at Southern Indiana (5-1): 87
Bluefield State (1-7): 57
-Box Score:
HTML |
Sortable
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back as it defeated Bluefield State College, 87-57, Saturday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center.
USI (5-1) forced Bluefield State into 22 first-half turnovers, including seven in the first four minutes of the game, as it built a 15-3 lead prior to the first media timeout. The Eagles, who led by as many as 31 points in the first half, created 26 points off of the Lady Blues' offensive miscues as they went into the intermission with a 47-21 advantage.
Junior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe benefitted from the early pressure as the Eagles used a full-court press to generate a pair of baskets to generate a pair of baskets in an eight second span.
The first basket, which gave the Eagles an 11-3 advantage, came when O'Keefe stole the ball off a trap, stepped back, and drained a mid-range jumper from the baseline following a made free throw by junior forward/center
Anna Hackert . The second bucket came moments later as senior guard
Stephanie Carpenter stole the ball and passed it to O'Keefe, who converted an easy layup to give USI a 10-point edge.
O'Keefe scored eight of the Eagles' first 13 points as the Eagles extended their lead to 44-13 before settling on the 26-point halftime advantage.
Bluefield State (1-7), which earned its first win of the year Friday night, trimmed the Eagles' lead to 22 four minutes into the second period; but a 12-0 run that featured three-pointers by junior guard
Autumn Miller and Carpenter as well as a pair of Hackert baskets and bucket by senior forward/center
Nicole Hazemi gave the Eagles a comfortable 63-29 cushion with 13:29 to play.
The Eagles used a 16-6 run later in the second half to build their largest advantage of 35 points (82-47) with four minutes to play. Miller, who scored nine of her 11 points in the second half, had two three-pointers in the run, which was capped off with a three-point play by Hackert.
Hackert finished the contest with 22 points, four rebounds, and four assists, while Carpenter added 14 points, five assists, and five steals. Miller also finished with five assists.
Senior guard Kearah Jefferys led the Lady Blues with 16 points, while junior center Hope Smith had a game-high 10 rebounds. Hazemi led the Eagles with six rebounds.
USI, which forced a season-high 33 turnovers, shot 44.6 percent from the field and went 14-of-28 from the floor in the second half. The Eagles also drained six of their seven three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.
The Eagles return to action December 20 when they take on Midwest Region foe Trevecca Nazarene at the Bellarmine Christmas Classic in Louisville, Kentucky. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. (CST).
