KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball fell on the road, 89-44, against 23rd-ranked University of Tennessee on Monday night to conclude the non-conference portion of the Screaming Eagles’ schedule.
USI (8-3, 2-0 OVC) entered Monday night coming off a pair of Ohio Valley Conference wins last week, playing its third game in five days. Tennessee (8-3, 0-0 SEC) was looking to rebound following a Saturday loss against the University of Louisville.
Senior guard Ali Saunders paced the Screaming Eagles with 14 points on 5-12 shooting with a pair of threes. Junior forward Chloe Gannon tallied 11 points on 5-13 shooting with five rebounds. As a team, USI shot just under 31 percent (17-55) with four three-pointers. The Eagles pulled down 42 rebounds.
Tennessee shot over 40 percent (29-72) overall and 37.5 percent (18-48) from beyond the arc. The Lady Volunteers grabbed 46 rebounds.
The Screaming Eagles struck first Monday night on a three-point bucket by junior guard Sophia Loden. After the Lady Vols grabbed a four-point lead, a pair of layups from Saunders and Gannon knotted the game up at seven three minutes into the contest. Both teams endured a scoring drought during the middle of the first, with Tennessee only hitting two treys over a five-minute span to take a 13-7 advantage. The Lady Vols wound up with an 18-8 lead through the first period of play.
Tennessee scored a few early tallies in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but a couple of field goals from junior guard Shannon Blacher and a three-pointer by Saunders brought the Screaming Eagles back within nine, 26-17. Later, a Loden trimmed the deficit to eight, 31-23, with a little over three minutes to go in the first half. However, Tennessee responded, taking a 37-23 lead into halftime.
The Lady Vols got off to a fast start in the second half, extending their lead to 53-25 by the six-minute mark of the third quarter. Over the next two and a half minutes, Gannon sparked a personal 7-0 run for the Eagles, including a three-point play just past the four-minute mark of the third that made the score 53-32. Tennessee responded with another push late in the third period to jump ahead 63-35 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Tennessee added to its lead with 26 points, just as it did in the third, to close out the game. For USI, Gannon scored once more to join Saunders in double figures, and senior guard Sarang West made a pair of difficult shots coming off the bench for the Eagles.
Next, USI Women’s Basketball will return to Ohio Valley Conference action with a road swing at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on New Year’s Day and at Lindenwood University on January 3.
