EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Senior guard Lexi McCully dropped 30 points on Saturday night as Southeast Missouri Women's Basketball (4-19, 2-12 OVC) fell to Southern Indiana (17-8, 9-5 OVC) by a final score of 67-56 from Liberty Arena. 
 
McCully set a new career-high with her 30-point performance going 11-23 from the field (47.8-percent), and an impressive 5-10 from three-point range (50-percent) to lead the Redhawks in all scoring categories. McCully also finished 3-for-4 at the charity stripe (75-percent). 
 
SEMO shot 32.3-percent from the field as a team (21-65) and shot 33-percent from three-point range. The Redhawks snatched 34 rebounds as a team led by freshman center Ainaya Williams who hauled in 10 boards. She also impacted the defensive end of the floor with three blocks. 
 
Williams finished second on the team in scoring with nine points on 3-8 shooting and shot 75-percent at the free throw line (3-4). 
 
Zoe Best opened the scoring in Saturday's contest with a three-pointer just off the right wing off a beautiful find from Skylar Barnes to give SEMO an early 3-0 lead. 

Back-to-back layups from Meredith Raley gave USI their first lead of the game with 7:40 left in the opening frame. Another Raley lay in put USI up by three before a beautiful spin move from Barnes in the lane got SEMO back to within a point. 
 
Raley scored the first eight points of the game for the Screaming Eagles as she put USI in front 8-5, sparking a 5-0 run to put them up 11-5 with just under three to play in the quarter. 

Best scored her fifth point of the quarter for the final basket of the Redhawks' first quarter, to cut the USI lead to just four. The Screaming Eagles would score the final basket to give USI a 13-7 lead after 10-minutes of play. 
 
The two teams were a combined 8-28 from the field in the opening quarter. 
 
A 5-0 run from USI opened the second quarter to give the home team their largest advantage of the evening, leading 17-7 with 8:54 to go until halftime. 
 
Barnes went strong to the basket once again and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut into the 10-point deficit. 
 
The two teams remained around the 10-point mark, as an Amiyah Buchanan free throw made it 24-14 with 2:35 until the halftime break before a Vanessa Shafford three-pointer extended the lead out to 13 for the home team. 
 
Ainaya Williams scored four-of-six points in the second quarter, including the final two baskets for the Redhawks to get SEMO to within 10-points once again at the halftime interval with USI leading 30-20 at half. 
 
Williams led the Redhawks in scoring with her six points on 3-7 from the field. As a team, SEMO shot 9-30 from the field (30%) and just 1-7 from three-point range (14.3%). 
 
McCully opened the second half with a layup to get the Redhawks to within single digits early in the third quarter. Another McCully three-pointer a few minutes later got SEMO to within seven points with 8:22 left in the third. 
 
A 5-0 run from USI capped off by a Shafford three-pointer extended USI's lead back out to 12 points just one minute later. 
 
An Ainaya Williams free throw got the Redhawks to within 10 points, 44-34, but the Screaming Eagles closed the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 48-34 lead into the final frame. 
 
SEMO fought in the fourth quarter cutting the lead to under double digits, but the Screaming Eagles held on for the 67-56 victory.