Southern Illinois University
0-2
vs. Northern Illinois (KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Challenge)
1-1
Women's Basketball Falls to Northern Illinois, 61-43
11/20/2004 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Stephanie Raymond knocked down four three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead Northern Illinois (1-1) to a 61-43 win over Southern Illinois (0-2) earlier today in the consolation game of the KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Challenge.
NIU scored on its first four possessions of the game to take an early 12-0 lead.
Kristin Wiener scored 10 seconds into the first half, and Mary Basic and Raymond followed with three-pointers to start the spurt.
Raymond would later end up with half of the Huskies' points during the stretch after her three-point play capped the run at the 15:56 mark.
Ahead 18-12 with 7:26 on the clock, Raymond drained back-to-back three-pointers as part of a 9-0 jaunt that upped NIU's lead to 27-12 with a little under five minutes remaining.
The Salukis, who were limited to only 12 points in the opening 16:42 of the first half, found themselves back in the game after seven free throws and a India Bruster basket in 2:33 sliced the Huskies lead to 28-21.
Daphney Desamours started the string of free tosses with a pair at the 3:18 mark after SIU went scoreless for 4:08. Bruster went to the line next and split two with 2:35 left before Elyse Morris (1:44) and Danette Jones (1:15) followed with two each.
Moments after SIU's barrage of free throws, NIU went into the locker room with a 30-21 lead.
For the second straight game, SIU shot under 30 percent in the first half. The Salukis made just six field goals in 22 attempts for a 27.3 percentage. SIU also went 0-of-3 from behind the three-point line.
Meanwhile, NIU shot 5-of-10 from three-point range thanks to Raymond's three treys. The Huskies five three-pointers accounted for half of their 10 field goals in the first 20 minutes.
Much like the first half, SIU struggled to put points on the board in the second. Also, the Salukis turned the ball over on several occasions, which made it difficult to stay in the game.
While the Dawgs were struggling, NIU went on a 17-2 run to blow the game wide open, as SIU had one basket in the first 9:09 of the half.
After Basic's jumper gave the Huskies a 47-23 lead at the 11:23 mark, back-to-back three-pointers by Tara Michels came moments later to help NIU to its biggest lead of the game at 55-28 (7:50).
SIU, who never led in the game, couldn't recover, as NIU iced the 61-43 win.
The Saluks out-rebounded NIU, 41-35, but turned the ball over 22 times. The Huskies turned those miscues into 22 points, as they held a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Raymond shot 7-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. She also had two free throws, dished out three assists and collected seven steals.
Desamours led the Salukis with 12 points on 5-of-9 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws. Jones and Wendy Goodman followed with eight points apiece. Goodman also added 11 rebounds, while Morris pulled down seven.
Additionally, Jones was named to the KCRG-TV 9 Hawkeye Challenge all-tournament team after scoring 30 points in two games.
The Salukis head to the University of Wisconsin to face the Badgers on Monday at 7 p.m. Wisconsin is the second Big Ten opponent SIU plays in four days.
