Southern Illinois University
Bradley
Salukis Squeak Past Bradley as Hathaway Clears 1,000 Points
03/20/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
January 5, 2001
Peoria, Ill. -
Sophomore guard Stacey Byrd missed two free throws with 7.5 seconds left as Bradley University dropped a nail-biting 63-62 loss to Southern Illinois University Friday at Robertson Field House.
The win marked SIU's eighth straight over the Braves as the overall series now stands at 36-2 in favor of the Salukis.
Bradley jumped out to an early 8-2 lead on a pair of three-pointers by Sara Bailey and abucket by Amanda Reash. After going scoreless for the next 4:17, Molly McDowell hit a free throw to break the SIU drought with 15:04 remaining in the first half. Trailing 8-3, the Salukis then put together a 10-4 run which was capped off by a Hathaway foul shot that gave SIU its first lead at 13-12 with 11:46 to play. Both teams then battled to a 23-23 tie (one of six in the half) as an Angela Tolbert foul shot knotted the score with 3:28 to go. Following the freebee, Tolbert stayed hot to score five more points giving SIU a 5-3 lift down the stretch as the Dawgs led 28-26 at the break.
Outscoring Bradley 9-6 to open the second half, Southern Illinois built its biggest lead to 39-32 on a three-point play by Hathaway at the 13:11 mark. The Braves then answered with a 10-4 run capped off by a Jennifer Jolley layup which moved Bradley to within one at 43-42. Bailey then caught fire and scored nine straight points as the Braves trailed by one again 52-51. Trailing the entire second stanza, Bradley's Stacey Byrd connected to give the Braves their first lead of the half at 60-58. Both teams then went back-and-forth as McDowell scored five straight points to give the Salukis a 63-62 lead with 36 seconds left. As time was running out, McDowell then fouled and sent Byrd to the free throw line with 7.5 seconds. With a chance to put the Braves ahead, Byrd missed on both tries. Needing to just hold onto the ball, SIU then turned the ball over thus giving Bradley yet another chance to win with 6.1 ticks on the clock. The Braves then inbounded the ball to Bailey who fired a three which missed, but was rebounded by teammate Lora Weber whose tip just missed as the buzzer sounded with SIU on top by a final 63-62 count.
Hathaway led all Saluki scorers with 22 points as she cleared the 1,000-point plateau for her career. McDowell also added 18 points and Tolbert chipped in 14 to pace SIU.
The Salukis, now 4-7, 1-1, will return home to host a three-game homestand beginning with Northern Iowa Mon., Jan. 8, at 7:05 p.m.
