Southern Illinois University
2-13, 0-6MVC
Bradley*
10-4, 3-2MVC
Women's Basketball Loses to Bradley, 68-42
01/16/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Bradley (10-4, 3-2) scored half of its points off turnovers and had all but two players score in a 68-42 win over Southern Illinois (2-13, 0-6) earlier today at SIU Arena.
SIU, who is averaging over 20 turnovers a game against conference opponents this season, once again struggled to hold onto the ball.
Aided by four Saluki turnovers in the first 5:14 of the game, BU jumped out to a quick 15-8 lead. Genny Mueller scored five points to fuel the spurt, which ended on Erika Nelson's two free throws at the 12:27 mark.
The Salukis, however, came back to slice the Braves' lead to six when back-to-back buckets by Elyse Morris (6:54) and Bernettra Grayer (6:09) narrowed the gap to 20-14 with 6:09 remaining.
Shortly after Alex Liberatore answered with a jumper (5:03), Mueller stole the ball and dribbled the length of the floor for an easy deuce to regain a 10-point advantage for BU.
Those four points started a 15-9 BU run in the last 6:09, which ended on a Nelson bucket with one second left, as the Braves headed to the locker room with a 35-23 lead.
As soon as BU applied its full court press to start the second half, things fell apart for the Salukis.
The Braves registered seven steals on 10 more SIU turnovers, and held the Dawgs to a mere five points in the first 11:15.
It was during that time, where BU used a 20-5 run to take a 55-28 lead, and put the game out of reach.
Turning the ball over on only 11 occasions, including five in the first half, BU converted 23 Saluki turnovers into 34 points. The Braves' bench also contributed 37 points to the cause.
Mueller shot 5-of-10 from the field en route to her game-high 11 points, while Liberatore came off the bench to score 10 on 4-of-6 from the floor.
SIU was led by Daphney Desamours' 11 points on 5-of-12 field goals and 1-of-2 free throws. After going scoreless in 12 minutes against Northern Iowa Friday, Danette Jones bounced back to score 10 points on 4-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from downtown.
Also, the Salukis have shot just four free throws in their last 80 minutes of basketball.
SIU breaks until Jan. 22, where it rounds out its three-game homestand against Evansville. Tip off is at 2:05 p.m.
