free throws in a 10-second span, Scheidt drained another shot from behind the arc to cut USI’s advantage to 53-51 with 21 seconds on the clock.
Sophomore guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana), however, connected on a pair of free throws a second later and the Eagles’ defense, which held the Hounds to 3-of-13 (.231) shooting in the fourth quarter, held UIndy off the scoreboard to preserve the win.
Blackwell finished with 14 points, two assists and four steals, while sophomore forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) added 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
USI shot 44.0 percent (22-50) from the field and held UIndy to just 32.7 percent (17-52) shooting for the game.
The Eagles return to action Thursday at 5:15 p.m. when they host Quncy University in a 5:15 p.m. contest at Screaming Eagles Arena. Thursday’s game is the Eagles’ Play4Kay game.
