Southern Illinois University
Kentucky
Women's Basketball Loses to Kentucky, 79-53
11/25/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2002
Lexington, Ky. - Kentucky (1-0) held Southern Illinois (0-2) to just 19 points in the second half as it posted a stunning 79-53 season-opening win earlier tonight at Memorial Coliseum.
Tied 44-44 with 13:38 remaining in the game, Kentucky held SIU to a mere nine points, as it used a shocking 35-9 run to put the Salukis away.
Junior Katie Berwanger scored eight of SIU's first 14 points, as both teams battled back and forth to five ties in the opening 8:24 of the game. Even at 14-14 with 11:36 left to play in the first half, SeSe Helm scored four points to spark a quick 8-2 spurt which gave Kentucky a 22-16 lead at the 9:07 mark.
Back-to-back buckets by Alissa Jaehnke and a pull-up jumper by Stephanie Brown then cut the Wildcat lead to 25-22 (6:37).
Moments later, Shambrica Jones made a layup to increase the Kentucky lead to 27-22 before SIU used a 12-3 run to regain a 34-30 lead at the break. During the surge, the Salukis scored six straight points in the last 2:10, including four in a row by Berwanger.
Tied for the ninth time at 44-44 in the second half following a Danette Jones jumper, Kentucky's defense suddenly blanketed SIU's offense, and as a result,the Salukis committed 13 turnovers in a little over 12 minutes.
Thanks to the tenacious Kentucky defense, the Salukis were held to just 7-of-28 (.250) shooting, as the Wildcats stormed to the 26-point win.
Kentucky, who had four players score in double figures, was led by Rita Adams who netted 16 on the night. She was joined by Helm (15), Jones (13) and Sara Potts (11).
Berwanger scored a career-high 20 points, to go along with a career-high 10 rebounds to lead all Saluki scorers. Berwanger was on fire shooting 7-of-15 from the field and a near-perfect 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Tiffany Crutcher followed with 10 points.
Kentucky recovered to shoot a sizzling 52 percent (17-of-33) from the field in the second half as it moved to 18-2 overall at Memorial Coliseum.
For SIU, the loss marked its second straight after holding a lead at the half.
SIU will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 30, when it hosts Tennessee Tech at 2:05 p.m.
Notes: SIU has now lost five straight games dating back to Feb. 23, 2002. The Salukis have also suffered losses in nine of their last 10 road games. Katie Berwanger's career night came in just her fifth start as a Saluki. SIU turned the ball over 17 times in the second half after committing just three miscues in the game's first 20 minutes. SIU out-rebounded Kentucky, 39-38. SIU shot 0-of-21 from three-point range.
