Southern Indiana (6-1): 90
Trevecca Nazarene (5-5): 64
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LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team used a 20-1 run to end the first period en route to a 90-64 victory over Midwest Region foe Trevecca Nazarene University Friday evening in the opening round of the MetroMedical Solutions Classic.
USI (6-1), which scored the first nine points of the contest, played stingy defense for the opening seven minutes, 30 seconds of the first half as it did not allow a single field goal en route to a 14-2 edge.
Trevecca Nazarene (5-5), which missed on its first 10 shots from the field, got a three-pointer to fall with 12:28 left in the first half to cut the Eagles' advantage to nine, but a basket by junior forward/center
Anna Hackert and free throws by senior guard
Ariel Barnes put USI up 18-5 with just under 12 minutes to play in the opening frame.
USI's lead quickly evaporated as the Trojans made six of their next nine shots, including four three-pointers, to go on a 15-0 run and take a brief 20-18 lead.
The Screaming Eagles answered with a pair of free throws by senior guard
Stephanie Carpenter and another by Barnes to retake a one-point advantage.
Trailing by a point with five minutes to play opening half, the Eagles' offense caught fire. Junior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe began the run with a layup off a Carpenter pass to give the Eagles a 23-22 edge; then the Eagles got to the charity stripe.
USI, which made five of its final seven shots from the floor, converted nine of 11 chances at the free throw line during the last five minutes of the half as it turned its one-point deficit into a comfortable 41-23 lead at the break.
"It was huge," USI Head Coach
Rick Stein said following the game. "They went on a big run and I think bad offense was leading to bad defense. We got back at it on the offensive end and it sparked us."
The Eagles, who held Trevecca Nazarene without a field goal (0-14) for the final nine minutes of the half, used that momentum in the second period, where they shot 55.6 percent from the field.
USI, which jumped out to a 22-point lead early in the half, saw its advantage dwindle to 15 with less than 14 minutes to play; but a pair of three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play by senior guard
Jessica Parker propelled the Eagles on an 11-1 run that lifted them to a commanding 67-42 lead with 11 minutes to play.
Parker, who drained four three-pointers in the contest, scored nine of her 15 points in second half for the Eagles, who led by as many as 34 before settling on the 26-point triumph.
Hackert paced the Eagles with 21 while grabbing eight rebounds. Senior forward/center
Nicole Hazemi grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, while junior guard
Autumn Miller added five assists and three steals. Carpenter finished with 11 points and a career-high tying six rebounds for the Eagles, who held a 52-34 edge on the glass.
The Eagles conclude the MetroMedical Solutions Classic Saturday at 4 p.m. (CDT) when they take on Wayne State University. The Warriors (5-1) played host Bellarmine University Friday night.
