University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball struggled from the field and on the glass Thursday evening as the No. 23 Screaming Eagles suffered a 70-58 Great Lakes Valley Conference road loss to William Jewell College.
USI (10-4, 10-4 GLVC) went just 6-of-30 (.200) in the second and third quarters combined as William Jewell slowly built a commanding 48-32 lead with less than a minute to play in the third period.
The Eagles had scoring droughts of nearly five minutes in both the second and third periods and the Cardinals took advantage of the dry spells.
William Jewell (7-8, 7-8 GLVC) used the scoreless stretch to turn a two-point advantage into a 27-19 lead late in the opening half and the second to turn a one-point lead into a 10-point third-quarter advantage.
Senior guard Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois) hit a three-pointer late in the second quarter to break the first scoreless drought; and USI went into the break facing a 27-22 halftime deficit. Sophomore guard Soffia Rieckers (Evansville, Indiana) and freshman forward Meredith Raley(Haubstadt, Indiana) had quick baskets to open the third period and bring USI to within a point.
The Cardinals, however, answered the Eagles push with a 9-0 run that took up nearly five minutes and left USI facing a 36-26 deficit. Jewell, which drained 11 three-pointers in the game, went on an 8-1 run moments later to push their lead to 16 points with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Raley, who finished the game with a team-high 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half, connected on a three-pointer as the Eagles closed the period on a 5-1 run to cut Jewell’s advantage to 12 points heading into the final 10 minutes.
The two teams caught fire to begin the fourth quarter and the Eagles were able to cut the Cardinals’ lead to eight points several times in the final 10 minutes. Jewell, however, seemed to have an answer every time the Eagles would cut the lead to eight as USI would get not closer throughout the remainder of the contest.
USI, which shot just 28.1 percent (18-64) from the field, forced the Cardinals into 26 turnovers, but Jewell held USI to just 4-of-26 (.154) from three-point range and out-rebounded the Eagles, 43-24.
In addition to Raley, the Eagles got 14 points and three assists from senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) in addition to seven points and five steals from Rieckers. Sophomore forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington, Missouri) added nine points, while Raley finished with a team-high five rebounds to go along with three assists in her first-career start.
Senior forward Kiara Bradley finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Cardinals, who had three players with double-doubles. Senior guard Claire Burch added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Sydney Offield finished was just two rebounds shy of a triple-double after finishing with 10 points, 11 assists and eight boards.
USI, which is in the midst of its first three-game regular-season losing streak since the 2015-16 season, returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. when it takes on Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hawks (7-6, 7-6 GLVC) fell to McKendree University, 62-55, Thursday evening after upsetting No. 1 Drury University, 75-69, Tuesday evening in Springfield, Missouri.
