at Evansville: 78
Southern Indiana: 68
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Box Score
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—A two-minute lapse late in the second half sunk the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team's comeback bid Saturday as the Screaming Eagles fell to the University of Evansville, 78-68, in an exhibition Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.
Senior guard
Stephanie Carpenter hit back-to-back three-pointers as the Screaming Eagles, who trailed by as many as 15 in the opening period, trimmed a double-digit deficit to just four points (61-57) with 7:26 to play.
UE sophomore guard Laura Friday, however, answered with a three-pointer moments later to put the Purple Aces up by seven; then UE scored eight of the next 10 points during the following two minutes to regain a double-digit advantage with less than five minutes remaining.
The Eagles, who missed 10 of their first 11 shots from three-point range, were playing catch-up throughout the contest as the Aces scored the contest's first seven points. USI committed 11 turnovers and shot just 32.3 percent from the field as it went into the break facing a 43-30 halftime deficit.
Despite holding the Aces without a field goal for the first five minutes of the second half, the Eagles found themselves trailing 52-38 with 13 minutes to play.
Carpenter, who scored a team-high 20 points, sandwiched a three-pointer between a pair of free throws by junior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe and junior guard
Autumn Miller as USI cut the deficit to single digits with less than 11 minutes left.
Miller's three-pointer with 8:20 on the clock cut the Ace's lead to 58-51, but a three-pointer by UE junior forward Mallory Ladd in the following possession put the Eagles back into a double-digit hole.
Carpenter's three-pointers came in a 30-second span as USI trimmed UE's lead to the smallest total since the Aces led 9-5 early in the opening period. USI did not get any closer than 10 points following the two-minute stretch that followed Carpenter's three-pointers.
In addition to Carpenter, the Eagles got 18 points and 11 rebounds from junior forward
Anna Hackert. O'Keefe added nine points and four rebounds, while Miller chipped in seven points and three assists.
Ladd, Hackert's teammate at Memorial High School, led the Aces with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Sara Dickey added 19 points and six rebounds.
USI opens the 2013-14 regular season November 9 when it hosts Asbury University in a noon tip-off at the Physical Activities Center.
