JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball propelled its way to a 56-41 road win at East Tennessee State University on Saturday after a big second-half charge led by junior forward Chloe Gannon.
USI improved to 5-2 on the season after overcoming a 26-21 halftime deficit by outscoring East Tennessee State (3-7) 35-15 in the second half. The Screaming Eagles shot for over 48 percent and held the Buccaneers to 5-25 shooting after the intermission.
For the game, USI shot for 40 percent (23-58) overall compared to ETSU’s 26 percent (12-46) from the floor. The Eagles owned the glass, 44-27, and points in the paint, 38-6.
Gannon led the way with a game-high 22 points on 10-19 shooting, setting a new scoring career high for the second game in a row after dropping 21 points last Sunday. The junior tallied 16 points in the second half.
Junior guard Sophia Loden posted her third consecutive double-double outing, recording 10 points and matching a career-best 13 rebounds that she just set last weekend. The last time a USI player logged three consecutive double-doubles was the 2017-18 season, when Morgan Dahlstrom registered four double-doubles in a row between January 20, 2018, and February 1, 2018.
Senior guard Ali Saunders, who notched eight points in Saturday’s game, surpassed 1,000 overall career points in the contest. Interestingly enough, Saunders entered the day needing only one point to reach the milestone and achieved the feat by converting an admin technical foul free throw before the opening tip.
Following the technical foul free throw and opening tip, USI raced out to an 8-2 advantage, thanks to five early points from junior guard Shannon Blacher. However, East Tennessee State answered with three triples and an 11-0 run to take a 13-8 lead by the four-minute mark of the opening quarter. A layup by Gannon snapped the run, but the Buccaneers went on to lead 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Gannon helped USI cut into ETSU’s lead with a pair of baskets in the early minutes of the second period. While scoring was hard to come by in the second quarter, the Screaming Eagles went on a 7-0 run and held the Bucs scoreless for seven minutes to start the second quarter to jump ahead, 19-18. East Tennessee State got its first field goal of the second quarter with two minutes left in the half. A last-second layup from Blacher snapped an 8-0 run by the Bucs, as USI trailed by five, 26-21, going into halftime.
Out of the break, Gannon and the Screaming Eagles came out with authority. Gannon scored 10 points in the first five and a half minutes of the third, while junior forward Maddy Fay scored a couple of layups to help USI overtake East Tennessee State. The Eagles ended the frame on a 17-3 run to blitz their way to an 11-point lead, 42-31, after outscoring the Bucs 21-5 in the third. Gannon poured in 12 of the 21 points for USI.
Each side scored a bucket in the first minute of the fourth, but the defenses held each team in check until nearly five minutes left in the game when Gannon scored on an offensive putback. A minute later, Loden cashed in on a three-point play to stretch USI’s lead to 15, 49-34. Even though each team exchanged tallies in the final couple of minutes, the Screaming Eagles maintained their cushion to close out the road victory.
