BAYAMON, Puerto Rico - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball closed out the Puerto Rico Clasico with a victory over Le Moyne College, 71-42, Saturday morning to complete a two-game sweep in Puerto Rico.
 
The Screaming Eagles improved to an impressive 7-1 on the season following their sixth straight victory. USI also improved to 9-1 all time in overseas MTE games and 4-0 in games played in Puerto Rico. Le Moyne moved to 0-7 on the season after dropping both of its games in Puerto Rico.
 
Southern Indiana practically picked up where it left off from Friday's game, jumping out in front early with the game's first eight points. Graduate forward Meredith Raley and senior guard Vanessa Shafford split USI's first eight tallies. Le Moyne found a spark with three made triples to draw back closer in the first quarter, but a solid finish to the opening frame with graduate forward Madi Webb scoring six points of USI's final 10 points in the period led to an 18-11 USI lead after one.
 
The second quarter began much like the first, as USI's defense forced long-distance shots from Le Moyne, and the Eagles continued to feed the paint. Southern Indiana led by 13, 24-11, three minutes into the second stanza, but the Dolphins' three-point shooting brought them back to within three, 24-21, with under four minutes left in the first half. USI created turnovers on defense and had a good mix of inside and outside play on offense to produce a 12-2 run to take a 36-23 lead into the half.
 
The second half began with the two teams battling back and forth, but the balanced attack from the Eagles continued to generate positive results. Junior guard Ali Saunders and Shafford impressed in the period with each scoring 10-plus and 21 of USI's 23 points in the third quarter. The two combined to go 5-5 from beyond the arc in the third. Southern Indiana finished the third with a 26-point advantage, 59-33.
 
It took about four minutes into the fourth quarter for either side to register a made field goal, but then sophomore guard Sophia Loden went on to score the Screaming Eagles' first eight points in the quarter to extend USI's lead to over 30 points, 67-34, with four minutes left on the clock. Southern Indiana's defense sealed the win by holding Le Moyne to only nine points and two made field goals in the final 10 minutes of action.
 
Southern Indiana shot over 50 percent for the second consecutive game and nearly shot 50 percent from three with eight connections from outside. Shafford led all scorers with 18 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Saunders recorded 16 points on a perfect 7-7 afternoon from the floor with five boards and six assists. Webb added 10 points.
 
The Eagles' defense limited the Dolphins to below 27 percent shooting overall and 20 percent from three. Le Moyne had one player reach double figures.
 
Following a return to the USI campus for a couple of days, the Screaming Eagles will take their winning streak to Bloomington, Indiana Wednesday evening and take on Indiana University. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game can be seen on Big Ten Plus and heard on The Spin 95.7 FM and WREF 97.7 FM.