EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Junior guard Ashley Johnson (Louisville, Kentucky) scored nine second-half points as University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball held on for a 77-70 victory over visiting Bellarmine University in its Great Lakes Valley Conference home-opener Saturday evening.

After leading by as much as 14 late in the third quarter, the Screaming Eagles found themselves clinging to a 66-64 lead with less than four minutes to play in the game. USI, however, responded as Johnson scored four of those nine points in a 7-1 run that gave the Eagles an insurmountable 73-65 lead with less than a minute left on the clock.

The late surge gave the Eagles a wire-to-wire victory over the Knights, who found themselves in a 10-0 hole early in the contest.

USI (7-1, 1-0 GLVC) dominated the early going as it kept the Knights off the scoreboard for the first four minutes of the contest.

Bellarmine (5-1, 0-1 GLVC), however, rallied throughout the remainder of the opening period as it outscored the Eagles, 10-2 throughout the final five-plus minutest to cut USI's lead to 14-12 heading into the second frame.

The Eagles extended their advantage on multiple occasions during the second period, but the Knights were able to trim USI's lead to 29-28 late in the opening half.

USI, however, scored six straight points and led 35-30 at the intermission; then continued what turned out to be a 23-10 run throughout the first six minutes of the third quarter. Johnson scored five points in the run to lead the Eagles, who went 10-of-18 (.556) from the field and had scoring contributions from nine different players during the nine-minute stretch.

Johnson was one of four Eagles to finish in double-figures in the scoring column as she contributed 11 points, four assists, six rebounds and five steals. Sophomore guard Kennedy Williams (Marshall, Illinois) and senior center Kacy Eschweiler (St. Charles, Missouri) each had 13 points to lead the Eagles, while senior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) added 12 points.

USI also got nine points and a team-best seven rebounds from sophomore forward Imani Guy (Columbus, Indiana).

Junior guard Mikayla Berry had 18 points to pace the Knights, while senior center Liza Tibbs finished with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Eagles, who forced Bellarmine into 25 turnovers, return to action Tuesday at 6 p.m. when they host NAIA competitor Lindenwood University-Belleville. The Lynx (3-7) are coming off a 67-53 setback to NAIA No. 4-ranked Columbia College Saturday afternoon.