EVANSVILLE, Ind.—For nearly 30 minutes, the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the top team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. However, the final 10 minutes of the contest proved to be the difference maker as the Screaming Eagles fell to Quincy University, 71-61, Thursday evening at the Physical Activities Center.

"I thought we did a lot of good things on the defensive end," Head Coach Rick Stein said. "We talked about trying to slow this team down. They averaged 85 points per game, they are number one in the league in scoring, and we knew that we were going to have to slow them down a little bit."

The Eagles (11-9, 4-7 GLVC), who are maintaining a half-game lead for third place in the GLVC West Division after the loss, found themselves in a 44-44 stalemate with 11 minutes to play in the contest.

Quincy (19-3, 11-1 GLVC), however, went on a 10-0 run from that point to take a 54-44 advantage with just under eight minutes left on the clock.

USI trimmed the deficit to five points with 6:25, but could get no closer as the Hawks held on for their ninth consecutive win.

"I thought the offensive glass hurt us," Stein said. "They got some second-chance shots late on possessions that I felt like we guarded well. We had second-chance shots that we didn't make the most of.

"It's a two-way street," Stein continued. "We didn't rebound on the defensive end as well as we needed to late in the game and when we got offensive rebounds, we didn't make the most of them."

The Eagles were out-rebounded 47-39, but held a 21-15 advantage on the offensive glass. However, the Eagles could muster just 15 second-chance points, while the Hawks scored 23 points on second chances.

Sophomore guards Lauren Meneghetti (Munster, Indiana) and Amie Newhart (Mulberry, Indiana) led the Eagles with 12 points apiece, while junior guard/forward Abby Williams (St. Joseph, Illinois) had a team-high nine rebounds and four assists.

Junior forward Janette Burgin had 18 points to lead the Hawks, while sophomore forward Courtney Shuman added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the win.

USI hosts Drury University Saturday for Homecoming. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at the PAC. The Panthers (15-6, 9-2 GLVC) defeated Rockhurst University, 89-43, Thursday evening in Kansas City, Missouri.