SPRINGFIELD, Mo.–University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball committed a season-high 31 turnovers as the No. 17/25 Screaming Eagles suffered a 77-58 Great Lakes Valley Conference road loss to No. 9/25 Drury University Thursday evening.
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USI (17-4, 11-2 GLVC), which saw a five-game winning streak come to an end, jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the contest. The Eagles, however, went just 1-of-7 (.143) from the floor and committed eight turnovers throughout the final seven minutes of the first quarter as the Panthers went on a 22-5 run to take a 22-13 lead into the second period.
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Drury (23-3, 13-2 GLVC), which was aided by the return of the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in senior guard Paige Robinson, opened the second period with a 10-4 run as it extended its advantage to 15.
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The Eagles rallied at the end of the half, using a 9-2 run to cut Drury’s advantage to 40-32 at the break.
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USI kept pace with Drury throughout the first five minutes of the third quarter, but a 14-5 Drury run to end the period put the Panthers in front, 61-44, heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
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Fifth-year senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana), senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) and junior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) each had 11 points to lead the Eagles, who outshot and out-rebounded the Panthers.
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Robinson, who had missed the previous 12 games due to injury, wasted little time getting reacclimated to competition as she scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first 20 minutes. Fifth-year senior guard Kaylee DaMitz added 16 points for the Panthers, who outscored USI 38-11 in points off turnovers.
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USI returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it travels to Bolivar, Missouri, to take on Southwest Baptist University. The Bearcats (13-10, 8-7 GLVC) earned a 70-66 home win over the University of Indianapolis Thursday evening.
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