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Box Score (html)
Bellarmine (13-11, 7-9 GLVC): 75
at Southern Indiana (8-16, 2-14 GLVC): 68
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team saw a 13-point second-half lead and its post-season hopes slip away Thursday evening in a 75-68 Great Lakes Valley Conference setback at the Physical Activities Center.
USI (8-16, 2-14 GLVC), which used a 7-2 spurt to end the first half and take a 40-33 lead into the break, began the second period with a 10-4 run to forge a 50-37 advantage with 16 minutes to play.
Bellarmine (13-11, 7-9 GLVC), which shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half, answered by scoring eight straight points during the next three minutes to trim USI's lead to five points. After a USI bucket, the Knights went on another 8-0 run to take their first lead of the half (53-52) with less than 11 minutes remaining in the game.
USI Women's Basketball vs Bellarmine Gallery
Sophomore guard
Ariel Barnes, who finished with seven points and four assists, drained a three-pointer immediately following the lead change to give the Screaming Eagles a brief two-point edge; but Bellarmine used another 8-0 spurt to retake the lead and build a six-point advantage with just under eight minutes left on the clock.
In the end, it was a 24-5 Bellarmine run that lasted eight minutes of the final period that left the Eagles playing catch-up for the remainder of the contest. USI was just 2-of-13 from the field and 0-of-4 from the free throw line, while committing three turnovers during the eight-minute stretch that changed the complexity of the contest.
Still, the Eagles kept fighting, using a three-pointer by sophomore guard
Stephanie Carpenter to cut a six-point Bellarmine cushion into a one-possession game with five minutes to play.
USI, which had a few chances to tie the contest in the final five minutes, trailed 71-68 following a three-pointer by senior guard/forward
Kristin Raker with less than two minutes on the clock. The Eagles got a stop on the defensive end of the court, but a shot by Carpenter that bounced off the backend of the rim and into Bellarmine sophomore guard Therese Montano's hands with 40 seconds to play seemed to deflate USI's momentum.
Junior guard Kylie Brady, who finished with 17 points, drained two free throws following a USI foul with 17 seconds to play, giving the Knights a 73-68 lead and essentially ending any chance of a USI comeback.
The Eagles were led by Carpenter, who finished with 20 points and three rebounds, and freshman forward/center
Anna Hackert, who added 13 points. Raker finished with nine points and four assists, while freshman forward
Brooke Valentine added six points and a team-high nine rebounds.
USI also got six points, four rebounds, and five steals from senior guard
Cootie Leeberg, who was honored along with Raker following the game.
Senior guard Allison Matheis led the Knights with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Montano added 14 points.
The Eagles, who concluded their 2011-12 home schedule with a 7-7 mark, travel to Highland Heights, Kentucky, to take on Northern Kentucky University Saturday at noon (CST). The Norse (19-5, 12-4 GLVC) defeated Kentucky Wesleyan College, 69-66, Thursday evening in Owensboro, Kentucky.
