OWENSBORO, Ky. – The IU Southeast women's basketball team fell to Brescia 68-61 on Thursday.
 
The teams went back-and-forth to open the game as Brescia held a 12-11 edge four minutes into the contest. Brescia extended their lead to five at 16-11 but four straight points by Ella Brown made it 16-15.
 
Brescia closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 23-15 lead into the second.
 
IU Southeast cut the Brescia lead to five at 25-20, but a 6-0 run gave the Bearcats an 11 point advantage at 31-20 halfway through the second quarter. The Brescia lead never fell below seven for the remainder of the quarter as the Bearcats went into the halftime locker room up 35-26.
 
Brescia opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 41-26 lead. The Bearcat lead never dropped below 13 in the third as Brescia went into the fourth quarter holding a 56-39 edge.
 
IU Southeast clawed their way back, narrowing their deficit to 10 at 60-50. Two Brescia free throws made it 62-50, but a three-point play by Grace Stapleton brought IU Southeast within single digits for the first time since the early third quarter.
 
Brescia hit another pair of free throws to make it 64-53, but back-to-back steals and layups brought IU Southeast within seven at 64-57. The teams traded layups as Brescia held a 66-59 lead with 1:15 to go.
 
IU Southeast had the chance to cut it to a two-possession game, but Brescia's defense held firm as the Bearcats escaped with a 68-61 win.
 
"Our ladies played hard tonight," IU Southeast interim head coach Derek Sims said. "I'm proud of the effort they gave for most of the game. When you're not shooting well and you're not playing as hard as you possible can for four quarters, you're not going to beat a good team like Brescia. Hats off to them. They played and coached smarter than us. He did some things that he hasn't done all year. But what he did, we practice all the time! Find the mismatch without forcing it is the easy solution. We forced it a bit and got out of rhythm. We had some individual players step up to give us a fighting chance. I challenged Karly to step up, and she did in the second half. Grace came in and fought hard, got to the free throw line and converted them all. Ella made the offense better when she came in. Normally she helps the defense. She missed a few assignments in the first half but made up for them in the second half. We're going to keep working and staying together positively. Nothing to hang our heads about."
 
Jesse Ledgerwood led IU Southeast with 18 points. Grace Stapleton had 12 points and four rebounds off the bench. Lexi Starr scored 10 points, and Ella Brown added seven. Linzie Wernert had six points and six rebounds, and Karly Sweeney also added six points.
 
IU Southeast (13-12, 7-8 RSC) concludes their regular season with a trip to IU Columbus on Saturday.