EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Senior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe (Edwardsville, Illinois) scored a game-high 23 points to help lead the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team to a 97-63 victory over Brescia University Tuesday night at the Physical Activities Center.
Fellow classmate
Anna Hackert (Evansville, Indiana) added 16 points and a game-high 18 rebounds as the Screaming Eagles won their fourth straight game.
Senior guard
Mariah Nimmo (Groveland, Illinois) scored all of her eight points in the first two-and-a-half minutes as the Eagles built a quick 12-5 advantage.
USI extended its advantage to double-digits three minutes later as sophomore guard
Tanner Marcum (New Albany, Indiana) sandwiched a three-pointer in between a pair of Hackert baskets, giving USI a 19-7 edge.
Marcum's layup with 6:30 to play in the first half gave the Eagles a 37-16 lead, their largest of the opening frame; but a 15-8 Brescia run to end the period cut USI's advantage to 45-31 at the break.
The Bearcats (2-6) cut USI's lead to 13 early in the second half, but an 11-4 USI outburst that featured a pair of Hackert baskets pushed USI's lead back to 20 points (56-36) with just over 16 minutes left in the contest.
A 7-0 Brescia rally throughout the next minute cut the Eagles' advantage back to 13 points; but the Eagles answered with a 13-5 run, which featured six points from O'Keefe, to rebuild a 21-point cushion with 11:30 to play. The Eagles never let the Bearcats get any closer than 18 points the rest of the game as they posted their largest margin of victory of the season.
USI doubled up the Bearcats on the glass, posting a 56-28 rebounding edge. Hackert, who was 7-of-11 from the floor, was just two rebounds shy of her career high (20) and three short of the single-game school record as she finished with her NCAA Division II-leading fifth straight double-double.
O'Keefe, who was 10-of-21 from the field, added eight rebounds and a career-high tying five assists, while Marcum, who chipped in 14 points, finished with a career-high six rebounds. Senior forward/center
Cayla Herbst (Glen Ellyn, Illinois) and senior forward
Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) each had 10 points for the Eagles, who outscored the Bearcats, 54-6, in the paint.
The Eagles, who had seven players with at least eight points, also got a career-high nine points and five rebounds from sophomore guard
Kendyl Dearing (Huntingburg, Indiana). USI, which shot 46.3 percent (38-82) from the floor, dished out 26 assists as it finished with a season-high in the scoring column.
USI returns to action Saturday at noon when it hosts Harris-Stowe State University in the USI Thanksgiving Classic at the PAC. In addition to that contest, Bellarmine University plays Newberry College Saturday at 2:30 p.m., while USI and Newberry square off Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Bellarmine plays Harris-Stowe State Sunday at noon.
