EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball’s quest for a GLVC Tournament title came to an end Saturday as the top-seeded Screaming Eagles suffered an 88-72 loss to No. 5-seeded Lewis University in the semifinals at First Community Arena.
The Screaming Eagles (23-5) struggled to slow down the Flyers’ offense throughout the contest as Lewis shot 57.1 percent (32-56) from the field and 57.1 percent (12-21) from three-point range.
USI got a dominate performance from its bench, which outscored the Flyers’ reserves, 32-7, but the Eagles shot just 39.7 percent (25-63) from the field and 21.1 percent (4-19) from three-point range.
Turnovers early in the contest hurt the Eagles. USI committed an uncharacteristic 13 offensive miscues in the opening half as it went into the break trailing, 41-36.
Lewis (16-14) held USI to just 21.4 (3-14) percent from the field in the third quarter as it outscored the Eagles, 22-12, to extend its lead to 15 points heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
USI’s shooting woes continued into the fourth quarter where it went 7-of-18 (.389) from the field. The Flyers, meanwhile, went 9-of-12 (.750) from the field and 4-of-5 (.800) from three-point range in the final 10 minutes after going 9-of-17 (.529) from the field and 3-of-6 (.500) from behind the arc in the third period.
Senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) paced the Eagles with 15 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) added nine points. USI got scoring contributions from all 10 players that saw the court Saturday, with eight players finishing with at least five points.
Sophomore guard Taylor Gugliuzza led the Flyers with a game-high 27 points, while junior guard Grace Hilber added 25 points, five assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Kathryn Schmidt added 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
USI awaits a likely at-large bid to the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament when the selections are announced Sunday at 9 p.m. (CST) on NCAA.com. The eight-team NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament is March 11-14 at a site to be announced.
