Less than two weeks after University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball used dominating second and fourth-quarter performances to defeat the University of Illinois Springfield at the Physical Activities Center, the Screaming Eagles once again looked to a dominating second-quarter effort as they completed the season-sweep of the Prairie Stars with a 72-44 Great Lakes Valley Conference road win Thursday evening.
USI (19-8, 12-5 GLVC) held the Stars without a field goal in a second quarter that saw the Eagles outscore Illinois Springfield, 15-3, to take a commanding 37-14 halftime advantage. The Eagles, who held the Stars to 0-of-11 shooting in the second quarter, actually ended the half on 22-4 run after holding a 15-10 advantage with four minutes to play in the first period.
Illinois Springfield (7-18, 4-13 GLVC) scored the first bucket of the second half, but a 10-0 USI run put the Eagles up by 31 (47-16) three minutes into the third quarter. USI led by as much as 33 points late in the fourth quarter before settling on the 28-point win.
Big run
USI’s run to end the first half and begin the third quarter ended up being a 32-6 outburst. The Eagles held the Prairie Stars to just 1-of-22 (.046) from the field and 0-of-9 from downtown during the 19-minute surge.
Well balanced
The Eagles had 10 different players score in the win Thursday, with three players reaching double-figures and seven players scoring at least five points. USI also got rebounding contributions from 10 different players, while all 11 players on USI’s roster either scored or had a rebound in the victory.
Paint job
USI dominated the inside game against Illinois Springfield, outrebounding the Stars 53-24 and outscoring them 54-14 in the paint.
Statistical leaders
Senior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) led the Eagles with 14 points, three assists and a pair of blocks, while freshman forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) contributed a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds. USI also got 10 points from sophomore forward Imani Guy (Columbus, Indiana) as well as nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds from senior forward/center Mikayla Rowan (Brazil, Indiana).
Freshman guard Lauren Ladowski had 15 points to lead the Stars, who were limited to just 23.6 percent (13-55) from the field and 20.0 percent (4-20) from three-point range.
