SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Southern Indiana 71, Saint Louis 59
@Dayton 76,
Tennessee State 58
Lipscomb 71,
@Morehead State 53
@Eastern Kentucky 89,
Southeast Missouri 61
SOUTHERN INDIANA 71, SAINT LOUIS 59
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball won its third straight game Sunday afternoon after the Screaming Eagles defeated Saint Louis University, 71-59, at Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles.
With Sunday's victory, Southern Indiana improved to 4-1 in 2024-25 and avenged its loss on the road at Saint Louis last December. The Billikens moved to 2-2 with the loss on Sunday.
Prior to Sunday's opening tip, USI Women's Basketball unveiled three new banners in the Liberty Arena rafters commemorating their 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships in addition to their first-ever Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) last year. After the pregame ceremonies, Southern Indiana was ready to battle the reigning WNIT champions in Saint Louis.
Southern Indiana came out with active hands defensively and crashed the offensive glass. Graduate forward Meredith Raley collected USI's first five points on a three-pointer and a layup. After the two teams exchanged buckets early, Saint Louis led 13-9 going into the first media timeout. The Screaming Eagles' pestering defense helped USI respond. Before the end of the first quarter, Raley reached 10 points for the game and drained a straightaway three to put the Eagles in front, 19-17, going to the second quarter.
The game was knotted up at 21 following a defensive start to the second period. Then back-to-back triples from junior guard Ali Saunders and senior guard Vanessa Shafford moved Southern Indiana ahead by six at the midway point of the second. The game remained a six-point margin until USI finished the first half on a 6-0 run. Graduate forward Madi Webb drained a buzzer-beating trey to increase the Screaming Eagles' lead to 12, 42-30, going into halftime.
Saint Louis cut USI's lead down to five, 44-39, by the 7:45 mark of the third quarter, but another top-of-the-arc three from Raley halted the Billikens' run. With four minutes left in the third period, sophomore guard Sophia Loden reached double figures and pushed USI back ahead by double digits after cashing in a three-pointer. Raley continued her strong performance with a layup in the last minute of the third, as Southern Indiana led 56-47 heading to the fourth quarter.
The physical, defensive battle continued into the final stanza of regulation. Each team kept exchanging blows as the margin hovered near the 10-point mark in USI's favor. Out of a timeout with four minutes on the clock, the Billikens hit a three to draw back within eight, 65-57. The Eagles answered again with a jumper from Shafford and an open-court layup by Saunders to go back up by 12. From there, the Eagles maintained their double-digit advantage and held the Billikens scoreless in the final couple of minutes.
Southern Indiana shot for 37.5 percent (27-72) overall and nearly 43 percent (9-21) from distance. USI was 8-16 at the free-throw line. The Screaming Eagles outrebounded Saint Louis by one, 47-46, as USI had 21 offensive boards. USI's defense made the Billikens cough up 19 turnovers while USI only had 13.
Individually, Raley paced Southern Indiana with 19 points on 7-12 shooting with three triples. Loden finished with 12 points and eight rebounds in a career-best 31 minutes of action. Shafford also posted 12 points, and Saunders totaled 11 points with six caroms, seven assists, and three steals.
Saint Louis shot the ball for 33.3 percent (21-63) and was limited to just above 18 percent (4-22) from three. The Billikens were 13-18 for 72.2 percent at the charity stripe. Graduate forward Peyton Kennedy led Saint Louis with 23 points.
DAYTON 76, TENNESSEE STATE 58
DAYTON, Ohio - The Tennessee State women's basketball team fell short in a 76-58 loss to the Dayton Flyers on Sunday at the UD Arena.
The Tigers (2-3) had two players score in double figures, led by Sanaa' St. Andre, who had 17 points and two steals. Somah Kamara added 15 points and Jada Collins added five points and three blocks.
Saniah Parker pulled down three offensive rebounds to lead an offense that racked up second chance opportunities for Tennessee State, grabbing 10 boards and turning them into seven second chance points.
Jada Collins led the Lady Tigers with three of the teams five blocks.
Tennessee State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 21-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Tigers continued to lose ground in the second quarter and faced a 42-28 halftime deficit.
Tennessee State's deficit continued to grow after halftime, and the Tigers faced a 57-38 disadvantage heading to the fourth quarter. Tennessee State played well near the basket, scoring six of its 10 points in the paint.
Dayton kept widening its lead in the fourth, constructing a 71-47 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 7-0 run to shrink the deficit to 71-54 with 1:36 to go in the contest. Dayton responded and outscored the Tigers the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 76-58. Tennessee State took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring 10 of its 20 points in the paint.
LIPSCOMB 71, MOREHEAD STATE 53
MOREHEAD, Ky. - A couple of cold shooting streaks spelled trouble for the Morehead State women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon as the Eagles fell to the Lipscomb Bisons 71-53 in Johnson Arena.
After the first quarter, Morehead State (1-3) trailed Lipscomb 16-12. A driving layup by freshman Michelle Ugwah with 4:12 to go in the second quarter cut the Lipscomb lead to 27-24. The Eagles would go the rest of the half making only a single free throw by Kuryn Brunson the rest of the half and trailed at the half 35-25. The third quarter wasn't any better for the Eagles, as they were outscored 16-9, trailing 51-34 heading into the final frame.
For the game, MSU shot 21-62 (34%) and 5-16 (31%) from three-point range. Lipscomb shot 42% from the floor and 9-31 (29%) from long range.
Sophomore Kate Novik led the Eagles with 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for her second career double-double and for the second game in a row. She also had six steals for a conference-leading 18 through the first four games of the season. Senior Aileen Marquez added 15 points for the Eagles.
The Bisons (5-1) placed three players in double figures led by Ainhoa Cea who posted first triple-double in program history on the Division I level. The junior from Hondarribia, Spain scored 15 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out 10 assists. Senior Claira McGowan added 15 points and senior Bella Vinson chipped in 12 points.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 89, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 61
BEREA, Ky. - Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (0-4) fell on Sunday afternoon to Eastern Kentucky (2-3) by a final score of 89-61 from the Seabury Center.
Freshman Ainaya Williams and Brianna Hill led the Redhawks in scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Hill, making her first start in a SEMO uniform, finished the game 3-for-7 from the field and an impressive 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.
EKU outrebounded the Redhawks by a 45-30 advantage and outshot the Redhawks 41.0 to 29.0-percent from the field in the contest.
The Colonels jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a layup from Raphaeia Toussaint and a three-pointer from Althea Angeles. Freshman Zoe Best halted the 5-0 run and put the Redhawks on the board with a three of her own to make it 5-3 with 8:29 left in the opening period.
Trailing 11-3 after another Colonels' three pointer, guard Kennedy Claybrooks drained a three with a defender in her face to trim the deficit to five, 11-6, with 6:43 left.
Brianna Hill, making her first start of the season, made a nice driving layup off a pass from Lexi McCully. Hill took the pass and drove for the up and under layup on the right side to get the Redhawks back to within five.
A pair of Anjelicia Del Valle free throws, an elbow jumper from Best, and a pair of Hill free throws sparked a 6-0 run by SEMO to cut it to 20-19 with just a minute left.
At the end of the first quarter, SEMO trailed 22-19. EKU opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 27-19.
Ainaya Williams, who came off the bench, scored eight second quarter points with her first basket of the game on a turnaround jump shot.
Following an EKU three, Williams scored again on a turnaround just outside of the lane to cut it back to a seven-point deficit.
Lexi McCully scored on a fast break layup and then Williams with another basket got the Redhawks to within three points (30-27).
Brianna Hill grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up and in with 23 seconds left to trim it to 38-32 just before halftime. EKU recorded a free throw to make it 39-32 Colonels at halftime.
SEMO outshot EKU in the opening 20-minutes with a 52.2 to 38.9-percent shooting advantage led by Ainaya Williams with eight points. Brianna Hill led the Redhawks with four total rebounds.
The Redhawks opened the second half with a pair of Hill free throws to cut it to 39-34 early in the third quarter.
EKU would extend their lead to as many as 16 points after a three-point shot from Liz Freihofer to make it 53-37.
At the end of the third quarter, SEMO trailed 58-48 after a pair of free throws from Ainaya Williams.
EKU used 31 points in the fourth quarter to pull away, shooting 66.7-percent from the floor in the final quarter to win the contest, 89-61.