EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball returned to the court at Liberty Arena on Tuesday night with another convincing victory, defeating Fisk University by a score of 95-18.
USI (4-1) nearly set a program record for the fewest points allowed in a game on Tuesday against Fisk (4-4). The record is 17 points allowed, which USI set in a 45-17 win against Kentucky Wesleyan College in December of 1976. However, the Screaming Eagles matched the history books on Tuesday for the second-fewest points surrendered in a game, which was a 113-18 win against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in January of 1979.
On Tuesday, all 11 active Screaming Eagles saw the floor and scored in the game. Junior guard Sophia Loden led the way with a career-high 22 points on 10-14 shooting. Loden also finished with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Freshman guard Lily Graves had her best showing of the season with 17 points on 6-9 shooting, including three triples. Freshman forward Alli Roberton also reached double figures with 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Junior forward Maddy Fay also had 10 points on a perfect 5-5 night from the floor.
As a team, USI shot for 50 percent (40-80) overall and connected on 42 percent (8-19) of their long-range attempts. The Eagles grabbed 55 rebounds, which is the most for USI since the 2017-18 season when the Screaming Eagles had 59 caroms against Harris Stowe State University. USI dished out a season-high 22 assists in Tuesday’s win. Defensively, the Screaming Eagles limited Fisk to only six made field goals.
After a 0-4 start from the floor to begin the contest, USI got rolling. The Screaming Eagles jumped out to a 9-0 advantage four minutes in before Fisk got on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, Loden took control early by scoring the first 13 points of the game for the Eagles. Then USI’s inside game took over, helping build another big run to end the first quarter and give the Eagles a 23-3 lead.
USI continued to be aggressive in taking the ball inside in the second quarter. Graves came off the bench and converted a three-point play to extend USI’s lead, 30-3. While the scoring slowed down a bit for USI in the middle of the second, the sizable margin continued to grow. USI took a 43-11 lead into the break, as Loden tallied 17 first-half points. Graves and Fay led the bench scoring in the first 20 minutes, scoring six points each.
To start the second half, Loden picked up where she left off in the first half, draining a quick triple to get to 20 points in the game. Junior forward Amiyah Buchanan had a strong run in the early going of the third, scoring three times to help USI’s lead swell to 56-11 midway through the quarter. Graves scored eight points, including hitting a pair of treys, down the stretch of the third to crossover into double figures for the first time in her career, as USI led 70-12 through three periods of play.
With the game well in hand in the fourth quarter, USI continued to capitalize. Junior forward Chloe Gannon posted a three-point play before Robertson drained a three-pointer in the next possession during the middle of the frame to pair together a couple of energizing plays. Robertson netted another three before the night’s end to reach double digits for the first time in her career. USI’s final tally in the 95-18 triumph was one more three-point play by Graves inside the final minute of action.
