Southern Illinois University
Indiana St
Women's Basketball Loses Heartbreaker to Indiana State
01/17/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Indiana State (6-9, 2-4) knocked down six free throws in the last 17 seconds of the game to hold onto a 71-65 victory over Southern Illinois (4-11, 0-6) earlier tonight in Missouri Valley Conference action at SIU Arena.
The loss marked SIU's eighth straight tying the longest losing streak in Saluki women's basketball history. The Dawgs lost eight straight games on two other occasions which ran over two years - once under Cindy Scott (1987-89) and once under Julie Beck (1998-2000).
Indiana State controlled the entire first half as Southern Illinois never led. Following a Danette Jones three-pointer which brought the Salukis to within one at 26-25 (3:32), the Sycamores answered with a 10-2 run to take a 36-27 lead at the break.
Junior Megan Miller came off the bench to hit a three-pointer which narrowed the Sycamore margin to 47-45 at the 12:05 mark in the second half. After a jumper by Kristin Stewart put Indiana State up by four, Holly Teague then hit two free throws to make it 49-47 before Miller hit another clutch shot from downtown to give the Salukis their first lead of the game at 50-49 with 10:16 remaining.
The one-point advantage, however, didn't last long as the Sycamores retaliated with a 22-15 run down the stretch which was capped off by two free throws apiece from April Kirby (:17), Stewart (:08), and Kourtney Mennen (:01) to seal the 71-65 win.
Stewart shot 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-9 from the free throw line en route to a double-double 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead all Sycamore scorers. Kirby then followed with 16, while Mennen rounded out the leading trio with 15.
Jodi Heiden led all Saluki scorers with 16 points on 6-of-9 field goals and a perfect 4-of-4 free throws. Molly McDowell then followed with 13 points off 6-of-13 from the floor, while Teague pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with nine points.
SIU will close out its brief two-game home stretch on Sunday, Jan. 20 when the Salukis play host to Illinois State. Tip off is set for 2:05 p.m.
Notes: The Salukis shot 42 percent (26-of-62) from the field after shooting a combined 26 percent over their previous three outings, Megan Miller came off the bench to knock down 2-of-3 three-pointers in just eight minutes played, Indiana State held a 41-36 advantage on the boards, The Sycamores also knocked down 6-of-18 (.333) from downtown sparked by April Kirby's 4-of-6, The Indiana State win marked the Sycamores fourth straight over the Salukis.
