at Southern Indiana (8-2, 1-0 GLVC): 89
Bellarmine (4-1, 0-1 GLVC): 63
Box Score
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Junior guard Ellen Young dropped in a career-high 24 points as the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team rolled past long-time rival Belllarmine University, 89-63, Thursday night in its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener at the Physical Activities Center.
The Screaming Eagles (8-2, 1-0 GLVC) shot 51.7 percent from the field and saw their winning streak increase to seven straight games with the victory.
USI, which saw its bench outscore the Knights' (4-1, 0-1 GLVC) reserves 40-16, led from start-to-finish as junior guard Amie Newhart sunk a three-pointer a minute into the contest to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
Young, who went a blistering 8-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-4 from downtown, sunk a three-pointer two minutes later to increase the Eagles' advantage to 8-2.
The Eagles continued to poor the pressure on in the opening period as they increased their cushion to as many as 14 points with four minutes to play. USI drained six shots from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes and forced Bellarmine into 12 first-half turnovers as it took a 40-31 lead into the intermission.
Bellarmine was able to chisel USI's lead to seven with 14:24 to play in the contest, but an 18-3 spurt that lasted nearly seven minutes gave the Eagles a comfortable 68-46 lead with less than eight minutes to play in the game.
USI, which committed just 12 turnovers, scored 32 points off Bellarmine's 22 offensive miscues and had four players finish in double figures.
Sophomore guard Cootie Leeberg matched her career-high with 13 points, while sophomore forward/center Ashton Mertens finished with 11 points and a team-high tying six rebounds. Sophomore guard Rinesha Soaper added 10 points, while Newhart finished with nine points, five rebounds, a game-high four assists, and a game-high four steals.
The Eagles, who snapped an eight-game losing streak to Bellarmine, return to action when they host No. 20 Northern Kentucky University Saturday at 1 p.m. The Norse (3-2, 0-1 GLVC) fell to No. 8 University of Indianapolis, 59-53, Thursday evening in Indianapolis, Indiana.
