EVANSVILLE, Ind.—A late 8-0 run in the first period proved to be too much for the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team to overcome Thursday evening as it fell to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 70-52, in a Great Lakes Valley Conference bout at the Physical Activities Center.
USI (14-4, 6-2 GLVC), which missed 10 of its first 11 shots to begin the game, went 0-of-6 from the field in the final four minutes of the opening period as the Rangers took a 33-22 lead into the break.
Senior forward/center
Mary O'Keefe (Edwardsville, Illinois) scored a basket to trim the Rangers' lead to nine points early in the second frame, but UW-Parkside quickly responded with a basket on the other end.
The two teams swapped baskets for the first seven minutes of the second half, but a 13-2 UW-Parkside outburst, which took up four minutes of the contest, essentially put the game out of reach for the Eagles.
USI went just 1-of-7 from the field during the stretch, which staked the Rangers to a commanding 55-35 lead with just under nine minutes to play.
UW-Parkside (13-4, 6-2 GLVC), on the other hand, shot 4-of-6 during the run, including 3-of-3 from downtown.
The Rangers connected on 11 three-pointers in the game, while the Eagles went just 1-of-12 from behind the arc. USI shot a season-low 29.2 percent from the field, including 25.8 percent in the first half, while the Rangers shot 49.1 percent from the field.
USI also faced a 46-36 rebounding deficit and saw its reserves get outscored 37-20.
O'Keefe paced the Eagles with a game-high 13 points, while senior guard
Libby Ogden (Tipton, Indiana) and senior forward/center
Anna Hackert (Evansville, Indiana) contributed nine and eight points, respectively. Hackert had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Senior guard/forward Gaby Bronson and junior guard/forward Tara Knapstein each had 12 points to lead the Rangers.
USI returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it hosts No. 1 Lewis University at the PAC. The Flyers (18-0, 8-0 GLVC) defeated Bellarmine University, 73-54, Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.
