February 11, 2009
Eagles survive Storm,
Surge past Lake Erie
at Southern Indiana (13-9): 94
Lake Erie (6-20): 75
Box Score
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball defeated Lake Erie College, 94-75, in a see-saw battle Wednesday night at the Physical Activities Center.
"It's definitely a tough scenario to sandwich a non-conference game between a home game with Drury and a road game with Quincy," Head Coach Rick Stein said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of weathering a couple storms and I was pleased with how we were able to change up defenses and do some good things that kept us making nice runs."
USI (13-9), which won for the second straight time and the fifth time in the last seven outings, struggled early but used a 26-7 run to end the first half and go into the intermission with a 53-34 advantage.
The Screaming Eagles built their lead to as many as 27 early in the second half and looked to be in cruise control. However, the Storm of Lake Erie (6-20) fought back, using runs of 22-4 and 7-2 to cut USI's advantage to eight with six minutes remaining in the contest.
"We took a 27-point lead and then just got a little sloppy and a little complacent with the basketball," Stein said. "When you are just playing on your heels and playing for the clock to run, the ball ends up in the other team's hand. Bad offense was leading to bad defense."
But like the flip of a switch, the Eagles came out of their mini-slump, reeling of 15 straight points to extend their lead to 92-69 with two minutes remaining in the game.
"We just sharpened up a little bit late," Stein said. "I thought we did a better job of moving the basketball again and working hard for each other. "We're at our best when we share the basketball and make the extra pass; when we have balance inside and outside. I think you saw a lot of that in the runs we were able to make tonight."
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Amie Newhart |
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Abby Williams |
