The Women’s Basketball team took on Eastern Illinois University Thursday, Jan. 22, in Liberty Arena. Southern Indiana got off to a solid start, led by Ali Saunders, senior guard, who scored nine of the Screaming Eagles’ 15 first-quarter points through a variety of shots. Saunders’ other backcourt half, Shannon Blacher, junior guard, was active on the defensive side early on, ripping away three first-quarter steals, one of which directly led to the first basket of the game for Saunders. Defensively, Blacher set the tone, as the Screaming Eagles gave up 7 points, due to the lockdown defense played by Blacher, Saunders, Sophia Loden, junior guard/forward, Amiyah Buchanan, junior forward, and Chloe Gannon, junior forward/center.
In the second quarter, the Eastern Illinois Panthers women’s basketball team started trimming the lead, eventually cutting it to five points with seven and a half minutes remaining. However, the Screaming Eagles fortified their lead through scoring from Chloe Gannon, senior forward/center, Lexi Sepulveda, sophomore guard and Buchanan, who combined for 15 points in the quarter. Their scoring helped grow USI’s lead to 33-22 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Gannon took charge, scoring 10 points. She also added two assists, three rebounds, and a steal to the statsheet. Blacher, Loden and Sepulveda also contributed to the scoring effort, helping Southern Indiana head into the final quarter of play with a 53-41 score.
In the fourth quarter, it was Loden who took the initiative to put the game out of reach. She opened the quarter, hitting a pair of threes and a layup in the first two minutes of play. This scoring barrage gave the Screaming Eagles a lead of upwards of 20 points. This gave Southern Indiana the cushion needed to see the game out, allowing Head Coach Rick Stein to rotate the lineup around and to rest key players. The Screaming Eagles strolled in the remaining time of play, grabbing a strong victory over Eastern Illinois University by a score of 73-57.
During the game, Gannon led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, and two combined blocks and steals. Saunders and Loden scored 14 and 12, respectively, while Saunders dished out a team high of six assists and added three stocks (steals and blocks). Buchanan scored eight points and grabbed a team high seven rebounds, while Blacher scored seven points and stole the ball away from the Panthers four times. Off the bench, Sepulveda scored six points, while Alli Robertson, freshman forward, and Channah Gannon, freshman forward/center, scored five points combined.
A total of 12 players got on the court for the Screaming Eagles. Maddy Fay, junior forward, played for eight minutes, Lily Graves, freshman guard/forward, played 11 minutes, Kylee Dennis, redshirt sophomore guard, played three minutes and Sarang West, senior guard, played for one minute. Any time you can get 12 players active in one game, you’ve clearly gotten a strong performance out of the team.
