University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball saw an 11-point fourth-quarter lead slip away as host University of Missouri-St. Louis handed the No. 15/20 Screaming Eagles a 65-59 Great Lakes Valley Conference setback Thursday night.

USI (20-4, 12-2 GLVC) sees its six-game winning streak come to an end with the loss, which also was its first setback away from the Physical Activities Center this season and its first on a Thursday night.

The Tritons (12-10, 7-7 GLVC) erased the 11-point deficit by outscoring the Eagles 21-4 in the final seven minutes. Missouri-St. Louis, which earned its first win over the Eagles in the last 14 meetings, held USI to just 2-of-12 shooting in the final seven minutes.

USI, which trailed 33-30 at the half and 37-33 early in the second half, used a 22-7 run to build a 55-44 advantage. The Eagles took advantage of Missouri-St. Louis offensive miscues throughout the rally as USI turned 13 Triton turnovers into 12 points.

The Tritons, however, did not commit a turnover in the final seven minutes as they took away a transition game that USI has thrived off of all year. Missouri-St. Louis went 4-of-8 from the field and 11-of-13 at the free throw line during its 21-4 run to end the game.

Junior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) led the Eagles with 18 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Hannah Wascher(Rantoul, Illinois) added 14 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) chipped in 11 points and four assists, while senior guard Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana) had 10 points and three assists.

The Eagles shot just 33.3 percent (11-33) in the second half after shooting 53.8 percent (14-26) in the first 20 minutes.

In a first half that featured 11 ties and five lead changes, the Eagles saw a 26-23 lead slip away in the final five minutes of the second quarter as the Tritons outscored USI 10-4 to take the three-point lead at the break.

Missouri-St. Louis made just eight field goals in the second half and shot 41.7 percent (20-48) for the game, but a 21-of-25 effort at the free throw line helped the Tritons overcome their deficiencies from the field. USI was a dismal 8-of-15 (.533) from the charity stripe.

Senior guard Robneisha Lee led the Tritons with 26 points and nine rebounds after entering the game averaging 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest.

USI, which saw its two-game lead in the GLVC East Division trimmed in half, returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it visits Maryville University in St. Louis. The Saints (11-10, 7-7 GLVC) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 74-61 setback to No. 17 Bellarmine University Thursday evening in St. Louis.

Aces win second-straight on home floor

Ryan Taylor led a trio of double figure scorers as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team earned a 60-58 win over Loyola on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center.

Taylor paced the Purple Aces (12-14, 3-10 MVC) with 16 points, nine of them coming via the outside shot.  Jaylon Brown registered 11 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds while Dru Smith knocked down four shots on his way to 10 points as Evansville won its second game in a row.

“Overall, for our team to hang in there and still make plays at the end to win is huge,” Aces head coach Marty Simmons said.  “We really gutted it out and made some huge stops and got some big baskets in the final stretch.”

Leading the Ramblers (16-10, 6-7 MVC) was Clayton Custer, who notched 17 points and 7 rebounds.  He went 5-7 from the floor and 4-5 from outside.  Ben Richardson notched 11 points while Milton Doyle and Donte Ingram finished with 10 points apiece.

In the first half, Loyola took a pair of early leads, but a David Howard bucket three minutes in gave UE a 6-5 lead and they would add to that advantage over the remainder of the half.  After the Ramblers tied it up at 10-10, Evansville reeled off 11 in a row to take a 21-10 lead midway through the half.

Willie Wiley had four points in the run before Smith capped it off with a three.  Loyola got within five points at 23-18 inside of the 7-minute mark before another bucket by Smith in the final minute sent UE to the locker room with a 36-24 lead.

Ryan Taylor scored a team-best 8 points in the first half and added to it in the first possession of the second with a 3-pointer to give the Aces a 15-point lead.  The Aces continued to lead by double figures at 42-29 before the Ramblers made their run.  A 7-0 stretch by the Ramblers saw Milton Doyle wrap it up with a dunk with 14:36 remaining.

Loyola kept the pressure on as a triple from Clayton Custer got them within two at 47-45.  After tying it up at 50-50, Donte Ingram gave LUC its first second-half lead at 52-50 with 6:05 on the clock.  That wrapped up a 23-8 stretch over the course of ten minutes.  Evansville refused to give up as a field goal from David Howard put UE back in front at 54-52 two minutes later.

Inside the final three minutes, the Ramblers tied it back up twice before Jaylon Brown gave UE a lead of 58-56.  Smith added one more basket in the final seconds as the Aces clinched the 60-58 triumph.  Loyola hit a basket at the buzzer, its first one since the 6:05 mark.

Loyola finished with a 31-25 rebounding edge and outshot the Aces, 46-2%-40.8%, but the Aces forced 17 turnovers while recording seven steals.

On Saturday, the Aces make the short trip to Carbondale, Ill. for a game against Southern Illinois.  Game time is at 3 p.m. inside SIU Arena.