Southern Illinois University
2-10, 1-2MVC
Evansville*
6-6, 1-2MVC
Women's Basketball Tops Evansville, 65-62
01/10/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2004
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE - Maybe all the Southern Illinois University women's basketball team needs to turn things around is some good old-fashioned nervous energy.
It certainly was in abundance Saturday night at SIU Arena.
Not only did the Salukis play to a regional television audience over Fox Sports Midwest -- and their first home crowd of more than 1,000 -- they were also being watched by former SIU head coach Cindy Scott and several of the players and assistant coaches that helped her program to tremendous success in the 1980s and 90s.
Scott, who compiled a 388-215 record over 21 seasons at SIU, was in town to be recognized for having the Salukis' newly-renovated locker room named after her.
No pressure.
"I was so nervous before the game," said Saluki point guard Daphney Desamours. "All of us were, because we had to impress coach Scott, the crowd, T.V. We didn't know how it was going to turn out. All we knew is we had to play hard because, no matter what, if they see us play hard they know we're trying."
Mission accomplished.
Add in career-nights by Danette Jones and Desamours, and not only did the Salukis show they were trying -- they proved they can win, too.
Jones and Desamours combined for 40 points as the Salukis held off Evansville, 65-62, in a rare showcase opportunity.
"It's awesome to get a win on T.V. like that," Jones said. "That's huge for us."
"It was a big day for us," SIU head coach Lori Opp said. "Not only the game, but just being on Fox Sports, you know, what a great opportunity. Then with coach Scott being back in the building and dedicating our locker room to her. I think maybe a little bit of everything helped."
Jones and Desamours both set career-highs in points, teaming up to shoot a blistering 16-for-27 from the field. Jones finished with 21 points -- including 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range -- while Desamours had 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field.
Jones entered the game in the throws of a 2-for-21 shooting slump over her last four games, but broke out of it in a big way.
"I've been in a slump since before Christmas," Jones said. "I've just kept telling myself, 'a shooter's got to shoot out of it.' I'm glad it was tonight. It felt good."
Desamours provided an unexpected spark. The JUCO transfer came into the game averaging just a little more than three points-per-game and was making just her second career start.
"In practice, they get nervous when I shoot because I'm not a shooter. I wasn't brought here to shoot. But, I take it upon myself to work on my shot because it will help the team if I can make shots and put some numbers on the board."
"It's really funny, because we talk to Daphney all the time about running the offense and no looking for shots," Opp said. "Then you look at her stat line and she's 8-for-12. She played tremendous basketball tonight. Her effort was great."
The Salukis (2-10, 1-2 MVC) had one of their best overall performances of the year, shooting 48 percent from the field (26-for-54), holding Evansville to 34 percent shooting from the field (22-for-65) and committing just 14 turnovers.
"There were some kids that didn't shoot the ball well, but D.J. (Jones) and Daphney made up for them," Opp said. "I thought we played better team defense then what we've played all year for the most part."
Still, the game was up for grabs until the final seconds.
Trailing 64-61, the Aces had the ball and a chance to tie things up with 22 seconds to go. But Chelsea Robinson missed a wide-open 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining and SIU's Katie Berwanger tracked down her 10th rebound of the game, getting fouled in the process.
"I was definitely holding my breath," Opp said of Robinson's shot. After all, Robinson had 4-of-5 3-pointers up to that point.
Berwanger was then able to seal the deal, hitting 1-of-2 free-throws, giving SIU a 65-61 lead and making it a two-possession ballgame.
Berwanger's hustle-play capped a tense final two minutes in which SIU got the job done -- even if it wasn't always pretty.
A pair of Jamie Gray free-throws cut SIU's lead to 63-61 with 1:48 remaining, but the Salukis responded, as Dana Pinkston penetrated to the basket off a high screen and found a wide-open Tiffany Crutcher for an easy basket, extending the Saluki lead back to four points.
Evansville was unable to answer on its next trip down, and Desamours came up with her ninth rebound, giving the Salukis the ball and a chance to eat some clock with 1:17 to go.
The Salukis wisely worked the shot clock down, but Pinkston missed a 3-pointer. Fortunately, the diminutive 5-foot-4 guard tracked down her own rebound, giving SIU a fresh shot clock. Pinkston then missed another trey and Evansville's Kendra Snyder pulled down the rebound.
Still, SIU was able to take nearly a full minute off the clock, as Evansville got the ball back with just 22 seconds remaining.
The entire game was nip-and-tuck, as neither team led by more than seven points at any point.
Evansville led for most of the first half, but the Salukis were able to take some momentum into the locker room as Wendy Goodman hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the half, giving SIU a 30-29 lead.
The Aces regained a slight edge early in the second half, but SIU quickly responded, as a Stephanie Brown jumper at the 16:30 mark gave the Salukis a 40-39 lead. They would never trail again.
Brown's go-ahead jumper was part of a 12-2 Saluki run that turned a three-point deficit into a seven-point SIU lead.
Jones capped the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, the latter which extended SIU's lead to 48-41 with 14:49 to go.
In addition to getting a key rebound late, Berwanger held Gray to just 12 points on 5-for-20 shooting. Gray came in averaging 18 points per game.
"I was fairly happy with that," Opp said. "I thought Katie Berwanger did a tremendous job on her defensively."
Robinson scored 15 points to lead the Aces (6-6, 1-2 MVC), hitting 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
