INDIANAPOLIS – The Greyhound women's basketball team put their season-high four-game winning streak on the line on Saturday afternoon, taking on the team with the top offense in the GLVC in the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.
 
Buckets for both teams were tough to come by all day, but after a slow start the Eagles bounced back to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish midway through the second quarter on their way to a 58-47 win in Nicoson Hall.
 
Indianapolis (14-7, 8-3 GLVC) was led by 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting from junior Martha Burse, her second consecutive 20-point game and fifth overall. But the Hounds fell victim to a Southern Indiana (17-3, 10-1 GLVC) team that limited them to just 37.3 percent (19-for-51) shooting and out-rebounded them 46-30 on the day.
 
"Full credit to USI today, they're a really good team and they played hard from start to finish," Head coach Kristin Drabyn told WICR after the game. "They're very poised, they made plays down the stretch and we struggled for stretches in this game. We didn't do the little things and it came back to bite us. But our kids are resilient and I know we're going to get back in the gym and we're going to focus on doing the little things well as we get ready for the next one."
 
Buckets were tough to come by in the opening quarter with the UIndy defense putting on an impressive effort against one of the top offenses in the country. The Hounds held USI to just 1-for-14 shooting in the opening quarter and led 8-2 after one. It marked the second time in four games the Hounds held an opponent to just two points in a quarter, the last coming against McKendree back on Jan. 20.
 
But the league's top offense wouldn't stay silent for long, outscoring the Greyhounds 23-12 in the second quarter to take a 25-20 lead into the break. The key stretch for the Eagles began with 3:31 to go before the half, when a Hannah Wascher layup started an 11-2 run to close out the opening 20 minutes.
 
The third quarter belonged to Burse, who netted 13 of the team's 16 points during the period. However, the Hounds were only able to trim one point off the halftime lead and trailed 40-36 as the teams headed into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
But the Screaming Eagles dealt the Hounds a back-breaking blow early in the fourth quarter, opening the period on an 8-2 run that stretched the lead to double figures for the first time at 48-38 with six minutes left. UIndy was able to get the lead down to as little as seven with just under five minutes to go, but managed just one field goal the rest of the way.
 
Nicole Anderson was the only other Greyhounds to crack double figures, finishing with 10 points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Anderson moved to within 13 points of the 1,000-point milestone on Saturday. USI was led by 21 points from Tanner Marcum, and the team shot 38.1 percent (24-for-63) on the afternoon.
 
The Hounds will head back out on the road for their final weekend road trip of the regular season next week. First up is a trip to Kirksville, Mo. on Thursday, Feb. 2, for a showdown with the Truman State Bulldogs. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. eastern time.