MONDAY'S SCORES
@Western Illinois 86, Chicago State 75
@Southern Indiana 87, IU East 32
@Lindenwood 80, Kansass City 71
WESTERN ILLINOIS 86, CHICAGO STATE 75
MACOMB, Ill. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 87, IU EAST 32
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Coming off a road win last week, University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball returned home to Liberty Arena Monday night and recorded a dominant victory over Indiana University East, 87-32.
USI Women's Basketball (3-1) looked for back-to-back victories on Monday night after last week's road triumph at Saint Louis University. USI's solid defense from that road game carried over into Monday night against IU East (1-4).
While the Screaming Eagles shot efficiently for 45 percent (34-75) overall, the defense held the Red Wolves to below 28 percent (12-43) from the floor. USI knocked down nine threes compared to four by IU East. On the glass, the Eagles outrebounded the Red Wolves, 49-28, as USI pulled down 21 offensive boards that led to 23 second-chance points. USI's defense had 17 steals and forced 28 turnovers, leading to 39 points for the Screaming Eagles.
All 11 active Screaming Eagles saw the floor and scored on Monday night. Junior forward Chloe Gannon led four Eagles in double figures with 16 points on 6-10 shooting with a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Lexi Sepulveda and redshirt sophomore guard Kylee Dennis each posted career highs with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Sepulveda hit a team-best three makes from beyond the arc. Senior guard Ali Saunders dropped 12 points while adding four assists and three steals.
After each squad scored on their first possessions of the game, USI went on a 16-3 run to open a wide margin early. The Screaming Eagles spread out the scoring out of the gates in the first quarter, with seven different Eagles tallying points in the opening frame. USI shot over 57 percent overall and outscored IU East 18-0 in the paint in the first quarter, leading to a 27-8 Eagles lead after 10 minutes of action.
The Screaming Eagles widened their lead in a big way in the second quarter. As the Red Wolves scored two baskets in the first two minutes of the second period, USI's defense took control and held IU East scoreless for the rest of the first half. Gannon scored eight points in the second to total 14 points in the first half. Saunders connected on one of USI's four triples in the quarter right before the halftime horn to reach double figures for the game. USI capitalized on 19 points off turnovers in the second quarter to help produce a 54-12 lead going into halftime.
IU East came out with a flurry to start the second half, outscoring USI 10-6 in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Screaming Eagles started to find their rhythm again in the middle of the period. After a dry spell in the game for a little over two minutes, Sepulveda drained a three and scored a layup to pass her previous career high. A last-second layup by Gannon to end the third pushed USI's lead to 71-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
Dennis had a strong showing for USI in the fourth quarter. Dennis drained three jumpers, including one trey, to reach double digits for the first time in her career. Defensively, USI turned back up the intensity and held the Red Wolves to only six points with only two made field goals, as the Eagles closed out the big wina.
LINDENWOOD 80, KANSAS CITY 71
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's basketball team (3-1) used a strong second half to defeat Kansas City (1-3) by a score of 80-71 on Monday night from Hyland Arena
It was a back-and-forth game early as Kansas City led 9-8 at the first media timeout. The Roos came out of the break on a mini 9-4 run to lead 18-12 after one quarter.
UMKC led by as many as eight early in the second quarter, but a three pointer by Mya Skoff cut the deficit to one at 22-21 with 6:35 to go in the middle frame. Another three from Ellie Brueggemann a few minutes later made the score 27-26 in favor of the Roos midway through the second. UMKC took a 33-31 lead into the locker room. Brooke Coffey paced the Lions with nine points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Lindenwood tied the game at 39 after a Gracie Kelsey layup just over three minutes into the third quarter, but Kansas City pushed back to go up as much as six late in the period. However, Coffey drilled a three on the final possession of the quarter to cut the deficit to 53-50 after 30 minutes of play.
The Lions tied the game at 55 with a three pointer from Brueggemann two minutes into the fourth. After a stop, Mya Skoff buried a wing three late in the shot clock to give the Lions a 58-55 lead. A Kansas City three tied the game, but back-to-back buckets from Aleshia Jones, followed by a two from Coffey gave the Lions its largest lead at 65-58 halfway through the final period. Lindenwood maintained a slight edge, but the dagger came from Skoff who drilled a three to make the score 78-69 with less than a minute to go. The Black and Gold picked up their third-straight home win to begin the season by a score of 80-71. Coffey finished the night with a career-high 24 points.