EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women Basketball suffered its second consecutive setback at home Thursday night, falling 75-61 against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
After a 10-0 start in home games this season, Southern Indiana has had a tough 0-2 start to the three-game homestand. Thursday’s home loss moved USI to 16-8 overall and 8-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Little Rock got back to .500 overall with an 11-11 record and improved to 9-4 in conference play. The two sides entered the game tied for fourth in the OVC standings, but the Trojans grabbed sole possession of fourth place by the end of the night as USI moved down to fifth.
Defenses made good shots on offense come at a premium in the opening minutes Thursday. Neither side gathered a lead larger than one possession in the early going. With the game tied at 10, sophomore forward Chloe Gannon gave USI its first lead, 12-10, at the 1:32 mark of the opening frame, which carried over into the start of the second period.
After a three-pointer from sophomore guard Triniti Ralston that put USI up by three 90 seconds into the second quarter, Southern Indiana endured nearly a four-minute scoreless drought in the middle of the second. Little Rock took advantage and would go on a small run in the back half of the second quarter to grab an eight-point lead, 27-19. With two minutes left in the first half, consecutive from junior guard Ali Saunders and senior guard Vanessa Shafford helped cut the Trojans’ lead down to four. Little Rock led 34-30 at halftime.
At the start of the second half, graduate forward Meredith Raley got USI on the scoreboard while reaching double figures for the game. USI hit a bit of a dry spell from the floor in the middle of the third, but a layup by Gannon brought the Eagles within two. Gannon continued to make a big impact throughout the third quarter. Gannon hit a layup in the final seconds of the period to reach 11 points in the game and make the score a one-point difference, 45-44, in favor of Little Rock.
Little Rock started the fourth quarter with a small run in the first two minutes to jump ahead, 51-44. The Trojans’ advantage reached double digits near the six-minute mark, 56-46. The Screaming Eagles chopped that lead in half thanks to a layup by Saunders and a three-point play by Gannon. As Little Rock tried to pull away, a three from Ralston kept USI within five, 61-56, with three and a half minutes to go. However, the Trojans finished the game outscoring the Eagles 14-5 in the final three minutes.
Southern Indiana shot for just above 40 percent (20-49) from the floor and under 28 percent (5-18) from beyond the arc. USI was 16-20 for 80 percent at the foul line. Gannon paced USI with a season-high 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Ralston tallied a dozen points, Saunders scored 11, and Raley added 10 points to round out USI’s double-figure scorers.
Little Rock went for 53 percent (26-49) shooting overall and 40 percent (6-15) from three. The Trojans were 17-28 for 60.7 percent at the free-throw stripe. Little Rock had three players finish in double digits with two scoring 20-plus points. Graduate guard Sug Williams and senior forward Jordan Holman dropped 21 and 20 points, respectively.
The Screaming Eagles get back on the court at Liberty Arena on Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest against Southeast Missouri State University. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM with additional radio coverage on WREF 97.7 FM. Tickets for all home games at Liberty Arena can be purchased online at usiscreamingeagles.com or the USI Ticket Office.
