ST. LOUIS—University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball is in the driver's seat in the race for the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title and an opening-round bye in next week's GLVC Tournament. The Screaming Eagles closed the game with a 19-6 run to upset No. 25 University of Missouri-St. Louis, 68-58, on the road Thursday evening and take over first-place in the GLVC.
 
USI (21-4, 15-2 GLVC), which took its first lead of the game early in the third period following a three-pointer by senior forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) and a steal and transition basket by fifth-year senior guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana), trailed the Tritons, 52-49 with just under eight minutes to play in the contest following a third-quarter that featured 11 lead changes.
 
Missouri-St. Louis (20-4, 16-3 GLVC) led 52-51 with just under six minutes to play when senior center Kiara Stewart was whistled for her fifth foul of the contest.
 
The Eagles took advantage in the paint a minute later as junior forward Hannah Haithcock (Washington Courthouse, Ohio) scored and went to the free throw line where she converted the old-fashioned three-point play for a 54-52 USI lead with less than five minutes left in the contest.
 
Neither team could find any points throughout the next two minutes until Brown found sophomore forward Meredith Raley (Haubstadt, Indiana) with a pass in the paint. Raley held her position and hit the layup to give USI, which had its largest lead of the game at 54-52, a four-point cushion with 2:40 to play in the game.
 
Junior guard Addy Blackwell (Bloomington, Indiana) hit the Tritons with a dagger with just over two minutes to play as she connected on a three-pointer from the near corner to put USI up 59-52.
 
Blackwell's three-pointer capped off a 10-0 USI run that saw the Eagles hold the Tritons to 0-of-6 shooting and four offensive turnovers in a six-minute span.
 
The Tritons answered Blackwell's three-pointer in their next possession, but USI came right back as Brown, who scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, hit a step-back jumper to put USI back in front by seven with 90 seconds left on the clock.
 
Blackwell, who had all seven of her points in the final two minutes, hit four free throws and DeHart connected on two free throws in the final 71 seconds to seal the victory for USI.
 
USI was led by Raley, who had 10 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, including a tip-in at the end of the third period that gave USI a 47-46 lead heading into the fourth. Haithcock and DeHart each followed Brown with 11 points, while freshman guard Vanessa Shafford (Linton, Indiana) finished with eight points.
 
Haithcock and Raley each had five rebounds to lead USI on the glass, while Blackwell and Shafford each dished out four assists. Junior guard Tori Handley (Jeffersonville, Indiana) finished with four steals for the Eagles, who have won four straight games.
 
Senior guard Faye Meissner had 14 points to lead the Tritons, who shot just 38.5 percent (5-13) from the field in the fourth quarter.
 
The Eagles close out the regular-season Saturday when they host Lindenwood University for Senior Day at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI will honor DeHart, fifth-year senior guard Ashley Hunter (Flossmoor, Illinois) and senior manager Amanda Lewandowski (Bloomington, Indiana) at the conclusion of the game.
 
Lindenwood (11-14, 8-10 GLVC) is coming off a 62-52 home win over the University of Indianapolis Thursday evening.
 
Notes: USI's final GLVC regular-season game will come against a team the Eagles will see plenty of in the coming years as Lindenwood is joining the Eagles in the move to NCAA Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23…the Eagles were ranked sixth in the latest NCAA II Midwest Region rankings, trailing Missouri-St. Louis (5th) and Drury University (3rd).