(sortble) | Box Score (html)
Drury (9-4, 4-1 GLVC): 65
at Southern Indiana (6-6, 0-4 GLVC): 55

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team fell into an early 15-2 deficit and never recovered as it fell to Drury University, 65-55, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest Saturday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center.

USI (6-6, 0-4 GLVC) connected on just one of its first nine shots, while the Panthers drained six of their first 11 attempts, three of which were from behind the arc, to build the 13- point lead seven minutes into the contest.

Drury (9-4, 4-1 GLVC) extended its lead to 19 later in the half and led 35-19 at the break after holding USI to a .231 first-half shooting percentage.

After seeing their lead shrink to 12 in the opening stages of the second period, the Panthers went on a 21-8 run to build a 56-31 advantage with less than 14 minutes to play in the contest.

The Screaming Eagles answered Drury's run with an 8-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 17, but a 7-2 Drury run ended the their momentum and staked the Panthers to a 63-41 advantage with just under six minute left in the contest.

USI, behind a 14-2 run to end the contest, was able to trim the lead to 10 points at the final buzzer, but it was “too little, too late” as the Eagles suffered their third straight loss and fifth in the last six contests.

USI's offense looked much better in the final 20 minutes as the Eagles shot 44.4 percent from the field, but a .550 second-half shooting percentage by Drury helped the Panthers keep the Eagles at bay. For the game, the Eagles finished with a .340 shooting percentage, while Drury shot 47.8 percent from the field.

Freshman forward/center Mary O'Keefe led the Eagles with a career-high 17 points after going 9-of-10 from the free throw line, while sophomore guard Stephanie Carpenter drained three shots from behind the arc to finish with 11 points. Sophomore guard Ariel Barnes added eight points and three steals for the Eagles, who forced the Panthers into 28 turnovers.

Drury, which has won three straight games, got a game-high 22 points from sophomore guard Bethanie Funderburk and 13 points from junior guard Katie Pritchard.

The Eagles return to action Thursday at 5:30 p.m. when they travel to Liberty, Missouri, to take on GLVC-newcomer William Jewell College. The Cardinals (7-3, 2-2 GLVC) defeated Bellarmine University, 58-55, Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.