at #23 Lewis (13-3, 7-1 GLVC): 95
Southern Indiana (11-5, 5-3 GLVC): 85
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ROMEOVILLE, Ill.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team expected a battle in the paint when it squared off with No. 23 Lewis University Thursday evening in a Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division contest. What it didn't expect, however, was a three-point barrage that would lead to a tough 95-85 loss.
Lewis (13-3, 7-1 GLVC), which entered Thursday's game ranked last in the GLVC with 3.6 made three-pointers per game, drained 13 shots from behind the arc on the night, including eight in the final 20 minutes.
"They got hot," USI Head Coach
Rick Stein said. "I thought we defended well, but it seemed like every time we got close, they threw one up and it would go in."
USI (11-5, 5-3 GLVC), which suffered its second straight loss, survived a first half that saw the Flyers sink five shots from downtown. After trailing by as much as 14 in the opening frame, the Screaming Eagles ended the period with a 9-2 run to close to within 45-42 at the break.
Sophomore forward/center
Mary O'Keefe, who made the final two baskets of the first half for the Eagles, opened the second period with a bucket to bring USI to within a point. Lewis, however, responded with a 20-4 outburst throughout the next four minutes that featured four three-pointers, including two from sophomore guard Jamie Johnson.
Johnson torched the Eagles' perimeter defense, which ranked first in the GLVC in opponent three-point shooting percentage prior to Thursday's contest. Johnson, who had 23 of her game-high 27 points in the final 20 minutes, connected on five three-pointers in the second half, including three in the first six minutes of the frame.
USI, which trailed by as much as 17 with 15:14 to play, trimmed the deficit to 11 on multiple occasions later in the period, but each time the Eagles looked as if they would fight their way back into the contest, Lewis would answer with a three-pointer.
"It definitely took the wind out of us," Stein said of Lewis's early second half run. "It was a game of runs and we allowed them to have some that were too long. We had a couple of bad turnovers and they made us pay for them on the other end."
The Eagles' struggles on the glass in the opening period allowed the Flyers to jump out to a big lead in the first half. Lewis out-rebounded USI, 22-13, in the first half and held a 15-2 edge in second-chance points, with sophomore forward Mariyah Henley contributing 12 points and nine rebounds to Lewis's first-half cause.
"When you play good defense and they get an offensive rebound, kick it out, and hit a three, it's dis-heartening," Stein said.
Junior forward/center
Anna Hackert led the Eagles with 23 points and six rebounds, while O'Keefe, who was 11-of-12 from the field, added 22 points. Junior guard
Autumn Miller contributed 13 points and five rebounds, while senior guard
Stephanie Carpenter added 12 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Henley finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Flyers, who also got 18 points from junior guard Kristin Itschner as well as 11 points and 10 assists from junior guard Nikki Nellen. The Flyers shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half, 51.6 percent for the game, and were a blistering 8-of-12 from long range in the final 20 minutes.
USI, which shot 54.4 percent from the field, concludes its three-game road trip Saturday at 1 p.m. when it takes on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Somers, Wisconsin. The Rangers (6-10, 2-6 GLVC) suffered an 82-77 setback to Bellarmine University Thursday.
