Eastern Illinois dressed only nine players on Thursday night at Southern Indiana with the Panthers battling early before falling 73-57 on the road at Liberty Arena.

Sydney-James Desroches led the Panthers with 14 points including a jumper with 5:55 to play in the second quarter which cut the USI lead to 22-16.  The Screaming Eagles advantage would grow to as high as 13 points leading 33-22 at the half.

The Panthers trailed by 12 points at the end of the third quarter before USI opened the final quarter with an 8-0 run. 

Ava Stoller and Clara Glad each scored nine points while Nyah Hardy scored eight points off the bench to bolster EIU's offense.

USI was led by Chloe Gannon with 21 points as the Screaming Eagles shot 43.8 percent from the field and converted 20 EIU turnovers into 13 points.

Desroches had a balanced stat line adding nine rebounds and five blocks.

EIU falls to 3-17 overall, 2-7 in the OVC.   USI improved to 14-4 overall, 8-1 in the OVC.