Southern Illinois University
Eastern Ill
Women's Basketball Holds Off Eastern Illinois, 76-65
12/05/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2001
Carbondale, Ill. - Sophomore center Jodi Heiden tied a career-high 18 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds to lead Southern Illinois (3-3) to a 76-65 win over Eastern Illinois (0-8) Wednesday night at SIU Arena.
Heiden shot 7-of-9 (.777) from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line en route to her double double. In addition, her four foul shots added to 10 others this season as she now stands at a flawless 14-of-14 on the year.
After leading by a score of 32-19 at halftime, Southern Illinois led by as many as 17 points on two occasions in the second half. A Hillary Phillips jumper gave the Salukis a 40-23 advantage with 15:31 remaining and a Heiden bucket put the Dawgs ahead 42-25 at the 14:52 mark. EIU only led one time in the game when Pam O'Connor gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead on their opening possession.
Despite the deficit, EIU made things interesting late in the second half building a 7-0 run in which the Salukis did not score a basket for 1:45. Leading 69-54 with 2:56 remaining, Rachel Karos and Lauren Dailey each knocked down a pair of free throws to fuel the rally which brought the Panthers to within eight (69-61) with 1:14 left to play.
After Danette Jones split a pair of free throws at the 1:11 mark, Kayla Bloemer connected on a jumper eight seconds later to narrow the margin to 70-63 (1:08). That was as close as the Panthers would get, however, as the Salukis stood tough at the free throw line connecting on 6-of-8 foul shots in the last 59 seconds to hang on to the 76-65 win.
Also pacing SIU offensively were Molly McDowell and Holly Teague. McDowell shot 6-of-15 from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line to score 14 points, while Teague connected on 5-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe for 15 points. Additionally, McDowell's scoring effort marked the fifth straight game she has posted double figures this season.
Eastern Illinois was led by O'Connor who registered a double-double 26 points and 11 rebounds.
SIU will close out its brief two-game homestand Saturday when the Salukis host Tennessee State at 2:05 p.m.
Notes: Tonight's win marked SIU's fifth straight over the Panthers increasing its lead in the overall series to 35-6, All but one Saluki scored in the game, Wendy Goodman scored for the first time in three games netting four points on 2-of-3 from the floor, The Salukis shot 47 percent (31-of-66), while the Panthers shot 36 percent (24-of-67), SIU held the advantage on the boards as well where the Salukis grabbed 45 rebounds to Eastern's 43, Danielle Lawary was held to just two points after scoring 24 points in just 30 minutes prior to tonight's game.
