Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Seniors go out in Style as SIU Beats Evansville
03/20/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
March 3, 2001
The Southern Illinois University Carbondale women's basketball season ended Saturday with a glimpse of what might have been with an 82-77 win over Evansville. The Salukis finished the frustrating season with a 7-20 record and 4-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
SIUC will not be going to the post-season MVC tournament that begins March 8 for the first time since joining the MVC in 1992. Prior to that SIUC had only missed post-season conference tournament action once before when it missed qualifying for the Gateway Conference tournament at the end of the 1987-88 season.
SIUC ended the year winning two in a row for the only time this season beating Illinois State on the road 58-47 before beating Evansville in the finale at home. The promise of a good season was shattered with the season-long injuries to Katie Berwanger, Maria Niebrugge and Courtney Smith and it was the play of the latter two which sparked the Salukis against Evansville.
Both Smith and Niebrugge, who played their last game as a Saluki, were in the starting lineup for Senior Day and responded with solid games. Niebrugge played 33 minutes and pumped in 12 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and one steal. Smith played only seven minutes while still recovering from a stress fracture to her foot, but contributed two points, two assists and one steal.
Fellow senior Terica Hathaway was the top scorer and rebounder in the game with 19 points and 12 boards with junior point guard Holly Teague next for the Salukis with 14 points. Senior Kristine Abramowski was almost playing her last game and showed off her form with 13 points, six rebounds and a game-high four steals in only 22 minutes of play.
