Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
Sw Missouri St
Women's Basketball Loses to SMS, 69-57
02/10/2002 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2002
Erica Vicente scored 16 points to lead Southwest Missouri State (12-9, 9-4) to a 69-57 victory over Southern Illinois (4-17, 0-12) earlier today in front of 609 fans at SIU Arena.
The SMS win marked its second of the season over SIU as the Lady Bears became the third league opponent to sweep the Salukis.
Molly McDowell scored five points in the first 53 seconds of the game to give SIU an early 5-0 lead in the first half before SMS exploded for a 25-4 run to take a 16-point (25-9) advantage at the 8:30 mark.
Vicente scored seven points, while Jennifer Lingor hit two three-pointers to ignite the rout which saw the Lady Bears convert on five straight possessions towards the end of the run.
Both teams went back-and-forth to a 10-10 tie in the final eight and a half minutes as SMS headed into the locker room with a commanding 35-19 lead.
The Lady Bears shot a blistering 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the first half which doubled SIU's cold 25 percent (8-of-31) shooting mark.
SMS continued to pound away at SIU in the second half with an 11-0 run which put the Salukis away for good.
Following the quick jaunt which ended on a jumper by Ann Cavey (15:43), the Lady Bears built their biggest lead of the game at 48-21 with 15:43 remaining.
Leading 69-45 with 1:42 left to play, SIU then put together a 12-0 run ignited by seven more points from McDowell, but the Dawgs' run was too late as the Lady Bears went on to the 69-57 win.
Vicente shot 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line to lead three SMS players in double figures. Lingor, who scored all of her points from three-point land, followed with 12, while Stephanie Busbey added 11.
McDowell, who scored 11 points in the first half alone, led the Salukis with 24 points. She shot 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line as her 24-point effort marked her third game this season scoring 23 or more points.
Jodi Heiden, who went scoreless (0-of-5) from the floor in the first half, regrouped to hit 5-of-10 field goals in the game's final 20 minutes. Also, hitting 2-of-2 from the free throw line, Heiden finished as the Dawgs' second leading scorer with 12 points.
SIU, whose losing streak now stands at 14 games, returns to action at Indiana State on Friday, Feb. 15. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.
Notes: SMS dominated inside the paint where it outscored SIU 30-12, SIU won the second half by a score of 38-34, The Lady Bears held a 10-0 advantage in fast break points, The Salukis converted 24 points off turnovers compared to the Lady Bears' 12, Jennifer Lingor hit four of SMS' five three-pointers as the Lady Bears went 5-of-10 from behind the arc, SIU shot 10-of-12 (83.3) from the free throw line, while SMS hit 8-of-14 (57.1), The Salukis also hit five three-pointer led by Molly McDowell's 4-of-7 display, SIU out-rebounded SMS 37-34, SMS' win marked its 11th straight over SIU.
