EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball outscored visiting Lincoln Memorial University 13-4 throughout the final six minutes of the game to pull out a 72-63 victory over the visiting Railsplitters in its home-opener Wednesday evening at the Physical Activities Center.

USI (2-1) got a basket from senior center Kacy Eschweiler (St. Charles, Missouri) with six minutes to play to break a 59-59 stalemate. Two minutes later, senior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) splashed in a three-pointer to put the Screaming Eagles up, 64-59.

A free throw by sophomore forward Imani Guy (Columbus, Indiana) with 3:28 on the clock extended USI's advantage to six points, while an Eschweiler layup with 2:24 to play followed by a layup by Guy with just under two minutes to play staked USI to a commanding 69-61 lead.

Guy was part of an explosive bench for the Eagles Wednesday. Led by sophomore guard Kennedy Williams (Marshall, Illinois), USI's reserves accounted for 41 of USI's 73 points.

Williams paced all scorers with a career-high 20 points, including 10 in the third quarter alone, while Guy added 10 points off the bench. Freshman forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) provided a spark off the bench as well, pouring in seven points, while senior guard Milana Matias (Klaipeda, Lithuania) rounded out USI's bench production with four points.

Sophomore guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) chipped in 10 points to lead USI's starters, while Eschweiler finished with nine points and a team-high rebounds. Senior guard Ashley Johnson (Louisville, Kentucky) added seven points, while Davidson rounded out the Eagles' scoring with five points.

Early in the game, USI shrugged off a slow start to take a five-point lead into the intermission. USI was held to just 10 points and trailed by as many as eight points in the opening period before erupting for a 24-point second quarter and a 34-29 halftime advantage.

Lincoln Memorial (1-2), which trailed 34-24 late in the second period, rebounded to take brief leads of 43-42 and 47-46 midway through the third quarter. Senior guard Dasia Maxwell had 13 points to lead the Railsplitters, while junior forward Shermeria Quarles and sophomore forward Addi Kirkpatrick each had 10 rebounds.

500
USI's win marked the 500th time Head Coach Rick Stein has been on the bench for an Eagle victory. Stein was an assistant coach under USI Hall of Famer and current Bellarmine University coach Chancellor Dugan for 159 wins before earning 341 victories in 19-plus seasons at the top of the USI Women's Basketball program.

22 and counting
USI ran its home winning streak to 22 with its win over Lincoln Memorial. USI won the final six home games of 2016-17 before posting a perfect 15-0 mark at the PAC in 2017-18.

Up next
USI returns to action Friday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Midwest Region opponent Ferris State University at the PAC. The Bulldogs are 2-0 to begin the season after posting home wins over Davis & Elkins College (80-55) and Ursuline University (79-58) last weekend.