EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Six University of Southern Indiana women's basketball players reached double figures and another was just a bucket shy of double-digits as the Screaming Eagles toppled the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thursday evening at the Physical Activities Center.

The Eagles (10-7, 3-5 GLVC), who took over sole possession of third place in the GLVC West Division, swarmed the ball in the opening 20 minutes, turning defensive stops into opportunities on the offensive end.

"The way we guarded early really set the tone for us tonight," Head Coach Rick Stein said. "I thought we transitioned better offensively because we guarded better."

USI's defense forced the Tritons (4-14, 1-8 GLVC) into 14 first-half turnovers and the Eagles turned those miscues into points, 18 to be exact. The Eagles used runs of 18-4 and 9-0 to build a comfortable 44-24 advantage at the break.

Following the intermission, the Eagles shot 65.5 percent to hold off a Missouri-St. Louis squad that would not quit. The Tritons inched their way to within 15 points on several occasions, but the Eagles answered every time with three-pointers or easy buckets off the pick-and-roll.

"I thought we showed a lot of patience in our half-court offense," Stein said. "We made UMSL work really hard to guard us for 30 seconds.

"I can remember a lot of possessions where we made plays with 10 seconds on the shot clock because we had great patience," Stein continued. "I think we are at our best when we have our inside-outside attack working the way it did tonight."

USI was led by sophomore guard Ellen Young (Salem, Illinois) and junior guard/forward Abby Williams (St. Joseph, Illinois). Young finished with a season-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Williams added a season-high tying 16 points and six rebounds.

"Ellen and Abby are two players that play with a high level of intensity," Stein said. "I think that is what you saw out of them from start to finish. They showed a lot of heart and our whole team ran with them."

In addition to Young and Williams, the Eagles got 13 points and a career-high six assists out of sophomore guard Lauren Meneghetti (Munster, Indiana) as well as 10 points and nine rebounds out of senior forward/center Brittany Neuman (Huntingburg, Indiana). Senior forward/center Ninette Evans (Memphis, Tennessee) and sophomore guard Amie Newhart (Mulberry, Indiana) added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while freshman guard Rinesha Soaper (Henderson, Kentucky) added eight points.

Sophomore guard Kelly Mitchell led the Tritons with 26 points and eight rebounds. She had 16 points in the final period.

USI returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Rockhurst University at the PAC. The Hawks (8-11, 2-7 GLVC) fell to Kentucky Wesleyan College, 72-56, Thursday evening in Owensboro, Kentucky.