Southern Illinois University
0-1
Iowa (KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Challenge)
1-0
Women's Basketball Loses Season-Opener to Iowa, 66-50
11/19/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Johanna Solverson scored 16 points and Iowa (1-0) went on a 23-8 run to start the second half in a 66-50 win over Southern Illinois (0-1) earlier tonight at the KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Challenge.
Appearing to have a case of the first-game jitters, both teams struggled early on.
Despite several open looks at the basket, SIU had a hard time getting shots to fall, and as a result, the Salukis wound up shooting a frigid 23.1 percent on 6-of-26 field goals.
Like SIU, Iowa also had its share of problems putting the ball in the basket. The Hawkeyes made 10 field goals in 28 attempts, and at one time, went 6:19 without a bucket.
Had the Salukis made a couple of those shots at the start, the outcome of the game might have been different.
"I thought we did a really nice job out of the gate, and I'm not sure if they (Iowa) were expecting us to sit back in a 2-3 zone," said head coach Dana Eikenberg.
"We had some wide open shots in the first 10 minutes of the game. We knock them down, it's a different feel in the first half. We just didn't hit them and I think that's a little bit of nerves."
Those first 10 minutes of the game were definitely up for grabs, as SIU (3-of-15) and Iowa (3-of-17) combined for a mere 6-of-32 field goals during that span.
Once the stretch was over, Amy Hayden knocked down a three-pointer to give SIU a 9-7 lead, its first of the game, at the 9:13 mark.
Solverson, however, drained a three-pointer of her own to give the Hawkeyes a 10-9 edge, but a Daphney Desamours jumper kept the see-saw battle going.
Shortly after Desamours' basket put SIU ahead, 11-10 (7:59), both teams battled to a 14-14 tie, before Solverson hit a pair of three-pointers to fuel a 12-2 run and give the Hawkeyes a 26-16 lead at the break.
SIU's 6-of-26 effort included a 1-of-12 mark from three-point land in the first half, while Iowa's .600 percentage (3-of-5) from behind the arc was ignited by Solverson's sparkling 3-of-3 display.
It didn't take long for Iowa to get its high-low offense running on all cylinders in the second half.
In fact, the Hawkeyes made six layups as part of a 23-8 run over the first 6:57 of the half. The inside tandem of Krista VandeVenter and Jamie Cavey accounted for nine of those points, as Iowa built a 49-24 lead with 13:03 left to play.
Although Danette Jones caught fire for five three-pointers in the game's final 20 minutes, the closest the Salukis could get to the Hawkeyes was when a Elyse Morris free throw made it 66-50, with 26 seconds left.
Iowa outscored SIU, 36-10, in the paint, and their attack inside just simply wore the Dawgs down.
"The front line for Iowa is huge, but I am extremely proud of our players right now," Eikenberg said. "We are under-manned, under-sized and under-talented, but we played with a lot of character and a lot of heart today."
Despite Iowa's size underneath, SIU managed to out-rebound the Hawkeyes, 21-19, in the first half.
Solverson shot a flawless 6-of-6 field goals and 4-of-4 three-pointers to top the Hawkeyes with 16 points. Cavey followed with 12 points, including 10 in the second half.
Jones led SIU with 22 points on 7-of-19 from the field, including 5-of-16 from behind the arc. She also knocked down 3-of-3 from the free throw line, grabbed four rebounds and dished out one assist.
Desamours scored 12 points and had six rebounds, as the Dawgs' second-leading scorer.
Hayden also played well, dishing out a team-high five assists to just one turnover.
As a team, SIU was 7-of-29 from three-point range. The Salukis 29 bombs set a new Carver-Hawkeye Arena record in three-point attempts.
SIU concludes play at the KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Classic tomorrow when it faces Northern Illinois in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m.
