ST. LOUIS – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball showcased a strong defensive performance on Wednesday night, outlasting Saint Louis University 68-52 toward the Screaming Eagles’ first road victory of the season.
The Screaming Eagles (2-1) built off their strong defense to pull away late in the second half against the Billikens (1-3). Following a five-point halftime margin, USI outscored Saint Louis by 11 in the second half.
While USI shot the ball at a 40 percent rate (27-68), the Eagles held Saint Louis to only 30 percent from the floor (17-56). USI also limited the Billikens to 24 percent (6-25) from distance. The Eagles knocked 7-19 for 37 percent from three.
USI had five players score in double figures on Wednesday. Senior guard Ali Saunders led all scorers with a game-high 15 points and dished out five assists. Junior guard Sophia Loden added 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Junior guard Shannon Blacher tallied 11 points, and sophomore guard Lexi Sepulveda netted 11 points off the bench, one off her career high. Junior forward Chloe Gannon registered 10 points.
In a defensive first half of basketball, Gannon got the Screaming Eagles going to open the contest with a pair of baskets. The two teams exchanged blows in the middle of the first quarter. USI built a 12-7 lead with under four minutes left in the opening period following consecutive makes by Loden and Sepulveda off two Saint Louis turnovers. The Eagles’ lead grew to seven, but the Billikens closed the gap in the final minute. USI led 16-13 through the first 10 minutes of action.
The game went scoreless for the first two and a half minutes of the second quarter, which was followed by another scoring drought. The first field goal of the second frame came with 4:30 left in the first half. The Billikens hit a triple and another basket to take an 18-17 lead. The Screaming Eagles answered with an 8-0 run off a couple of made three-pointers by Sepulveda and junior forward Amiyah Buchanan, as well as a jumper from Saunders. USI ended up going into the halftime locker room with a 26-21 advantage.
The Eagles came out of the break on fire, scoring 26 third-quarter points. Blacher scored a couple of field goals, including a three-pointer, early in the quarter, while Saunders drained a pair of threes in the middle of the third to help USI’s lead grow to 41-32 halfway through the quarter. Blacher scored again on a layup with four minutes left in the third to extend the Screaming Eagles’ advantage into double digits, 45-34. Saint Louis made a small run, but USI carried a 52-43 lead to the fourth quarter.
After a higher-scoring third quarter, USI’s defense dug in for the final frame and limited Saint Louis to single-digit scoring in a quarter for the second time in the game. The Eagles took advantage of six Billiken turnovers in the fourth quarter. Buchanan and Sepulveda each converted off Saint Louis turnovers near the midway point of the fourth to push USI’s lead to 13, 58-45. A pair of made jumpers from Saunders in the last two and a half minutes to give USI a 14-point cushion helped cement the victory before an exclamation point three-pointer by Blacher in the waning seconds of the contest.
USI will be back home for the next two games over the next couple of weeks. The Screaming Eagles’ next game will be against Indiana University East on Monday, November 17, at 6 p.m. inside Liberty Arena.
